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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Newton's third law

According to Newton's third law...

For every action

there is an equal and opposite

 re-action.



What does this mean?

This means that for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in direction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes another object it gets pushed back in the opposite direction equally hard.



Let's study how a rocket works to understand
Newton's Third Law.


The rocket's action is to push

 down on the ground

with the force of its powerful engines, and the

reaction is that the ground pushes the rocket upwards with an equal force.



UP,
UP,
and
AWAY!







You have just learned about
Newton's Three Laws of Motion.



Friday, August 8, 2008

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Babies

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Babies

The History Of Carbon

I. Introduction
A. The History of Carbon

II. Occurrences in Nature
A. Diamond B. Graphite C. Coal and Charcoal D. Amorphous Carbon

III. Carbon Compounds
A. Inorganic B. Organic

IV. The Carbon Cycle IV. Conclusion Carbon, an element discovered before history itself, is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. It can be found in the sun, the stars, comets, and the atmospheres of most planets. There are close to ten million known carbon compounds, many thousands of which are vital to the basis of life itself
(WWW 1).
Carbon occurs in many forms in nature. One of its purest forms is diamond. Diamond is the hardest substance known on earth.
Although diamonds found in nature are colorless and transparent, when combined with other elements its color can range from pastels to black. Diamond is a poor conductor of heat and electricity.
Until 1955 the only sources of diamond were found in deposits of volcanic origin. Since then scientists have found ways to make diamond from graphite and other synthetic materials. Diamonds of true gem quality are not made in this way (Beggott 3-4).
Graphite is another form of carbon. It occurs as a mineral in nature, but it can be made artificially from amorphous carbon. One of the main uses for graphite is for its lubricating qualities. Another is for the lead in pencils. Graphite is used as a heat resistant material and an electricity conductor. It is also used in nuclear reactors as a lubricator (Kino*censored*a 119-127).
Amorphous carbon is a deep black powder that occurs in nature as a component of coal. It may be obtained artificially from almost any organic substance by heating the substance to very high temperatures without air. Using this method, coke is produced from coal, and charcoal is produced from wood. Amorphous carbon is the most reactive form of carbon. Because amorphous carbon burns easily in air, it is used as a combustion fuel. The most important uses for amorphous carbon are as a filler for rubber and as a black pigment in paint (WWW 2).
There are two kinds of carbon compounds. The first is inorganic. Inorganic compounds are binary compounds of carbon with metals or metal carbides. They have properties ranging from reactive and saltlike; found in metals such as sodium, magnesium, and aluminum, to an unreactive and metallic, such as titanium and niobium (Beggott 4). Carbon compounds containing nonmetals are usually gases or liquids with low boiling points. Carbon monoxide, a gas, is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. It forms during the incomplete combustion of carbon (Kino*censored*a 215-223). It is highly toxic to animals because it inhibits the transport of oxygen in the blood by hemoglobin (WWW 2).
Carbon dioxide is a colorless, almost odorless gas that is formed by the combustion of carbon. It is a product that results from respiration in most living organisms and is used by plants as a source of carbon. Frozen carbon dioxide, known as dry ice, is used as a refrigerant. Fluorocarbons, such as Freon, are used as refrigerants (Kino*censored*a 225-226). Organic compounds are those compounds that occur in nature. The simplest organic compounds consist of only carbon and hydrogen, the hydrocarbons. The state of matter for organic compounds depends on how many carbons are contained in it. If a compound has up to four carbons it is a gas, if it has up to 20 carbons it is a liquid, and if it has more than 20 carbons it is a solid (Kino*censored*a 230-237). The carbon cycle is the system of biological and chemical processes that make carbon available to living things for use in tissue building and energy release (Kino*censored*a 242). All living cells are composed of proteins consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in various combinations, and each living organism puts these elements together according to its own genetic code. To do this the organism must have these available in special compounds built around carbon. These special compounds are produced only by plants, by the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process in which chlorophyll traps and uses energy from the sun in the form of light. Six molecules of carbon dioxide combine with six molecules of water to form one molecule of glucose (sugar). The glucose molecule consists of six atoms of carbon, twelve of hydrogen, and six of oxygen. Six oxygen molecules, consisting of two oxygen atoms each, are also produced and are discharged into the atmosphere unless the plant needs energy to live. In that case, the oxygen combines with the glucose immediately, releasing six molecules of carbon dioxide and six of water for each molecule of glucose (Beggott 25-32). The carbon cycle is then completed as the plant obtains the energy that was stored by the glucose. The length of time required to complete the cycle varies. In plants without an immediate need for energy, the chemical processes continue in a variety of ways. By reducing the hydrogen and oxygen content of most of the sugar molecules by one water molecule and combining them to form large molecules, plants produce substances such as starch, inulin , and fats and store them for future use. Regardless of whether the stored food is used later by the plant or consumed by some other organism, the molecules will ultimately be digested and oxidized, and carbon dioxide and water will be discharged. Other molecules of sugar undergo a series of chemical changes and are finally combined with nitrogen compounds to form protein substances, which are then used to build tissues (WWW 2). Although protein substances may pass from organism to organism, eventually these too are oxidized and form carbon dioxide and water as cells wear out and are broken down, or as the organisms die. In either case, a new set of organisms, ranging from fungi to the large scavengers, use the waste products or tissues for food, digesting and oxidizing the substances for energy release (WWW 1).
At various times in the Earth's history, some plant and animal tissues have been protected by erosion and sedimentation from the natural agents of decomposition and converted into substances such as peat, lignite, petroleum, and coal. The carbon cycle, temporarily interrupted in this manner, is completed as fuels are burned, and carbon dioxide and water are again added to the atmosphere for reuse by living things, and the solar energy stored by photosynthesis ages ago is released (Kino*censored*a 273-275). Almost everything around us today has some connection with carbon or a carbon compound. Carbon is in every living organism. Without carbon life would not exist as we know it.

