Albert Einstein - The father of modern physics

The Father of modern physics I think it has to be said that Einstein is arguably the most influential scientist of all time, without his work the world of quantum physics, and physics in general, would be a much darker and less understood place. His work has provoked much of the scientific knowledge we have today and has made physics as a whole a more accessible subject for everyone. His wide influence has made him a household name among many families. Einstein is most in famous for the works he produced in the Annus Mirabili – extraordinary year – in this year he produced four papers, these papers were substantial foundations to modern physics. All of these papers were written in German, their translated titles are as follows: “On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light”, this paper proposed the idea of energy quanta, and put forward an explanation to the Photoelectric Effect. Einstein states that “the energy of a light ray spreading out from a point source is not continuously distributed over an increasing space but consists of a finite number of energy quanta” (Einstein 1905) [1]) this went against the accepted Maxwellian theories of light and radiation, due to this many scientists did not accept this theory, one of these scientists included Niels Bohr, who stated in his Nobel address in 1922 (17 years after Einstein first

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Mobile Phones - A curse or a boon?

Mobile Phones - A curse or a boon? Since the beginning of time man has been inventing things; the bike, the car, the radio, the television, the telephone, the computer but the most recent invention to have taken the world by storm has to be the mobile phone. Originally a large, heavy, black box with an even larger protruding aerial, mobile phones were not widely used but today they are a must-have fashion accessory, and with coloured fascias, aerials, covers, logos and ring-tones available, its no surprise that children as young as eight are now asking Santa for an Ericsson PF768 or Motorola Wing Timeport V.550. With recent advances in technology WAP services have been provided on mobiles and in Japan they have fitted a video camera into the ever decreasing in size hand held phenomena. It is safe to say that mobiles have taken over, making it impossible to travel without hearing a dull-tone version of the number 1 tune blasting in your ear followed by, "Hello? I'm on the train!" There are many stories of lives being saved when someone suffers a heart attack whilst in the middle of nowhere and the victim is rescued because their companion rang the emergency services on their mobile. This is one reason why so many people own mobiles - security. The young and old are reassured that by owning a mobile, help can be on its way in the touch of a button if an emergency situation

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Electromagnetic Waves

Physics Project Wavelength (m) Frequency (Hz) Energy (J) Radio >1 x 10-1 <3 x 109 <2 x 10-24 Microwave x 10-3 - 1 x 10-1 3 x 109 - 3 x 1011 2 x 10-24- 2 x 10-22 Infrared 7 x 10-7 - 1 x 10-3 3 x 1011 - 4 x 1014 2 x 10-22 - 3 x 10-19 Optical 4 x 10-7 - 7 x 10-7 4 x 1014 - 7.5 x 1014 3 x 10-19 - 5 x 10-19 UV x 10-8 - 4 x 10-7 7.5 x 1014 - 3 x 1016 5 x 10-19 - 2 x 10-17 X-ray x 10-11 - 1 x 10-8 3 x 1016 - 3 x 1019 2 x 10-17 - 2 x 10-14 Gamma-ray <1 x 10-11 >3 x 1019 >2 x 10-14 Concerns of Society The main concerns of the electromagnetic spectrum that are common knowledge are concerning microwaves from mobile phone masts. Many people claim that they do damage to people near the masts, however the modern world may not be able to function without the communication link provided by mobile phones. Radio Waves Properties: - Highest wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, generated by all electrical goods, generated when an electron changes its spin on a molecule. Uses: - Transferring information without wires, radar, navigation, interstellar probes (radio waves that exert small magnetic forces like a 'tractor beam' have been proposed as a form of propulsion.) Dangers: - There are no direct dangers involved with radio waves but information can be intercepted. Protection: - None needed Microwaves Properties: - Can pass through solid objects,

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The History of Atomic Theory. Due to the constantly developing scientific theories, the model of the atom has changed significantly over the years from Democritus with his views of indivisible tomos to Thomsons plum pudding model and scientists

History of Atomic Theory Due to the constantly developing scientific theories, the model of the atom has changed significantly over the years - from Democritus with his views of indivisible átomos to Thomson's plum pudding model and scientists' most recent proposition: quarks. During the 5th Century BC, the first idea of the atom was devised. The Greek philosopher, Democritus, came up with his theory on the atom. He suggested that each of the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) consisted of atoms which were held together by miniscule hooks. Another of his beliefs was that a sample of matter could not be divided an infinite number of times - everything was made of a base particle which he termed 'átomos.' At the beginning of the 19th century, John Dalton came up with his own theories on the atom. He predicted that atoms made up elements and that they could not be divided, agreeing with Democritus. He also believed that all atoms of a given element were the same, and that atoms of one element were different to those of any other element. However, by then the number of elements had grown from 4 and included substances such as 'potash,' 'soda' and 'lime,' with none of the Greeks' elements remaining. During experiments with cathode rays around the turn of the 20th century, JJ Thomson discovered the electron. He realised that these cathode rays were a stream of

