alvin

What did you do?

Today in class we first went in to our groups and preformed 2 different experiments. One called ‘Plates that Separate’ and the other called ‘Colliding Plates’. We then finished writting up the practical and answered the questions concerning the experiment. At the end of the lesson we had to hand up our prac reports from the previous lesson for Sir to mark.

What did we investigate?

Today my group investigated two different things. First of which was to investigate how the plates separate and what causes that to happen. The last one was to see what happens when three different types of plates would collide into each other.

What did you learn today?

After conducting the experiment and answering the questions provided in the book, I have learnt about how lava from deep below the ocean floor comes up from under group and how it is able to change the look of plate (this what creates ocean ridges but after many years).

 On the second experiemnt I have found out that depending on the type of plate another plate collids into depends on what it will form or how it will move.

Investigate the two types of sight defect- long-sightedness and short sightedness.

Find the following information:

a) what causes the defect

You are more likely to develop it if it runs in your family

You are more likely to develop myopia if it runs in your family

If your cornea is too curved

b) the symptoms displayed

Far objects become blurry but close objects are normal

Far objects are clear and normal but close objects become blurry

 c) propose what sort of lens may be used to correct each vision

The sort of lens that can be used to correct this defect is a concave lens as the light is passed through is bent into the eye directly and clearly.

Fibre optic technology offers many advantages when used in medical applications.

a.     describe how optical fibre may be used in medical applications

Optical fibers are used in medical procedures for example endoscope. Doctors and practitioners use optical fibers as cameras to easily and quickly explore certain problems. Optical fibers can also be used for communication applications. Optical fibers can transfer information using the law of internal refraction.

b.     identify the traditional medical techniques that optical fibres might replace

One traditional medical method is the examination of the internal structure of the body. For example: if the doctor needs to examine the patients body internally to see if everything is alright he would organize for the patient to go to theatre for an investigation. With optical fibers the doctor can just use a optical fiber camera into and around the person body and instantly see what he needs to see.

Evaluate the benefits of fibre optic technology to medicine;

The benefits of Optical Fiber to medicine is of the following:

• It will be easier and safer for the doctor too look around the persons body.
• easy way to transfer infomration and data around the hospital efficiently
• Video conferencing when another specialist doctor is need urgently, will be smoother and easier to conduct.

a) Research the qualifications and training required to be an astronaut

b) Research a current astronaut under the following headings
Name : Eric A. Boe (Lieutenant Colonel, USAF)
Employer:

National Aeronaitics and Space Administration, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centre
Houston, Texas 77058

Training: (couden’t find for this astronaut)
Country of residence: United States of America
Past missions: Selected as a pilot by NASA in July 2000, Boe reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 2000. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Advanced Vehicles Branch and Station Operations Branch. He next served as Director of Operations, Russia.
Future missions: Boe is assigned as pilot on STS-126 targeted for launch in October, 2008. Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, a second treadmill, equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware.

NASA has recently launched the phoenix mission. Research this mission under the following headings.

1. Objectives of the mission

The Phoenix lander targets this circumpolar region using a robotic arm to dig through the protective top soil layer to the water ice below and ultimately, to bring both soil and water ice to the lander platform for sophisticated scientific analysis.

Mission Goals;

• Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars

• Characterize the Climate of Mars

• Characterize the Geology of Mars

• Prepare for Human Exploration

Mission Main Objectives;

1. Study the history of water in the Martian arctic.

2. Search for evidence of a habitable zone and assess the biological potential of the ice-soil boundary.

2. Mission launch including spacecraft

Information form NASA

Spacecraft: Phoenix
Launch Vehicle: Delta ll
Launch Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 17-A
Launch Date: Aug. 4, 2007
Launch Time: 5:26:34 a.m. EDT

3. Currents events in the mission

Phoenix’s first mission will be to return data concerning information on the polar region of Mars providing an important contribution to the overall Mars science strategy “Follow the Water” and will be essential in achieving the four science goals of NASA’s long-term Mars Exploration Program.  - Goals said above.^

The movie ” Contact ” stared Jodie Foster as an astronomer who discovers signals from extraterrestrial intelligence and later makes contact. This character is rumoured to be based on a real – life SETI researcher, Jill Tarter. Research Jill’s contribution to the SETI program.

 Unit 3.3 The life of a star

Q1. A nebula is a vast cloud of gas and dust in space.

Q2. The main fuel in stars is hydrogen.

Q3. Burns hydrogen, red giant, burns helium, white dwarf

Q4. The limited hydrogen fuel will run out and our Sun will expand to form a red giant and eventually collapse to form a white dwarf. A star with a mass of ten Suns uses up its fuel more rapidly and becomes a blue supergiant and then expands to form a red supergiant which collapses, causing a supernova, resulting in a neutron star.

Q5. A pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star with a strong magnetic field. It emits radio waves that sweep across space.

Q6. A black hole is formed by the collapse of a star the size of many Suns.

Q7. We cannot see black holes because light cannot escape from them. We know they exist because of the X-rays emitted by them, and the behaviour of nearby stars.

Q8. The elements were produced when stars collapsed.

Q9. Blue supergiant, red supergiant, supernova, neutron star

Q10. You could not lift it.

Q11. Our region of the galaxy rotates around (rather than falling into) the black hole.

Gather information -

a) Hubble’s involvement in space research:

Ever since the Hubble Space telescope was launched in 1990, our knowledge of the universe has increased dramatically. The telescope orbits our Earth while taking pictures of the great distances of space. With many accurate readings (has revealed that our universe is 13 to 14 billion years old, compared to the previous assumpshion of 10 to 20 billion years), this is one telescope that will help us advance and broaden our knowledge of space for now and the future.

b) What the space telescope does:

The Hubble space telescope is one of the most long lasting and successful missions NASA has produced. What it mainly does is takes pictures of the universe. It is able to take pictures of great distances – far greater than a ground-based telescope.

c) Where  is it:

The telescope orbits our Earth. It is positioned above the atmosphere.

d) What Hubble’s constant is:

The Hubble Constant (Ho) is one of the most important numbers in cosmology because it is needed to estimate the size and age of the universe.           

- Courtesy http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/guidry/violence/hubble_constant.html

Answers to Questions in book (p.75-76)

Q1. The universe is thought to be 14 billion years old.

Q2.  It inflated a fraction of a second after the big bang.

Q3.  The left-over matter went on to form the universe, which includes us.

Q4.  Quarks formed protons and neutrons.

Q5.  a) 77% is hydrogen.    b) Hydrogen is the simplest atom, having only one proton at its centre.

Q6.  A hydrogen nucleus contains only a proton.

Q7.  It was crammed with particles that prevented light travelling far in a straight line.

Q8.  Electrons slowed down enough to form new types of atoms or elements. The fog cleared as more atomic particles combined to form new elements.

Q9.  The evidence was radiation from the afterglow of the big bang.

Q10.  COBE: Cosmic Background Explorer

Q11. Stars and galaxies are formed by matter collapsing under gravity.

Q12. ‘Baby’ planets grow by attracting other nearby matter.

Q13.  An open universe keeps expanding forever. A closed one eventually contracts into a ‘big crunch’. A flat universe expands at a decreasing rate, but doesn’t contract again.

Q14. Accelerating universe theory.