White Blood Cells

White Blood Cells Bacteria exist everywhere in the environment and have continuous access to the body through the mouth, nose and pores of skin. Further more, many cells age and die daily and their remains must be removed, this is where the white blood cell plays its role. According to this quotation, without white blood cells, also known as leukocytes, we would not be able to survive. White blood cells are our body’s number one defense against infections. They help keep us clean from foreign bacteria that enter our bodies. Statistics show that there are five to ten thousand white blood cells per micro liter of blood, however this number will increase during an illness. White blood cells can differ in many ways, such as, size, shape and staining traits. There are five different kinds of white blood cells that fall into two separate categories. One category is called, granular leukocytes, and the other is called agranular white cells. There are three different types of granular leukocytes. Neutrophil is a phagocyte, produced in the bone marrow that ingests and destroys bacteria extremely fast. Neutrophil has a diameter, which is, about ten to twelve micrometers long. They make up about 60-70 percent of the total number of white blood cells in our body. Eosinphil is a type of white blood cell that secretes poisonous materials in order to kill parasites, allergies and phagocytosis of bacteria, which is when the cell takes in materials to eliminate them or move them from where they were. They make up about 2-4 percent of the total number of white blood cells in our body. These white blood cells are similar to Neutrophil because they attack bacteria by the immune system. This particular group of white blood cells is extremely important in my body, because they are prominent at sites of allergic reactions, such as anaphylaxis. The nucleus of Eosinphil is made of two lobes, and implanted in the cytoplasm are large, red-orange granules, and the diameter of them is on average about twelve to fifteen µm. The third type of granular leukocytes is called, basophil. Basophil’s major function is, secretion. They tend to have a diameter of 12-15 µm. These cells make up only about one percent of the total population of white blood cells, causing them to be much more difficult to detect. These cells secrete both histamine and heparin. Histamine draws blood into the damaged area, while heparin slows clotting so that more blood can enter the damaged area. There are two different kinds of agranular white cells. One is called monocyte, and the other is called lymphocyte. The major function of monocyte is, phagocytosis. These cells more very quickly and are therefore able to consume bacteria and dead tissue at a fast rate. Monocytes have an average diameter of, 12-17 µm, and they make up about 3-8 percent of our leukocyte’s population. Lymphocytes, major function are immunity. There are many different forms of lymphocytes, and all of the different forms have different functions. B-lymphocytes produce, plasma cells, which form antibodies to (humeral immune response), T-lymphocytes produce, suppressor cells, helper cells, and cytotoxic, killer cells. Lymphocytes have a diameter of about 8-18 µm. In general leukocytes, “either clear away dead cells from the body, or destroy specific bacteria, viruses, and other agents of disease.”

