Relativistic Classical Field Theories

Relativistic Classical Field Theories                   

Sam: Let’s do our project on hobos!

Carly: What do hobos have to do with science?

Sam: Aren’t they affected by gravity or something? (iCarly)

                One of the most generic science subjects is gravity. And it’s not just a song from the musical ‘Wicked’ or a song by Sara Bareilles. It relates to everything we do on Earth so it’s no wonder it’s talked about commonly in the scientific world. It’s responsible for the formation of the tides and keeping the planets to remain intact. Gravity is one of the four fundamental interactions, meaning the ways that particles interact with one another, along with electromagnetism, strong interaction and weak interaction.

                When most people hear the name Newton they imagine a boy sitting under an apple tree while an apple falls to the ground giving the boy a sudden “light bulb” thought and thus gravity came into the minds of humans. But in all actuality, the theory of gravity began with Galileo Galilei’s work in the late 1500’s and early 1600’s with his experiment in having balls fall from the Tower of Pisa until it hit the ground and measured how far they rolled down slopes. His experiment showed things that were very contrary to what Aristotle believed that objects with more weight accelerate faster. Then later, a short while after Galileo died, Isaac Newton expanded on his research using his own thoughts about the universe and his knowledge of mathematics. His theory consisted of the thought that an object with more mass exerted a greater force and pulled smaller objects, with less mass, toward it. From there Newton’s mind just kept going forward with the ideas. What if gravity reached out into space? What held up the orbits of the planets? With calculations and thought Sir Isaac Newton came up with ideas that changed the way people looked at the universe and understood it.

                So how gravity works is entirely different than just the history of it. It is common knowledge now that Newton defined gravity as a force and Albert Einstein concluding that gravity is due to the curvature of space-time (space-time being a single continuum that combines space and time). The more mass in an object, the more space around the object is warped. That’s why planets and the Earth can have things “fall into their orbit”. They go into a little dimple made by their massive matter and that’s why all of them stay in their proper place in orbit. This is all a part of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

                Believe it or not, there are alternatives to the general relativity theory. From the candid theories that just throw it out the opposing, such as Brans-Dicke theory, to the other theories that try to unite gravity with other forces, like the Kaluza-Klein theory, there are many that don’t believe simply in what Einstein had configured. Their rival ideas consist of adding to the general relativistic classical field theory and adding a scalar field. Although most people now only know of the most famous theory by Einstein, the other propositions for how the universe works are starting to get more and more credit.

                Gravity is entwined into our everyday lives. From the moon at night, to running laps during the day, gravity plays a big part in all of lives. And no matter what theory we put our beliefs in, the truth that some sort of force, pull, or field keeps everything in line has been there and will be there for as long as we all can guess.

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brans%E2%80%93Dicke_theory

·         http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question232.htm

·         http://icarly-transcript.seesaa.net/article/156837581.html

·         http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blnewton.htm

Space Launch System

Space Launch System

Ever since 1958 when National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) replaced the foregoer National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) there has been great programs and missions coming from it. From Project Mercury to Project Gemini to the famous Apollo moon-landing mission one may start to wonder what will be coming next. Well on September 14, 2011 NASA made public that a new design for the Space Launch System had been chosen.

The Space Launch System, also known as the SLS, is a design that, when completed, will be used to take NASA’s astronauts deeper into space than America has ever gone before. Reason for doing this is, more or less, to start a new era for future space investigation. Also, as stated on the NASA website, they explain, “We will learn more about how the solar system formed, where Earth's water and organics originated and how life might be sustained in places far from our Earth's atmosphere and expand the boundaries of human exploration. These discoveries will change the way we understand ourselves, our planet, and its place in the universe.” (NASA website)
           
            The blueprint for this new program has been elaborately drawn and measured to scale. The actual objects that make up the SLS are an initial crew shuttle and an evolved cargo shuttle. Each of these has been created to suit its own special needs. While they both have a core stage and space shuttle main engines, the crew shuttle includes a multi-purpose crew vehicle, solid rocket boosters, and a launch abort system. The cargo shuttle consists of solid (or liquid) rocket boosters, an upper stage with a different J-2X engine, and a cargo fairing that helps the craft reduce drag.

