Isaac Newton

      Hey guys, back again with a new post for you all. Well great news, we are now done talking about atoms and chemicals and we are now going to talk about something completely new. Before we begin let me ask you a question. Have you ever wondered why you must study calculus, learn the three laws of physics, and why we can see the planets in such great detail? Well, you can thank or hate Sir Isaac Newton. Now that we know who we're talking about today, let's learn more about this interesting man.

Isaac Newton

 

      Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day 1642 in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, England. You may also see his birthday on January 4, 1642, and the reason why you would see Sir Isaac Newton with two birthdays is not because he was born on a leap year. The reason is that during this time period there were two calendars used in this time period, the Julius and the Gregorian calendar. Well, ok you think that is interesting, wait till you hear the next part of his life's story.

Isaac Newton's childhood home

 

      Isaac Newton was also born premature. In those times, being born premature would almost insure that you would die due to the lack of modern technology. Another major problem facing the young Newton is that his father died three months before his birth, and his parents were very poor. With these two factors in play, Isaac Newton had no chance of surviving, but he somehow did. The next major obstacle for him is that his family was poor and his mother could not afford his education, but a weird stroke of fate got him the resources needed for his education. Isaac Newton's mother married a sixty plus year old man named Reverend Barnabus Smith when Isaac was three years old. Because of his mother's choice, Newton was able to get the education he needed to go to Cambridge University and work on his more important pieces of science later on in life.  On the flip side, Isaac Newton had to live with his grandparents on his mother's side. He would not see her for some time until the next major disaster befell him.

Cambridge University

 

 

 

 

      In 1653 after the death of Isaac Newton's mother's second husband, she yanked the young Newton out of school to become a farmer. Luckily for him, he was a terrible farmer and returned to school at King's School at Grantham. After years of studies he finally made it into Cambridge University in June 1661. During his time at Cambridge, he got a Bachelors degree without honors or distinctions. Then, a tragedy of epic proportions struck the school and forced it to close its gates for two whole years.

The plague

 

 

 

      In 1665, a plague hit the schools and it was forced to close its doors for two whole years. Isaac Newton then had to return back home. During this time, he made some remarkable discoveries. It was during this time, he created his 'method of fluxions' or better known as calculus. So, he is the reason you will or already have sleepless nights trying to learn this "fun" mathematical principle. He also created his theory on light and his theory on planetary motion. His most famous piece of scientific discovery was his theory of gravity.

Newton's theories

 

      After many more discoveries, he was elected President of the Royal Society in 1703 and was reelected every time before his death on March 20, 1727.  He was also knighted by Queen Ann in 1705 for some work he did for the Royal Mint. He finally died on March 20, 1727 in London. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. He is one man that has truly changed science forever.


 



Westminster Abbey

 

      Thanks for reading my post, please leave a comment in the comment section down below, also check my ten facts about Isaac Newton.

 

1. Isaac Newton was very religious
2. He believed that he committed a sin by eating an apple at church
3. He stuck a needle in his eye
4. He worked for the Royal Mint
5. He was knighted by queen Ann for his work at the mint
6. He had no children
7. He never married
8. He created the first reflecting telescope
9. He was able to predict the flight pattern of Halley's comet correctly
10. Was known to have two major temper tantrums in his entire life

 

The Transfer of Heat

      Hey guys I'm back again with a new post for you all! Well, since its Diciembre and for those in the northern hemisphere it's a bit on the cold side, this post will be on a fun new topic. This topic keeps you warm, it has three ways of transfer, and you can't live without it. If you haven't figured it out it, it's heat! Now that we know what our topic is for today, get in your blankets and turn up the heat, because I'm going to talk about HEAT!

Heat

 

 

      Before we can learn anything about heat, we must learn what heat is. Heat is the transfer of thermal energy from object to object when the objects are of a different temperature. Heat is also one of the major reasons why life can survive and thrive on this planet, because without heat, we would not be able to cook food, clean clothes, wash dishes, and we would not be able to survive without it. Heat keeps us warm, keeps us clean, and is a major driving force of life. Now that we covered what heat is, let me tell you a secret. Heat can be transferred, and there are three ways that can happen.