Acid Rain

Acid Rain Acid rain is a serious problem with disastrous effects. Each day this serious problem increases, many people believe that this issue is too small to deal with right now this issue should be met head on and solved before it is too late. In the following paragraphs I will be discussing the impact has on the wildlife and how our atmosphere is being destroyed by acid rain. CAUSES Acid rain is a cancer eating into the face of Eastern Canada and the North Eastern United States. In Canada, the main sulphuric acid sources are non©ferrous smelters and power generation. On both sides of the border, cars and trucks are the main sources for nitric acid(about 40% of the total), while power generating plants and industrial commercial and residential fuel combustion together contribute most of the rest. In the air, the sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can be transformed into sulphuric acid and nitric acid, and air current can send them thousands of kilometres from the source.When the acids fall to the earth in any form it will have large impact on the growth or the preservation of certain wildlife. NO DEFENCE Areas in Ontario mainly southern regions that are near the Great Lakes, such substances as limestone or other known antacids can neutralize acids entering the body of water thereby protecting it. However, large areas of Ontario that are near the Pre©Cambrian Shield, with quartzite or granite based geology and little top soil, there is not enough buffering capacity to neutralize even small amounts of acid falling on the soil and the lakes. Therefore over time, the basic environment shifts from an alkaline to a acidic one. This is why many lakes in the Muskoka, Haliburton, Algonquin, Parry Sound and Manitoulin districts could lose their fisheries if sulphur emissions are not reduced substantially. ACID The average mean of pH rainfall in Ontario's Muskoka©Haliburton lake country ranges between 3.95 and 4.38 about 40 times more acidic than normal rainfall, while storms in Pennsilvania have rainfall pH at 2.8 it almost has the same rating for vinegar. Already 140 Ontario lakes are completely dead or dying. An additional 48 000 are sensitive and vulnerable to acid rain due to the surrounding concentrated acidic soils.Ô ACID RAIN CONSISTS OF....? Canada does not have as many people, power plants or automobiles as the United States, and yet acid rain there has become so severe that Canadian government officials called it the most pressing environmental issue facing the nation. But it is important to bear in mind that acid rain is only one segment, of the widespread pollution of the atmosphere facing the world. Each year the global atmosphere is on the receiving end of 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide, 130 million tons of suffer dioxide, 97 million tons of hydrocarbons, 53 million tons of nitrogen oxides, more than three million tons of arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc and other toxic metals, and a host of synthetic organic compounds ranging from polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) to toxaphene and other pesticides, a number of which may be capable of causing cancer, birth defects, or genetic imbalances. COST OF ACID RAIN Interactions of pollutants can cause problems. In addition to contributing to acid rain, nitrogen oxides can react with hydrocarbons to produce ozone, a major air pollutant responsible in the United States for annual losses of $2 billion to 4.5 billion worth of wheat, corn, soyabeans, and peanuts. A wide range of interactions can occur many unknown with toxic metals. In Canada, Ontario alone has lost the fish in an estimated 4000 lakes and provincial authorities calculate that Ontario stands to lose the fish in 48 500 more lakes within the next twenty years if acid rain continues at the present rate.Ontario is not alone, on Nova Scotia's Eastern most shores, almost every river flowing to the Atlantic Ocean is poisoned with acid. Further threatening a $2 million a year fishing industry. Ô Acid rain is killing more than lakes. It can scar the leaves of hardwood forest, wither ferns and lichens, accelerate the death of coniferous needles, sterilize seeds, and weaken the forests to a state that is vulnerable to disease infestation and decay. In the soil the acid neutralizes chemicals vital for growth, strips others from the soil and carries them to the lakes and literally retards the respiration of the soil. The rate of forest growth in the White Mountains of New Hampshire has declined 18% between 1956 and 1965, time of increasingly intense acidic rainfall. Acid rain no longer falls exclusively on the lakes, forest, and thin soils of the Northeast it now covers half the continent. EFFECTS There is evidence that the rain is destroying the productivity of the once rich soils themselves, like an overdose of chemical fertilizer or a gigantic drenching of vinegar. The damage of such overdosing may not be repairable or reversible. On some croplands, tomatoes grow to only half their full weight, and the leaves of radishes wither. Naturally it rains on cities too, eating away stone monuments and concrete structures, and corroding the pipes which channel the water away to the lakes and the cycle is repeated. Paints and automobile paints have its life reduce due to the pollution in the atmosphere speeding up the corrosion process. In some communities the drinking water is laced with toxic metals freed from metal pipes by the acidity. As if urban skies were not already grey enough, typical visibility has declined from 10 to 4 miles, along the Eastern seaboard, as acid rain turns into smogs. Also, now there are indicators that the components of acid rain are a health risk, linked to human respiratory disease. PREVENTION However, the acidification of water supplies could result in increased concentrations of metals in plumbing such as lead, copper and zinc which could result in adverse health effects. After any period of non©use, water taps at summer cottages or ski chalets they should run the taps for at least 60 seconds to flush any excess debris. Ô STATISTICS Although there is very little data, the evidence indicates that in the last twenty to thirty years the acidity of rain has increased in many parts of the United States. Presently, the United States annually discharges more than 26 million tons of suffer dioxide into the atmosphere. Just three states, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are responsible for nearly a quarter of this total. Overall, twoªthirds of the suffer dioxide into the atmosphere over the United States comes from coal©fired and oil fired plants. Industrial boilers, smelters, and refineries contribute 26%; commercial institutions and residences 5%; and transportation 3%. The outlook for future emissions of suffer dioxide is not a bright one. Between now and the year 2000, United States utilities are expected to double the amount of coal they burn. The United States currently pumps some 23 million tons of nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere in the course of the year. Transportation sources account for 40%; power plants, 30%; industrial sources, 25%; and commercial institutions and residues, 5%. What makes these figures particularly distributing is that nitrogen oxide emissions have tripled in the last thirty years. FINAL THOUGHTS Acid rain is very real and a very threatening problem. Action by one government is not enough. In order for things to be done we need to find a way to work together on this for at least a reduction in the contaminates contributing to acid rain. Although there are right steps in the right directions but the government should be cracking down on factories not using the best filtering systems when incinerating or if the factory is giving off any other dangerous fumes. I would like to express this question to you, the public:WOULD YOU RATHER PAY A LITTLE NOW OR A LOT LATER?

