How can a match stick be light up with a magnifying glass? (REGISTER NO. 24)

Firstly, you need to know how a magnifying glass works.

A magnifying glass is a convex lens. That means that the magnifying glass consists of two sides of glass and that it is thicker in the middle than the outer edges. That shape of the glass distorts the way we see the image on the other side.



How the image gets distorted is because of the rays that was refracted. The rays are refracted to a focused area called focal point. As we look at the magnifying glass, it is of course magnified. It is the bending of light.




So how did the matchstick get lit up? HOW?!
There is only one simple concept behind this. As the light rays gets refracted to one point, so is the heat. The parellel heat and light rays from the sun got refracted into the focal point through the lens. Thus, lighting up a matchstick.

Networking project for chemistry (Register no. 24)

1)How many images would you get for an object that is placed between two mirrors placed at an angle less than 90(degrees)?

If an object is placed infront of the mirror which is around 45 degree, it will show 7 to 8 images. If you place the mirrors at an angle lesser than 45degree, you get to see approximately 9 to 10 images. This means that the lesser the angle of the two mirrors, the more image will be shown on the mirror.


2) What happens to the images of this angle if it is bigger than 90(degrees)?

As mentioned ealier, lesser than 45 degree angle of the two mirror show 9 to 10 images, mirror placed at 45degree angle will show 7 to 8 images. In this manner, you can see that the more the degree angle of the mirror, the lesser images were formed. So if it is more than 90 degree, the images shown will be decreased.


3) How do mirrors produce funny images?

There are three types of mirror. Only two types of them produces wierd and funny images. It is the concave and convex mirrors. Both types of mirror has an axis is at the middle. Concave mirrors are mirrors that are bent in around the axis area. Due to this pattern, the light shone on it will be reflected towards point F as shown on the picture below.






http://www.splung.com/content/sid/4/page/concavemirrors

The other type of mirror is a convex mirror, the area around the axis is bent out. Due to this opposite pattern of a concave, its property about light will be opposite too. Instead of bending inwards, the light will be bent outwards




http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refln/u13l4a.cfm

For convenience, few kitchen tools can compare to the microwave oven. An estimated 90 percent of American households have one and most of us have used a microwave to reheat leftovers.The technology has spread around the world, apparently with scant or virtually no research by regulators into possible harmful effects. It wasn’t until 1975 that the Journal of Food Science first cast doubt on the safety of microwaved food. Studies with microwaved broccoli and carrots revealed the molecular structures of nutrients were deformed to the point of destroying cell walls, while the cell structures stayed intact after conventional cooking. There have been few studies since. The only reference to food quality that I found says, “foods cooked in a microwave oven may keep more of their vitamins and minerals because microwave ovens can cook more quickly and without adding water.”A Spanish study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 contradicts that. The Spanish scientific research council found that microwave cooking destroys at least some important nutrients in vegetables. Microwaved broccoli lost 97 percent, 74 percent and 87 percent of three cancer-protecting antioxidants (flavonoids, sinapics and caffeoyl-quinic derivatives). Steamed broccoli lost 11 percent, 0 percent and 8 percent of these compounds. Another team of Stanford University researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics that re-heating human breast milk in a microwave even at low settings can destroy lysozyme, a compound that fights bacterial infections.Japanese research reported in Science News in 1998 said microwaving destroys vitamin B-12. Six minutes of microwave cooking destroyed half the B-12 in meat and dairy, a much higher rate than from conventional cooking.Lancet medical journal reported that heating baby formula in a microwave changed its chemistry. Dr. Lita Lee found that microwaving converts some trans-amino acids into synthetic substances similar to unhealthy trans-fatty acids; one amino acid, L-proline, reportedly converted to a substance that’s reputed to be toxic to the nervous system and kidneys.Russian research reported by The Journal of Natural Sciences in 1998 found that people who ate microwaved food had a statistically higher incidence of stomach and intestinal cancers, digestive disorders, and lymphatic malfunctions causing degeneration of the immune system.Microwaving milk and cereal grains and plants such as root vegetables reportedly created cancer-causing agents. The Russians found that thawing frozen fruits or microwaving vegetables, raw or cooked — even briefly — caused chemical alterations. Microwaving reduced availability of vitamins B, C, E and essential minerals in all foods tested, and destroyed the nutritional value of nucleoproteins in meats. Swiss food scientist Dr. Hans Hertel.

So to be exact, microwaving food isn't good. It eventually kills all the antioxidants and vitamins which are require in your body.

http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0601/sc0601-microwave.html

Does burnt food cause cancer? Someone said to me that burnt food was "as dangerous as a cigarette", which is a pretty big claim, so I've been searching the web and some research databases, looking for evidence. The sites I found refer mostly to meat products being cooked with grilling/broiling methods... these methods tend to burn the outside of the meat. It's official. The federal government now has added agents commonly found in overcooked meat to the list of potential cancer causers.