 

The Sun

 

 

 

      The first type of heat transfer is conduction. Conduction is when heat is transferred from one object to another by direct contact. This type of heat transfer occurs mostly with solids and is best seen when cooking. Here is a real life example. You ( the cook) are making a nice hot pot of tomato soup. To get the soup to heat up, you turn the stove's temperature from low to high. As the heat stays on, the heat from the stove is transferred to the pot which then heats the soup in the pot. By the way, pots are made of metal because metals are conductors of heat. Conductors are objects that transfer heat energy well from one object to another like water and metals, but insulators like feathers and plastic are not good conductors because they reflect heat rather than absorb it. This is why you stay warm when you are wrapped up in a blanket.

 

conduction

 

 

      The next type of heat transfer is radiation. Radiation is when heat is transferred through electromagnetic waves. An example of this is the sun. When  you are outside on a hot summer day, and you notice that your ice cream has started to melt, but you haven't licked it: this is due to electromagnetic waves. The waves travel through the atmosphere and then travel through the ice cream causing it to melt. Pretty cool stuff right, but we still have one more to talk about.

 

 

radiation

 

      The final way that heat can be transferred is convection. Convection is the transfer of energy by the movement of liquids and gases. An example of this form of heat transfer is when you have a pot of boiling water. The hot water at the bottom of the pot rises to the top of the pot where it gets cooler, and due to the water getting cooler, it sinks back to the bottom of the pot where the process repeats itself. This is why you should put heating vents near the floor. The reason is because heat rises, so putting the heat near the ceiling is not a good a idea, because the heat would only heat the top of the room and not the bottom.

 

 

 convection

 

 

     Thanks for reading this week's post and also check out this video about heat transfer. Please leave a comment in the comment section down below.

 

Antiboitics NOT for kids?

      Hello, I'm back again and I have a new post for your enjoyment. Before I tell you what the article is about, let me ask you a question. Would you stop using antibiotics because of these new superbugs that have been just discovered? If you haven't figured it out yet, the article is about new guidelines that the CDC is trying to enforce. These new guidelines would make it harder for doctors to prescribe antibiotics to children! Ok, before you go and start a riot over these new guidelines, let's all learn why this is happening in the first place.

antibiotics

 

      The CDC has just released new guidelines that would make it more difficult for kids to be prescribed antibiotics. They have released these new and controversial guidelines for a few different reasons. The first one, which is their main concern, is that antibiotics are being overly prescribed to patients that don't have a bacterial infection at all. Many children who are prescribed antibiotics have ear or sinus infections, which are often caused by a virus and not by bacteria. Since you can't kill a virus with antibiotics, it is a futile effert to try and fix the situation. The best way to fix the problem based on new CDC guidelines is to let the virus run its course. Anther reason for the new guidelines is so that doctors can stop the development of super bugs (bacteria that is immune to antibiotics). The over prescription of antibiotics and people being negligent and not taking the full course of the medication and stopping when they feel better has caused certain strains of bacteria to evolve and become immune to certain antibiotics.

Deadly superbug

 

  

      Another major problem with antibioctics is that it has some negative side affects in both children and adults. The first one is that antibiotics kill probiotics or bacteria in your digestive system needed to break down certain foods. Without these good bacteria, people have reported stomach aches, nausea, shakes, low blood sugar, vomiting, and diarrhea. Another major problem with antibiotics is that your body can become resistant to the medication, which means that when you take the antibiotics, the body rejects the medication and the infection that you have will continue to grow.

 

Drug companies bottom line

 

 

 

      After all this, I find these new guidelines to be a great idea and should be a great benefit to the publics' overall health. I found it funny, but also sad that doctors are giving children antibiotics for what is most likely a virus and not a bacterial infection. This fact alone tells me that doctors have become lazy and are using antibiotics as a way to give parents a way to make them feel good that their child will get better, and also help drug companies make their bottom line. With these new guidelines, it would make it harder for doctors to use antibiotics as a scapegoat and it would make doctors have to do their work more diligently.

 

 

 

      Thanks for reading this week's post, and please leave a comment in the comment section down below.

