Thursday, May 22, 2008
Final Reflection on our Blogging Adventures
During our time in the computer lab, working on our blogs, I learned a few things. How to use the site on my own, how to research crazy and interesting topics, and type a whole post in the last ten minutes of the class period (hahahaha!!!). But seriously, I did learn a lot of cool facts from the other kids in the class, it was like we were teaching each other about what we had found and learned about the specific topics. Not gonna lie, I would have liked to do some more topics that dealt with stuff in physics...wait nevermind, these topics were pretty easy to write about...so I'm not complaining! Over all, doing this "project" helped me learn how to do things for myself...and I guess that's a good thing...right?? Well, for all my classmates, I love you guys and wish you the best of luck in the future! Class of 2008 baby!!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Einstein's Legacy
He was daring, wildly ingenious, passionately curious. He saw a beam of light and imagined riding it; he looked up at the sky and envisioned that space-time was curved. Albert Einstein reinterpreted the inner workings of nature, the very essence of light, time, energy and gravity. His insights fundamentally changed the way we look at the universe—and made him the most famous scientist of the 20th century.
Although he is regarded as one of the most brilliant mathematical physicists of the century, Einstein thought of himself as much as a philosopher as a scientist. Certainly his theories relating matter, energy, space, time and gravity have guided much of the work in theoretical physics since 1905.
His famous "thought experiments," based on intuition and imagination rather than laboratory work, propelled us beyond the mechanistic, unchanging "clockwork universe" of Newton and the other classical physicists into a relativistic universe. Here, in this crazy world, clocks run slower or faster depending on the speed of travel or location in the universe, and "true" distances are stretched or shrunk by gravity. Einstein's legacy is a universe in which space and time are woven into a single fabric -- spacetime. It is matter that causes spacetime to curve and whose motion and properties are, in turn, altered by that curvature.
If all this seems a bit baffling, relax. With a bit of persistence you'll get the gist!
Einstein's college record as an unenthusiastic student is fairly well known. So, too, his independence and questioning of authority, all of which may have prevented him from landing an entry-level academic position once he graduated in 1900 with a degree in physics. Yet despite this unpromising start, Einstein changed the world through the power of his unconventional and extreme imagination.
Einstein had many role models, and one of his larges was the late Isaac Newton. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity challenged long-held notions about space and time that had been established over two centuries earlier by Newton. He wanted to explore new worlds and find new things out for himself, so he started experimenting and the rest is history, or the future, or even right now!
One of the foremost pioneers of modern science, Einstein's role model, Isaac Newton developed his three laws of motion and a theory of gravity, not to mention the calculus needed to develop and express these theories in math! He set his concepts in a framework of space and time which he (like everyone else at that time) assumed to be absolute. For two centuries that omission was overshadowed by his triumphs in celestial mechanics and optics.
What, in essence, were the key concepts in Newton's theory of gravitation? Masses experience an attractive force between them, a force which acts at a distance, resulting in their acceleration toward each other. The strength of that force depends on the size of the masses and is inversely proportional to square of the distance between them. In Newton's universe, space existed independent of the matter in it. Both space and time were absolute, regardless of the motion of the observer and the matter contained within space. No substance controlled the motions of the moon, Earth and planets; only the force of gravity. But Newton's theory of gravitation was a "descriptive" theory; it didn't explain how the force of gravity was exerted, a fact that has an interesting parallel in Einstein's work and which remains a hot topic for future research.
Isaac Newton's 17th-century description of gravity became obsolete as the clouds parted on May 29, 1919, and the Sun and Moon aligned in an eclipse. Images of known stars confirmed what Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity" predicted: the Sun's gravity acts like a lens and deflects light from distant stars, making them appear in new locations.
Newton's laws satisfactorily explained most phenomena studied for the next two hundred years. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, as measuring devices grew more and more precise, the list of puzzling inconsistencies was growing. It was this law that urged Einstein to explore and create. Using Newton's Method, he came up with this parallel universe that uses time and distance to measure things just as our universe does, but it is all relative to the postition of the object during the measurement. It seems extremely complex, but what by Einstein isn't? I mean, we still don't know what E=mc2 means!!