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/29291

Cancer...

http://images.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=cancer&imgurl=http://www.allthingsbeautiful.com/all_things_beautiful/images/metastasizing_cancer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.allthingsbeautiful.com/all_things_beautiful/2005/12/index.html&usg=__OAHn7Q2vW-a89Xm2BzlPA-1E8vE=&h=589&w=700&sz=72&hl=en&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=gHZQnMnLqbWxlM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcancer%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&sa=N&tbs=isch:1&start=0#tbnid=gHZQnMnLqbWxlM&start=0

http://images.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=burnt%20food&imgurl=http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/britain/walesgeneral/bbq_sausages3965.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/britain/walesgeneral/slides/bbq_sausages3965.htm&usg=__rcLYfbfF6Mgcn3QniejjAuwdAL8=&h=1536&w=2048&sz=1190&hl=en&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=szScnQ9JZQRE5M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dburnt%2Bfood%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&tbs=isch:1&start=7#tbnid=szScnQ9JZQRE5M&start=11

Elearning part 3 - [Register number 24, Kenneth Chua]

1) People who live in more sunny areas get dark skin than those who live in less sunny environments due to clouds, like in Singapore! Like Thiru! Just joking! HAHA!
People who live in hotter climates get more curly hair and more open nose as a byproduct to reduce heat.
Link - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_the_sun_make_your_hair_go_lighter_but_your_skin_go_darker

2) Oil is basically used by plants as a store of energy, just like animals. Plants uses sugar and starches and they tend to be used in more ways than just fuel.
Fats and oils hold more energy, about double the energy. Seeds requires alot of energy to grow, thus, oil is the most efficient storage. That's why oils are usually made from vegetable seeds.
Link - http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1612/if-vegetables-are-low-fat-where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from

3) Cockroaches do not ahve blood pressure the way people do. They don't have a huge network of bloog vessels like that of humans, or tiny capillaries that you need a lot of pressure to flow blood through, they have an open circulatory system, which there's much less pressure in.
After you cut their heads off,very often their necks would just seal off by clotting.
They breath through spiracles, or little holes in each body segment. Plus, the cockroach brain does not control their own breathing and blood does not carry oxygen throughout the body. Rather, the spiracles pipe air directly to tissues through a set of tubes called tracheae.
Cockroaches are also cold-blooded, meaning they need much less food than humans do. An insect can survive for weeks on a meal it had in a day. As long as some predator dosen't eat them, they'll just stay quiet and sit around.
Link - http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-cockroach-can-live-without-head

* http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-drowning-cockroaches.html *
Please visit this website for the video about drowning cockroaches.

Elearning part 2 - [Register 24, Kenneth Chua]

Due to its feature, i believe its an animal that lives on both land and water. It's an animal that spend its time more underwater as it has webbed feet and a balancing tail. It might be an animal classified under mammal as it had a nose for breathing instead of gills, so it have to come back to the surface every few minutes to breathe in more oxygen. This animal might be consuming on underwater small fish / insects as it's tongue is long and have teeth for the chewing. The huge eyes and ears are the only way for it to search for food and running away from predators. When it comes to defending, it have a tricky defensive spikes on the back that prevents predators for staying too close to it. The spikes on the back acts like spikes from porcupine, if the predators got hit by one, it might die as the more it moves the more the spikes pierces into the body.

Invention of Microwave

Credits; as labeled: www.images.google.com.sg

By accident, several years before,two scientists invented the magnetron, a tube that produces microwaves.

Installing magnetrons in Britain抯 radar system, the microwaves were able to spot Nazi warplanes on their way

to bomb the British Isles. It was discovered that microwaves also cook food. Called the Radar Range, the first

microwave oven to go on the market was roughly as large and heavy as a refrigerator.

The idea of using microwave energy to cook food was accidentally discovered by Percy LeBaron Spencer of the

Raytheon Company when he found that radar waves had melted a candy bar in his pocket. Experiments showed

that microwave heating could raise the internal temperature of many foods far more rapidly than a

conventional oven.

In 1967, Amana, a division of Raytheon, introduced its domestic Radarange microwave oven, marking the

beginning of the use of microwave ovens in home kitchens. Although sales were slow during the first few years,

partially due to the oven抯 relatively expensive price tag, the concept of quick microwave cooking had arrived.

In succeeding years, Litton and a number of other companies joined the countertop microwave oven market.

By the end of 1971, the price of countertop units began to decrease and their capabilities were expanded.

The heating of the microwave is through the process called radiation and conduction. Conduction is the process

by which thermal energy is transmitted through a medium from one particle to another. The conduction took

place in the metal tray of the microwave. Conduction of thermal energy in metals is far better than in other solids.

This is because conduction takes place through vibrationg molecules as well as the free electrons in meatals.

When heated, the free electrons gain energy and moves faster. These electrons are free to travel in the spaces

between the molecules before colliding with other electrons and molecules and transferring some of their

energy to them. This process is much faster than the conduction by vibration of the molecules in the body.

Radiation is another kind of heating process, it is the transfer of thermal energy by electromagnetic waves.

For example of radiation is energy reaches us from the Sun. As there is a vacum between Earth and Sun. The Sun's

energy travels to Earth as electromagnetic waves at the speed of light. Just like the vacum spaces between the

heating source and the food.