 

 



      

Potential and Kinetic Energy

      Hey everybody, I'm back again with a new blog post and this one a bit different from the rest. I think that it's time to move on from the elements and matter and its states. It's time to talk about energy! In this new post, I will be talking about potential and kinetic energy and how they keep things  moving.   

LOL

 

      To understand potential and kinetic energy, we must understand what energy is. Energy in a nut shell is the thing that makes other things happen. An example of this is when you kick a soccer ball, the soccer ball moves and does not stay in the same position that it was in before you kicked it. Most of the time, you can't see energy. Energy also can't be created or destroyed, but it can be transferred or stored by an object. A quick fact: the Earth's main source of energy is the sun.



 

Messi



 

 

      Now that we have touched base on what energy is, let's talk about potential and kinetic energy. Potential energy is the energy an object has due to its position, shape, and the condition of the object. Kinetic energy on the other hand is the energy an object has due to its motion. The amount of kinetic energy depends on the object's speed and mass.







 

kinetic energy formula

 

      This all may be a little bit hard to understand, so I will give you a real life example to help you take in all this information. There is a five foot book shelf with two books on the shelf. One book on the shelf weighs one pound, and the other book weighs two pounds. The book that weighs two pounds has more potential energy because it has more mass, which means that it will have more kinetic energy if the book would leave its potential state. Now that we have the books on the shelf, let's see what happens when we bring them down.

 

 

The books

 

      Now that we know that the books have the potential energy, let's say that a person were to bump right into the book shelf. The books would then fall off the shelf and land on the floor. This is an example of kinetic energy, but let's make things a bit more interesting. Let's say that one book hit a lamp as it crashed to the ground and the lamp fell over. When that happened, the kinetic energy from the book was transferred to the lamp. Kinetic energy can be transferred from one object to another when the two objects collide. This same transfer of kinetic energy can be seen when a bowling ball hits the pins and knocks them over.

 



 

bowling

 

      Thanks for reading the post. Please leave a comment in the comment section down below.

 

 



 





Matter Changes States

      Hey viewers I'm back again with a new post. Sorry I have not posted anything new in some time, but I'm back and I will talk about something new today. Also, I'll be going back to my talks about matter again. Have you ever thought about why matter changes states, or how it does, or you just need a refresher course in the subject? Well, I will answer all these questions in this new post.

     

 

matter

 

      As we should all know, matter is anything that has mass and that takes up space. You are made up of matter, the room you are in is made of matter, and yes, the device you are using to view my blog is also made of matter too. Now that we got that out of the way, lets talk about the three basic states of matter. The three basic states of matter are solid, liquid and gas. Each are unique, but all have one thing in common. Let's first talk about the differences of the three states. First, a solid has a definite shape and definite volume, and an example of a solid is ice. All solids have a melting point, which is the temperature that a solid becomes a liquid. Ice's melting point is 33 degrees F. The next state of matter is a liquid. A liquid does not have a definite shape, but it does have a definite volume. Water is an example  of liquid and is the most abundant liquid on Earth. The last one is gas, and gases do not have a definite shape or volume. An example of a gas is carbon dioxide. Even though these states of matter seem very different, they all have one thing in common. They all still keep the same chemical properties of the substance, and an example of this is water.

water



      Now that we know the three basic states of matter, let's talk about how a substance changes states. Substances can change states by adding or taking away heat and pressure from a substance, but adding or taking away heat or pressure will not change the substance's chemical properties. I believe that we all know what melting, freezing, and vaporization is, but you may not have heard of sublimation, condensation, deposition, and the heat of vaporization. Instead of telling you all this, I have a great video for you about this subject, and the image right below will also be of great use to you.

 

 

 

The states of matter

 

      Thanks for reading my blog. Please leave a comment in the comment section down below.

 

Thanks for reading



The Super Viruses vs The Super Bug?

      Hey internet, it's me and I'm back for another post, but this one will be a bit different. Instead of another post on atom and mixtures and other physical stuff, I'm going to do a current event in science on a very interesting topic. We've all heard about these new super bugs, or bacteria that is able to resist antibiotics. Well great news, it's not the end of the world yet because science may have found the answer that will end the super bug fear: its viruses.

watch out, there they come!

