Vol. III, #1, October, 1973

Transcription

1 ocr 17 'ld THE S C 0 T S C I E N C E JOURNAL Vol. III, #1, October, 1973

2 THE SCOT SCIENCE JOURNAL Contents 1. Editorial Note 2. News in Science 1 3. Covenant College Chern Lab Tips Chess Problem Puzzle 4 Editor Dr. J. c. Keister Associate Editors Randy Carroll Biology Astronomy and Geology Physics Hathematics Chemistry Philosophy of Science Hu..l'!lor Voi. TII, -//:1, October, 1973 Covenant College, Lookout Hountain, Tennessee 37350

3 1. EDITORIAL NOTE \>Jell, we are off again (for the third year) with the Scot Science Journal. If you ~~11 take note, there is only one Associate Editor listed for the Scot Science Journal this year. It is not the editor's intent that this situation persist. Those of you 't-lho 2. are interested in being an Associate Editor listed for the Scot Science Journal in the areas listed (or other areas for that matter) should please contact me. Randy Carroll may feel lonely being listed by himself. Dr. J. c. Keister NEWS IN SCIENCE PHYSICS -----~ ~------Electromagnetic Flight Record Temperature Superconductors Hould you believe levitation could be the ans..rer to the pollution problem? According to H. H. Kolm and R. D. Thornton in the October 1973 issue of Scientific American, electrow~gnetic fields can both support and propel a vehicle above a set of rails, thus reducing frictional energy losses to a small fraction of those of a standard locomotive. The real breakthrough has come as the result of research in superconductivity. Zero-resistance superconducting magnetic coils almost eliminate the magnetic eddy current energy losses of the supporting magnets, thus reducing the overall losses still further. The authors state "Ecologically and economically acceptable high speed mass transportation is one of the most ~iorthwhile amenities that technology has to offer, and electromagnetic flight now appears to be the means for achieving it.n The new record high superconducting transition temperature Has recorded for Nb3Ge at 22.3 K recently, according to Physics Today, October John Gavalier of 'destinghouse Research Labs made this announcement in Gatlinburg recently, after work with thin films of the material. Since 22.3 K is tv1o degrees above liquid hydrogen temperatures, it becomes even more feasible to take advantage of superconductors for supplying our cities with power. One of the current difficulties is making the samples more tan just a few thousand angstroms thick. This ~ somewhat of a problem COVENANT COLLEGE CH~l LAB TIPS Laboratory technique is something that is constantly drilled into you. From the day you stumble into your first general chemistry lab to the day you are synthesized out as a Chemistry major, you are continually reminded of the proper way of doing things. It's tradition for the General Chemistry students to be grossly lacking in laboratory etiquette and this year's batch is no exception. This is verified by the caliber of the lab exercises attempted. The first semester of lab in general chemistry consist$ of the basic "know h01o1s" that are used. Included in the lab titles are subjects as How To Open Lab Drawer (a three-hour lab), Cleaning Your Chemistry Stuff (detailed naming of apparatus is saved for second semester), and for the exceptional student Thermometer Reading ( 11vJhat 1 re the numbers for?")..naturally, the instructions are very detailed: - Your instructor ( 11 Is that l ir. Da.meron? 11 ) vlill give you the number of your lab clrat.jer ("Is this an eleven or do I have it upside down?"), and the combination for the lock ( "Ny lock >-Jon' t open, 11 "Did you do all four numbers?" "I didn't have time so I added them 1

4 together and turned 73 clicks in one direction"). Open the drawer and take each piece out carefully and set it on the table. Look at the pieces. Some are glass. Glass ~Qll break if it is dropped. Don't drop it. Count the glass pieces. Record this number in your lab book. Put the glass pieces and metal pieces back into the lab drawer. Close the drawer. Lock the drawer, Leave. Exercises: 1, Add the number of glass pieces to the number of metal pieces. Is this a bigger number than the other t~<o number? 2. Can you explain Hhy? Despite the great lengths gone through by the textbook authors, the directions still can and do get misinterpreted. In order to alleviate some of this confusion, a conversion table is given below. l,'j'i th this table you can figure out what the lab book actually said by obser-lling the actions of the student, WHAT THE OBSERVER SEES WHAT THE LAB BOOK SAID TO DO a bunsen burner submerged in a beaker of water a student yelling and screaming at a liquid a beaker vrl. th six thermometers in it a bunsen burner underneath another bunsen burner boil water agitate the solution increase the temperature.,,with a hot flame, Randy Carroll 2

5 _:.- 4. CHESS PROBLEl1 Answer to Last Nonth's Problem: 1. q - r61 1. P X q.(else 2. q x P mate) 2. kt x P mate ~ ~ THIS MONTH'S PROBLEN: White to win in three~ lower case letters-- white upper case letters-- BLACK i/ ' / I ( 1 v / I /;'I V I I " 1. ' v. 1 V. I ~ ; ~ ~ ~ ~ I I..' / /I ~;' I I / / J I lj_/ K vi I II I II I i I vi I 1 II I I II I ~ ~ N~ ~ ~ ~ ~p~~, II I / I v " v /J ; IJI /JIJ// V/ //1/ VIII/I,,,.,,, V. '//: V"'ll. ~ ~ ~ ; Q V. P ~ n ~ n ~ I I v ~!j I I 1./...LLL_// VI I /' ll /1//// /,1/ll.i p, I I, /., ' j /<11;/, ; ~ : 1/,111 1 /. "',., / v. ; / v., /~-'/"' /".., ; 1 / ; ~ r ~ J'.t I' " It ~ p p V'''''..r,, ~. ~ ~ p I I I! ' I /'

6 5. POZZLE Answer to last Honth' s Puzzle: PROBLEH: A snail crawls 3 ft, up a 20 ft. wall during the day and slides back 2 feet at night >-Ihen he i~ asleep. Assuming Hhen he reaches the top he starts immediately dovm the other side, how long will it ta~e him to go from the bottom of one side to the bottom of the other side? r 4