            Sizing is important in this program. 320 feet will be the size of the crew’s craft. And will way roughly 5.5 million pounds. But that’s a mere nothing compared with the cargo craft; it will be measuring in at 400 feet and 6.5 million pounds! How much weight they will be taking is pretty impressive too. Crew shuttle will be taking 70 metric tons into orbit. The cargo spacecraft will be carrying almost two times that at 130 metric tons.

            Although on the U.S. Space Launch System Fun Facts sheet it says that this program is a “safe, affordable, and sustainable to advance America’s exploration of space” (NASA website), one might get a different feel for the price while looking at the estimated expenses for this trip into space. When NASA first announced their exciting new program they said that the estimated development cost would be $18 billion with SLS being completed with building in 2017. The amount has been split into three sections. With $10 billion heading towards the SLS rocket itself, $6 billion being spent for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) which will be a back-up for the commercial cargo and crew and the other $2 billion for the launch pad upgrades and other places being used at the Kennedy Space Center (Wikipedia). Just to throw this out there, I don’t know many people who just have that sort of money sitting in their wallets ready to jump out and go to space. Nonetheless, Lori Garver, the NASA Deputy Administrator, conveyed that NASA been “driving down the costs […] by adopting new ways of doing business and project hundreds of millions of dollars of savings each year” (NASA website).

            As for the total schedule this SLS project is going to be on, it’s pretty darn exciting. Even though it’s very fundamental and unofficial, since the project is still in its first stages, this is a worst case scenario budget outline. As stated above, the deadline for the actual completion of the spacecraft and launch pad is in six years in 2017. Then the same year in December NASA would send the MPCV on its very first unmanned trip around the Moon. Again in August 2019 it would be sent on another one. In more than a decades time (August 2024) SLS Cargo configuration will be having its first launch. A year later there will be a manned “exploration” mission. In August of the consecutive years after that there will be a cargo launch, a manned launch, another cargo launch, yet another manned launch, new configuration with a cargo launch, a manned mission, and finally ending up in August of 2032 they’d have an additional new configuration with a cargo launch (Wikipedia). Another thought is that if NASA’s budget doesn’t get tied down as much we could be moving a lot faster than this. Instead of this whole schedule taking up 21 years since now it could be moving a lot quicker. Maybe even cut off almost a decade.

            After all of this, who knows? We could be on our way to collect rocks off of Saturn. So many things can happen because of this project, so many doors can be opened unto us if we just let it. What NASA’s doing with the resources it’s given and the challenge from President Barak Obama to be bold and dream big about space exploration is amazing. It is completely obvious that now we have the next huge mark in the outer space realm in America’s hands because of the Space Launch System from NASA.

Personal Narrative

Easter Time

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

-King James Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:11

            The innocent, carefree days were always the best. Enjoying the company of my family, being able to joke around. Although, through ages six to eleven I didn’t really get to see many of those moments. Those were the years when my brother, who is two years older than me, and I would be in a constant state of rage and hatred against each other. Hair would be pulled and faces punched. It was a miracle if my mum could make it through a day without having to break apart a fight. But even though I’m completely aware that 98% of the time was spent like that, it’s the other 2% times that are fresh in my mind.

            Picture perfect Easter Sunday is as welcome as a present when I wake up in my room, decorated so exact for a six year old who didn’t notice. Chocolate is on my mind, although I know church comes first. I pull on my pink Easter dress, oh so proud that I could do it by myself, and I stalk out of my room like I own the place. Everyone is relatively ready to leave for church and I find it a startling surprise when there has not been a single argument in the car between my brother and I. And that is it. That sets me in an excellent mood.