      At the University of Leicester, a team of specialists have found a virus that will eat a very infectious bacteria called Clostridium. Yes you heard me right that is not a mistake in my wording, this virus literaly eats the bacteria. These types of viruses are called bacteriophages. These viruses replicate in the same way other viruses replicate, but the main difference is that bacteriophages will only go for bacteria.

A diagram of a bacteriophage.

      It has also been proven that certain bacteriophages will only go for specific strains and types of bacteria and leave others behind. This is helpful because with antibiotics, it will kill all bacteria, even the ones that you need. Back at the University of Leicester, there have been some controlled human testing for these bacteriophages, and it has shown good results. It is said that if this new virus is given to the public, it will help people be more immune to certain bacteria, and will make vaccines more long term solutions in getting certain bacterial infections under control. It is also predicted that the viruses will evolve with the bacteria too.

The life cycle of bacteriophage.

      After reading this article, I was amazed at this new discovery. I hope that they do more trials on this bacteriophage vaccine. I would also like more research done on the bacteriophage to make sure that it does not evolve to turn against us. I hope that the vaccine will be given to the public because in our day and age, we don't really have time to be sick. Overall, I think that this bacteriophage vaccine idea will change the face of medical science.

 

The next big thing in medicine. 

 



      Thanks for reading the post, please leave a comment in the comment section down below. Remember to check back every Monday to see any new posts.







 
 
 
 


     

     

Chemical Bonds

      Welcome and get ready because we are about to talk about something new in this post. Last post, you learned about the Periodic Table and its function. This post, we will learn about the explosive facts about chemical bonds. Before we begin, let us review the atomic structure of an atom.

Figure 1: the atom


      For you people who do not know what the atomic structure of an atom is, or if you need a refresher course in atoms, here are the basic parts of an atom. The atom is made up of three basic particles; protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons are positively charged particles and neutrons have a neutral charge. These two particles can be found the atom's nucleus.


Figure two: the atom


      The electrons spin around the atom's nucleus in a random and spherical orbit, and this forms an electron cloud. The next most important thing you need to know about is shells. No, not like egg shells but electron shells. Electron shells are the fixed position that certain electrons travel on. Atoms can have one, two or even seven electron shells. In each electron shell, a certain amount of electrons can be held in them. The first shell can hold up to two electrons, the second and third one can hold up to eight, the fourth and fifth can hold up to nine electrons each, and the sixth and seventh can hold up to thirty-two each. You should also know what valance electrons are; valence electrons are the electrons that atoms share or take away from one another, and are located on the atoms outermost shell. With this information, let's learn about chemical bonds.

      Chemical bonds are the attraction of atoms when an atom shares, takes away or loses electrons. Atoms bond to become stable. A stable atom is one that has a full outer shell of electrons versus an unstable atom which does not have a full outer shell. The two most common bonds you will hear about are ionic and covalent bonds. A covalent bond is formed when two or more atoms share electrons to achieve a full outer shell. An example of this is H20. An ionic bond is formed when an atom takes away another atoms electron. When this happens, the atom that took away the electron becomes either positively or negatively charged and the other atom to lose the electron changes charge too, but due to electrostatic attraction opposites attract and the two atoms bond. An example of this is salt.

figure three: a covalent bonds

      Thanks for reading the blog, remember leave a comment in the comment section down below.

     

     

The Periodic Table

      The periodic Table of Elements is an amazing chart that helps sad lost souls like you to learn about the elements all around you. The Periodic Table contains approximently 118 elements, but do to the Periodic Table's design, new elements can be added to the list. The table can be broken up into ten different catagorizes that I will get back to later, but first you need a history lesson.
  





 
Figure 1: the Periodic Table

      Before you learn how to read the Periodic Table, You must learn its history, so lets begin. The first people to organize things into different categorizes based on its attributes were the Greeks. They organized them into four major categories; earth, air, water, and fire. Later on, scientists decided that this system of organization did not work, so scientists decided to try and organize all the matter in the universe on a chart. Many people tried and had many different designs for this element chart. One chart had the elements in zigzag rows, Another one looked like a circle, and one looked like a triangle. Sadly, none of these ideas worked.