What Is Science

define science as a system of knowledge about a specific topic. The systems come from systematic, or precise, observations of natural events; a random example would be the study of the movement of a caterpillar. This very fact would make one think that science encompasses every topic in the world. It amazingly does; from apples to zucchini (in the science called botany). Science is not just the “systems” of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology as traditionally known. It is the systems of our knowledge about everything on this planet, beyond, and even the human race. Science is an action word in most cases. I am witnessing the topics in the science of anatomy and physiology as type this home-lesson: the blood vessels supplying blood to my bones are allowing me to move my fingers and press the keys. Furthermore, science is a vehicle for change in our society today. The systems of knowledge are communicated by scientists through science media such as journals, web-sites (the internet), newspapers and through person-to-person interaction. At Tufts University a Ph.D. student may share his experiment on drug metabolism rates in the form of a presentation; moreover, someone in his same lab might use points from his research as a stepping stone or bridge leading and connecting, respectively their research to success. Science is what we are and what shapes our world.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Nanotechnology

The science of nanotechnology could lead to radical improvements for space exploration.

When it comes to taking the next "giant leap" in space exploration, NASA is thinking small - really small.

In laboratories around the country, NASA is supporting the burgeoning science of nanotechnology. The basic idea is to learn to deal with matter at the atomic scale - to be able to control individual atoms and molecules well enough to design molecule-size machines, advanced electronics and "smart" materials.

If visionaries are right, nanotechnology could lead to robots you can hold on your fingertip, self-healing spacesuits, space elevators and other fantastic devices. Some of these things may take 20+ years to fully develop; others are taking shape in the laboratory today.

Thinking small

image
Image by artist Pat Rawling.

Nanotechnology could provide the very high-strength, low-weight fibers that would be needed to build the cable of a "space elevator."

Simply making things smaller has its advantages. Imagine, for example, if the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity could have been made as small as a beetle, and could scurry over rocks and gravel as a beetle can, sampling minerals and searching for clues to the history of water on Mars. Hundreds or thousands of these diminutive robots could have been sent in the same capsules that carried the two desk-size rovers, enabling scientists to explore much more of the planet's surface - and increasing the odds of stumbling across a fossilized Martian bacterium!

But nanotechnology is about more than just shrinking things. When scientists can deliberately order and structure matter at the molecular level, amazing new properties sometimes emerge.

An excellent example is that darling of the nanotechnology world, the carbon nanotube. Carbon occurs naturally as graphite - the soft, black material often used in pencil leads - and as diamond. The only difference between the two is the arrangement of the carbon atoms. When scientists arrange the same carbon atoms into a "chicken wire" pattern and roll them up into miniscule tubes only 10 atoms across, the resulting "nanotubes" acquire some rather extraordinary traits.

Nanotubes:

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