            By the time we get in our car after church, my three older brothers and even my 18 month old baby brother have caught the giggles, and we are joking around like best friends. My mother can hardly believe it. When we arrive home, my mother makes us stand outside as she runs in. She comes out, camera in hand, and lines us up. We are out there for at least 45 minutes with my mother telling us where to stand and how to tilt our heads, but we barely notice. Jokes and funny stories are being told by my oldest brother and even my mother adds in a few of her own. “Knock-knock!”

            “Who’s there?” us kids scream in chorus.

            The sun is in the sky and the air warm when we go back into my house, laughter still ringing through my head like a choir. ‘I wish everyday could be like this,’ I thought as we sat down to dinner. But I know it’s impossible.

            Harmony in my home is practically never ending now, with only the occasional fight breaking out like bad acne. My brother, who I had thought to be my worst enemy is now one of my best friends. Laughter is used commonly for inside jokes and new stories. And though I would never fathom this before, love is a strong spirit within my family. And on those special “2%” days I have learned what really had taken place; we all forgave each other for the things the other days we would’ve considered inexcusable. We trusted each other and we were honest. That is the basis for the relationship I have with them now. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

"The Masque of the Red Death"

“Masking the Signs”

            Symbolism is a tricky literary device used by many famous authors. Such authors like W. W. Jacobs, Robert Frost, and Edger Allan Poe. While a common literary device used in the world of short stories, books, and poems, there is a certain technique to hiding a deeper meaning in a piece of writing. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe has symbolism to portray a more profound religious meaning.

            In this short story there are seven completely separate rooms, each expressing its own feeling by use of color. The first six rooms in this story are relevant to the time humans will spend on Earth as mortals. The reader can see that trace of symbolism using the knowledge that in the Christian world, people believe that God created this world in six days and the seventh day he rested; a day in Gods eyes is equal to about 1,000 years here on Earth. After that, most believe that God has given His children another six days to live on Earth and enjoy all it has to offer and on the seventh day His Son will come again. As the guests of the masque go about from one solidly colored room to the next one can get the feeling that the time on Earth is going by, getting closer and closer to the day when Jesus Christ will come again and the wicked shall be burned.
            In addition to that, Poe has put in some scriptural references. Near the end of the story at the scene when the ebony clock has just struck twelve and the presence of a mysterious masked figure has just been noticed and disapprobation spread throughout the party, the author wrote, “But the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod.”  Herod was a king during the era that Jesus was born and acted intensely when he ordered all the babies two years old and under to be killed. When Poe says “out Heroded Herod,” he is explaining the thing that the masquerade guests were murmuring of: that what this stranger did by dressing up like the Red Death was unnecessary and extreme considering their situation. 
            Simultaneously, the renowned writer makes the characters another example of this literary device. In the story, the Prince Prospero was happy and joyful, thinking he could escape this plague because of the position he was in and the power he had to construct a large barrier between him and the outside world that was full of disease. There are people in this world who don’t agree with Christians in the idea that God may come again to this Earth and they try and block out everything dealing with that. They may even go as far as to belittle those that do. Much like the Prince in the end when he confronts the Red Death by going up to him and demanding, “Who dares? […] Who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery?” The guests who fear this stranger and shy away represent those that fear God and his power. Guests who jump after him and attempt to hurt him and reveal the underlying personage can show the reader that they more like the Prince Prospero.

            Reading writings by more advanced authors, a reader can become more familiar with the presence of symbolism. Edger Allan Poe gracefully wrote “The Masque of the Red Death” and inserted symbolism that depicted a modern Christian world that one can pick-up while reading it. 

Footsteps We Take

Footsteps We Take

            Since the day we’re born all we hear is comparisons between us and our parents. “Oh, you have your mother’s eyes!” “You are defiantly your father’s son!” “You’re just as beautiful as your mother when she was your age!” Some may think we’re pre-destined to be the same as them, make the same mistakes, and choose the same career plan. The last one especially. I have heard countless times, “So you’re going to be a teacher like your father, aren’t you?” My answer is always answering to the effect that I don’t know yet. My father’s mother was a teacher and that’s why he became one. Unlike my mother who wanted nothing to do with her father’s job as a Chiquita Banana salesman (and I don’t blame her). There’s three ways a child could turn out. Yes, they are like their parents. No, they aren’t like their parents. And also, that nobody’s quite sure yet.