As far as I can tell, Einstein's legacy is nothing but a stretch of the imagination. He loved science and mathematics and everything about them, so he used that love to his advantage to explore new things and create new and exciting experiments that would prove to himself and the rest of the world that with a little imagination and a lot of will power, anything can be done.
"Einstein saw the universe as a puzzle, and he delighted in trying to solve its mysteries. All he needed to contemplate the cosmos was his most valuable scientific tool—his imagination."
Although he is regarded as one of the most brilliant mathematical physicists of the century, Einstein thought of himself as much as a philosopher as a scientist. Certainly his theories relating matter, energy, space, time and gravity have guided much of the work in theoretical physics since 1905.
His famous "thought experiments," based on intuition and imagination rather than laboratory work, propelled us beyond the mechanistic, unchanging "clockwork universe" of Newton and the other classical physicists into a relativistic universe. Here, in this crazy world, clocks run slower or faster depending on the speed of travel or location in the universe, and "true" distances are stretched or shrunk by gravity. Einstein's legacy is a universe in which space and time are woven into a single fabric -- spacetime. It is matter that causes spacetime to curve and whose motion and properties are, in turn, altered by that curvature.
If all this seems a bit baffling, relax. With a bit of persistence you'll get the gist!
Einstein's college record as an unenthusiastic student is fairly well known. So, too, his independence and questioning of authority, all of which may have prevented him from landing an entry-level academic position once he graduated in 1900 with a degree in physics. Yet despite this unpromising start, Einstein changed the world through the power of his unconventional and extreme imagination.
Einstein had many role models, and one of his larges was the late Isaac Newton. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity challenged long-held notions about space and time that had been established over two centuries earlier by Newton. He wanted to explore new worlds and find new things out for himself, so he started experimenting and the rest is history, or the future, or even right now!
One of the foremost pioneers of modern science, Einstein's role model, Isaac Newton developed his three laws of motion and a theory of gravity, not to mention the calculus needed to develop and express these theories in math! He set his concepts in a framework of space and time which he (like everyone else at that time) assumed to be absolute. For two centuries that omission was overshadowed by his triumphs in celestial mechanics and optics.
What, in essence, were the key concepts in Newton's theory of gravitation? Masses experience an attractive force between them, a force which acts at a distance, resulting in their acceleration toward each other. The strength of that force depends on the size of the masses and is inversely proportional to square of the distance between them. In Newton's universe, space existed independent of the matter in it. Both space and time were absolute, regardless of the motion of the observer and the matter contained within space. No substance controlled the motions of the moon, Earth and planets; only the force of gravity. But Newton's theory of gravitation was a "descriptive" theory; it didn't explain how the force of gravity was exerted, a fact that has an interesting parallel in Einstein's work and which remains a hot topic for future research.
Isaac Newton's 17th-century description of gravity became obsolete as the clouds parted on May 29, 1919, and the Sun and Moon aligned in an eclipse. Images of known stars confirmed what Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity" predicted: the Sun's gravity acts like a lens and deflects light from distant stars, making them appear in new locations.
Newton's laws satisfactorily explained most phenomena studied for the next two hundred years. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, as measuring devices grew more and more precise, the list of puzzling inconsistencies was growing. It was this law that urged Einstein to explore and create. Using Newton's Method, he came up with this parallel universe that uses time and distance to measure things just as our universe does, but it is all relative to the postition of the object during the measurement. It seems extremely complex, but what by Einstein isn't? I mean, we still don't know what E=mc2 means!!
As far as I can tell, Einstein's legacy is nothing but a stretch of the imagination. He loved science and mathematics and everything about them, so he used that love to his advantage to explore new things and create new and exciting experiments that would prove to himself and the rest of the world that with a little imagination and a lot of will power, anything can be done.
"Einstein saw the universe as a puzzle, and he delighted in trying to solve its mysteries. All he needed to contemplate the cosmos was his most valuable scientific tool—his imagination."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
HOLOGRAPHY
There are many different ways to create photos. Some of these ways include digital, flash, polaroid and even painting. One of the most interesting ways though is by using holograms...or holography. By definition, holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that it appears as if the object is in the same position relative to the recording medium as it was when recorded. So, in easier terms...basically it's the process of making a picture, but the result is 3D! Pretty sweet, right?