Figure two: Dr. Timmothy Stowe's chart



      Luckily their was one man how came to help the world with this element organization ordeal. His man was Dmitri Mendeleev, the youngest of seven kids in his family and the man named for the 101 element mendelevium. This Russian scientist is the creator of the modern Periodic Table over 140 years ago. His chart is still used, because his chart was created in such a way that new elements can be easily added to the list.


Figure three: Dmitri Mendeleev




      Now that you know how the Periodic Table's history, lets talk about how to read it. The table is a chart made up of small squares. These squares represent an element. The number at the top of the square is the atomic number. This number tells how many protons that an element has. The second number is the atomic symbol. The number on the bottom is the atomic mass.

Figure four: A boron square

      The squares on the table are then  organized into different parts of the table. The first thing is the elements are organized by weight, this means that lighter atoms are put a the top of the list and the heavier atoms are put at the bottom. Then, based on the atoms material composition it is then organized even farther. If the element is a metal, it can be found on the left hand side of the table. If the element is a nonmetal, it can be found on the right hand side of the table. The arrangement of the electrons in the atom's outer shell also helps organize the elements too. I incourage  you to learn about periods and groups because its time for me to sign off.

      Remember, leave a comment in the comment section down below.

The mixtures and compounds around you.

The world around us is made up of many particles. Sometimes, these particles come together and make mixtures and compounds. Mixtures are two or more substances that combine physically; an example of this is a fruit salad. On the other hand, a compound is two or more substances that combine chemically but not physically. A perfect example for a compound is water.

Figure 1: Fruit salad

  

  There are many different types of mixtures but, they are all made up of two or more substances that are physically combined and the substances still retain their original chemical properties. The  two different types of mixtures that you will hear a lot about are homogenous and heterogeneous mixtures. A homogenous mixture is where the substances are evenly spread throughout the mixture; an example of this is salt water. In heterogeneous mixtures, the substances are not spread evenly throughout the mixture; an example of this is sand in a bottle of water that has been shaken up.

Figure 2: Jar of sand water

Figure 3: Glass of salt water

                     
 Compounds are created when two or more elements chemically combine to form a different substance.  The substances in the compound do not retain the same original properties that they started out with and can be very hard to break apart. An example of this is table salt. The to substances that create table salt are green chlorine gas and sodium. Both are deadly to life by themselves, but combined make table salt with is important to the survival of most life. 

Figure 4: Table salt



 Hope you like the blog, and make sure to leave a comment in the comment section down below.

 

What is an atom?

  Atoms are the smallest part of an element that can still retain its chemical properties. The Atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons are positively charged, neutrons are a neutral charge, and of course electrons are negatively charged. The neutrons and protons can be found in the nucleus being held together by the strong force. The strong force keeps the protons from repelling each other.  Outside of the nucleus, spinning at almost the speed of light, is the negatively charged electrons. 

                                                        Figure 1: Diagram of an atom









  When two or more different types of atoms bond together, they form a molecule. A great example of a molecule is water. Water, also known as H2O, is formed by two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms coming together. It is believed that the first molecules formed about 300,000 years after the Big Bang, or just under 15 billion years ago. 

Figure 2: A water molecule

  About 2,400 years ago, a Greek philosopher named Democritus came up with the brilliant idea that the world was made up of tiny particles that could not be cut in half. He called these particles atoms from the Greek word atomos, meaning indivisible. Later on in the 1800s a man named John Dalton refined the idea of the atomic theory. He claimed that an atom is the smallest part of an element that can still retain its chemical properties. A simpler way to think about it is that if you were to break an element like iron to its atomic size, it would still be iron, but if you try and break the iron atom any smaller, it would not be iron anymore. Though many of his colleagues were not fond of his theory, it eventually became accepted through many more experiments conducted by various people.

 

Figure 3: Democritus



Figure 4: John Dalton







  Hoped you liked the blog, please leave a comment in the comment section down below.




Additional Links

www.johndalton.org

education.jlab.org/atomtour

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Bill+Nye+Atoms+And+Molecules&form=HDRSC3&first=1#view=detail&mid=A43F6273E7F9E678CDBEA43F6273E7F9E678CDBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cnXV7Ph3WPk