            Political parents produce political children. Adults who make up their own business leave it to their children to keep it going. Military equals military. Farmers equal more farmers. It’s just something people have observed over their lives. My father told me once that when he was figuring out what to do with his life he figured he might as well either be a farmer (what his father and both brothers were doing) or a teacher (what his mother did). Tons of studies have shown that kids often end up imitating their parents and their actions. This includes with their jobs, relationships, and just their plain out attitudes. So it would make sense that people would think we’re ‘pre-determined’.

            In disagreement with that, some people have found all the negative effects of the occupation from watching their parents go through it. Some may think that the job is to time consuming. That it doesn’t make enough money. Maybe the job just doesn’t appeal to them (like, for example, selling bananas). Each of us has our own lives, our own personalities, and our own decisions to make. So it’s impossible for some to think that our parents’ choices influence ours to that great of an extent.

            Otherwise, nobody’s ruling out anything. Anything, in this case, is game. Just because our parents chose that job doesn’t mean we have to (or can’t) choose the same job. It’s crazy to think that. People want to do what they feel comfortable with, what they enjoy doing. Is it wrong to think that their parents might have just shown them the pros or cons to a career choice? Not really, parents share their knowledge with their children. It’s what happens. So whatever goes is good. There’s no superstition. Not a pre-determined fate that will defiantly happen.

            It’s pretty much a universal thing when you’re compared to your parents. In one way, shape, or form I bet it’s at least happened once to all of us. But do we really follow in our parents’ footsteps? Some may think so, others may not. Some can’t be sure yet because they don’t feel like they’re sure about their future plans. Which ever they choose, they have to fit in one of those three things. Eventually one thing will be chosen. The footprints will be their own. Even if it is behind their parents footprints, it will be it’s own separate pair of footprints. “To each his own.”

The Freshmen Years

The Freshmen Years

            My mum was a freshman in the years 1975 and 1976. Throughout this time there were many things going on. From kidnappings gone wrong to just the little town events, my mother lived through them all. Of course, not all of them were good things or even exciting. But they are the things that made up my mum’s life as a freshman.

            My mother lived in Louisiana for her high school years. And as most people think of it, Louisiana equals Mardi Gras! With parades, parties, and no school one may ask, “What’s not to love about Mardi Gras?” Well for my mother, it was everything. She hated the parades where everyone pushed for beaded necklaces and to get near the front they practically crawled over each other. “I don’t like it,” Perazzo said frankly, “People get drunk; they are stepping all over your hands.” So instead of attending the parades with her friends, she spent her off days from school babysitting for her neighbors. And since everyone was off partying and the demand for babysitting was so high, she got paid pretty well. Still, to this day her feelings remain the same. “It’s just a reason for people to sin and I don’t like it” (Perazzo).

            What’s one thing that brings people together from all over no matter what the season, weather, time, or day? The answer is simple: sports. My mother followed one team constantly. The New Orleans Jazz basketball team that later moved on to become the Utah Jazz. They played in New Orleans 1974/75 to 1978/79. In their second year of playing as a team, they moved into the Louisiana Superdome (Sports). My mother made sure to note that they weren’t the best players but always had a strong group of fans to support them through anything (Perazzo).

            Due to old age, my mother can’t remember much about anything these days, but something she does remember is the Patty Hearst kidnapping. Patty Hearst was a granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst; he was a legendary newspaper publisher. She was kidnapped by the self-proclaimed members of the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4^th 1974. But what really shocked America was when she proceeded by helping her kidnappers rob a bank only two months later on April 15^th and wanted to be known as her pseudonym ‘Tania’. She later returned to her family and pleaded that the Symbionese Liberation Army had brainwashed her (TruTV). The Patty Hearst case was a big deal when my mum was in high school. But the only thing she says now about it is “You're a rich girl and you're goin' too far; ‘Cause you know it don't matter any way; you can rely on the old man's money--And you can quote me on that one” (Perazzo).