Holography was invented in 1947 by Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabon for which he received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1971. The discovery was an unexpected result of research into improving electron microscopes at the British Thomson-Houston Company in Rugby, England. This was a huge step in the world and works of physics in the early centuries because this opened up a whole world of new possibilities.
Several types of holograms can be made. Transmission holograms, such as those produced by Leith and Upatnieks, are viewed by shining laser light through them and looking at the reconstructed image from the side of the hologram opposite the source. A later refinement, the "rainbow transmission" hologram allows more convenient illumination by white light rather than by lasers or other monochromatic sources. Rainbow holograms are commonly seen today on credit cards as a security feature and on product packaging. These versions of the rainbow transmission hologram are commonly formed as surface relief patterns in a plastic film, and they incorporate a reflective aluminium coating which provides the light from "behind" to reconstruct their imagery. Another kind of common hologram, the reflection or Denisyuk hologram, is capable of multicolour image reproduction using a white light illumination source on the same side of the hologram as the viewer.
One of the most promising recent advances in the short history of holography has been the mass production of low-cost solid-state lasers—typically used by the millions in DVD recorders and other applications, but which are sometimes also useful for holography. These cheap, compact, solid-state lasers can under some circumstances compete well with the large, expensive gas lasers previously required to make holograms, and are already helping to make holography much more accessible to low-budget researchers, artists, and dedicated hobbyists.
Though holography is often referred to as 3D photography, this is a misconception. A better analogy is sound recording where the sound field is encoded in such a way that it can later be reproduced. In holography, some of the light scattered from an object or a set of objects falls on the recording medium. A second light beam, known as the reference beam, also illuminates the recording medium, so that interference occurs between the the two beams. The resulting light field is an apparently random pattern of varying intensity which is the hologram. It can be shown that if the hologram is illuminated by the original reference beam, a light field is diffracted by the reference beam which is identical to the light field which was scattered by the object or objects. Thus, someone looking into the hologram 'sees' the objects even though they may no longer be present. There are a variety of recording materials which can be used, including photographic film - these are listed below.
These three images of the same hologram were taken by positioning the camera at three positions, moving from left to right. Note that the pawn appears on the left side of the king in the left photo, but transitions to the right of the king as you sweep your eye across the hologram. This is real parallax, which tells you that the image is truly 3-dimensional. Each perspective corresponds to looking through the hologram at a particular point.
Holograms are extremely interesting and fun to work with. Perhaps in the future, holograms will be used for advertisements and even in everyday life. Maybe instead of having pictures hanging on the wall, we will have holograms sitting around! You never know!!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Solar Power, Wind Power, Hydro Power & Tidal Power
There are so many different types of energy in the world. Some use water, some use the sun, while others use the wind. Everything uses a different type of energy...so let's explore a few of the different kinds!
Solar Power
Solar powered devices get thier energy from the sun. The sun produces heat and light energy that can be converted into electricity to run many different products. This is probably the most commonly known source of energy. It has been around since the ancient Greeks discovered that the sun was an excellent source of more than just light! There are many products that are solar powered including things as small as calculators and things as large as homes! Solar energy is a very efficient way to supply energy and power to a home.
Wind Power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. This is the cleanest way to obtain energy because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by not using fuel or other sources of oil to be produced. The most commonly seen turbines include three arms, which continue to spin around, creating useful energy. Wind energy is a very efficient way to run a smaller area, but when used to supply a larger demand, it gets pretty costly!
Hydro Power
Hydropower or "hydraulic power" is the force or energy of moving water. Before the widespread of today's commercial electrical companies, hydropower was the main source of energy around the world. Some of the most common uses were used for irrigation, and operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile machines, and sawmills. By the energy produced by the water, a trompe is able to be put into use. This is a tool that produces compressed air from falling water, which could then be used to power other machinery at a distance from the water. Using hydropower is another really clean way to produce energy.
Tidal Power
Tidal power, or tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that uses the movements of water waves to produce energy. It is not as widely used as the other forms of power and energy, but it is a lot more predictable than any of the others. This kind of power has been being used in Europe for hundreds of years, the energy it produces is used in grain mills to grind the grain.
All of these types of energy are very efficient and easy to use. I think that in the future, we will be seeing a lot more solar powered objects because using solar power is a lot more Earth friendly. Plus, without all of that gas being used, maybe the price of it will go down!! (wishful thinking right, ya i know)
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