            The Iranian Revolution was also going on throughout all my mother’s high school years. Around this time, the Shah, what they call their king, was just barely allowed access into the United States for medical care. There were tons of people in Iran who were infuriated with him. Militant Iranians were upset because they thought he was stealing billions of dollars for his own personal use. This anger caused them to storm the U.S. Embassy in Teheran and take 66 Americans hostage. The Iranians demanded that the Shah be turned over to them so they could put him on trial. Thirteen Americas were released but they couldn’t find a way to bring back the other 53. President Carter sent out a military rescue but it failed. The other hostages were finally released in a negotiation on January 20, 1981 (NovaOnline).

            1975 and 1976 were years filled with plenty of exciting events. Those were my mum’s freshmen years. She listened about Patty Hearst on the radio and even got school off occasionally for holidays that we don’t get off here in (our town). All in all, those years were defiantly a big part of my mum’s life. The years she has come to call The Freshmen Years.

Notes

Evans, C.T. NovaOnline. Virginia Community College System, 2000. Web. 3 March 2011.

Fleming, Frank. Sports Encyclopedia. Tank Productions. Web. 9 March 2011.

Perazzo, Elizabeth. Personal Interview. 2 February 2011.

Ramsland, Katherine. TruTV. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Web. 1 March 2011.

Paper Chromatography of Plant Pigments

Paper Chromatography of Plant Pigments….

Exciting, isn’t it?

            Paper chromatography, in a nutshell, is separating the mixture of a plant so you can easily identify the components. It is a form of partition chromatography. And since I am merely a freshman and my mum did this stuff back when she was a junior or senior, I had to look it up. I read that it had something to do with the division of the solutes that I used between two liquid phases. Still kind of confusing and that is why I decided to try out the experiment. I got an outline of the experiment from Source #3 and I just got to work on it.

            So what this experiment was showing me was extracting the pigments in a plant’s leaves by the process of paper chromatography. I started with chopped up pine tree needles (since it’s winter I couldn’t find any nice green coniferous leaves). Now I regret to say I didn’t measure anything in this process because frankly, I’m just too darn lazy. I put the itsy-bitsy pieces of the needles, put them in a jar, and just barely covered it with some 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Then I put a lid on the jar and stuck it in some hot water for half an hour. Yep! And since nobody would answer quick enough on Yahoo & I couldn’t find it on Google, I asked my mum. She assumed that the heat of the water was helping to extract the chlorophyll from the tree’s needle and put it in the alcohol. Then afterward I took my great uncle’s coffee filters and cut some strips and put one end in the alcohol + pine needles and the other end outside the jar. Honestly though, I’m pretty darn sure I did something wrong. But I don’t know what it’s originally supposed to look like so I can’t tell.

            So finally after letting some of the alcohol evaporate I took out the oh-so-lovely coffee filter strips and there were mysterious lines (which was the whole point of this in the first place) but the problem was that I had no idea what they were. So when in doubt…. Google. Thousands of websites but Source #1 gave me “In this process, various pigments will separate along the chromatography paper depending on polarity of the pigments.  The most polar will be in the lowest band on the paper, while the least polar will be in the uppermost band.” Well yeah, thanks for the help! Because I totally understand that… well I go back to Google. I learned…. Nothing actually. I searched for an hour and I couldn’t learn a single thing. But I have a feeling that I will learn about it in class so no worries there.

            Paper chromatography is pretty darn cool. It’s amazing how some of the lines will form depending of polarity (which I still don’t know what that is). All in all, I think my experiment showed to be a success. It taught me something and the most amazing thing is that I think I actually preformed it correctly! Yes, I do kind of feel on top of the world right now.

Sources:

1) http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/jiwilliams/Paper%20Chromatography.htm

2) http://www.answers.com/topic/paper-chromatography\

3) http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/paperchroma.htm

4) http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/paper+chromatography

5) http://www.google.com