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A2 OCR B Advancing Physics Coursework - Research and Report - The development of a Theory of Gravity

The development of a Theory of Gravity. What's behind it and where does it stand in relation to the other forces? Abstract: The Theory of Gravity has been transformed through the last century, from an original and important classical framework to more recent relativistic and then quantum interpretations, eventually culminating in a specific requirement to link it all together with the other forces and create a unified theory of everything. The search for unification is currently very much dependent upon experimentation and raises questions as to the scientific validity of String Theory and whether it exists as science or philosophy - or indeed just an elegant, but meaningless, example of mathematical aesthetics. . Introduction The ultimate goal for physicists is to devise a unified theory, which describes the universe all in one go. However, this proves difficult - there are partial theories which do not fit together, each predicting a limiting number of observations and neglecting others. Nevertheless the Standard Model exists as a framework for the coming together of partial theories. .1 The Basics of the Standard Model In matter there appears to be four basic forces at work. Gravity is the weakest of the four but acts over great distances, binding stars and galaxies together. The electromagnetic force is stronger and is responsible for holding atoms and molecules

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Refractometers visit report

Visit Report For my visit report I visited Aimia Foods, a company who specialise in producing soft drinks. I have chosen two pieces of equipment used by the company in the Quality Assurance / Research & Development Departments. Both are used to measure liquids. One of them is a polarimeter used to detect faults in essential oils and other solutions, the other is a refractometer, used to calculate the concentration of dissolved substances in water. The polarimeter is mainly used to check the quality and integrity of expensive essential oils such as lemon oil, used in the flavouring of soft drinks. It would be used on in-coming raw materials. The refractometer is much more widely used in the day-to-day measuring of syrup brix, a key quality attribute of all soft drinks. Polarimeter Polarization PHYSICS restrict vibration of light: to cause light to vibrate within particular planes, or vibrate in this way [Oxford dictionary of English] A polarimeter is a piece of equipment used in the food industry to measure the optical rotation of solutions. In this case to check for contamination/purity of essential oils, but also mixed sugar concentrations. Different solutions exhibit characteristic polarisation angles and can only pass through in two planes - 90o to one another. Light is made up of Electro-magnetic waves of many different waveforms (incoherent). When directed

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Charles wells brewery

Charles wells brewery course work This investigation will be into some physics aspects which occur at the Charles Wells brewery in Bedford. This brewery is the fifth largest in the UK and can hold up to 46,000 pints at one moment. The two aspects of physics I will be discussing in this piece of coursework are the x-rays used to detect how much beer there is in each can, the anti-vac valve and the pressure release valve. The x-ray is used to measure how much beer is in each can. The x-rays are simply sent through one side of the beer can and are collected on the other side which then shows how much of the x-rays have got through the can. The pressure release valve is used to release the pressure from within the tank to balance out the air pressures so that dents aren't formed on the tank. The anti-vac valve is used for the opposite, to stop the tank imploding. X-rays The reason that they choose to use x-rays to measure how much beer is in each can is that the beer in the can has the ability to partially absorb the x-rays so less get through to the other side. The way that the x-rays work is that if too much x-rays get through it shows that the can has too little beer contained within it. On the other hand if the can has just the right amount of beer within it only a few x-rays will be able to pass through. The reason that gamma rays weren't used is that the beer wouldn't

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How temperature affects the viscosity of honey

HOW TEMPERATURE OF HONEY AFFECTS VISCOSITY Introduction Viscosity is a factor controlling resistance to flow and the speed that liquids flow is down to this. The lower the viscosity, the runnier the fluid is. Viscosity can be easily measured using the line spread test, how far and fast a fixed quantity of liquid spreads across a flat surface. Another way is by using George Gabriel Stokes' method of a falling ball, this method includes timing a ball falling at a constant rate (its terminal velocity) through a substance, the longer it takes for the ball to fall a measured distance the more viscous the substance. I am investigating how temperature affects the viscosity of honey, in order to do this I must use the falling ball viscometer method first conducting a preliminary experiment to find a suitable range of temperatures of honey to time a ball falling through. Archimedes stated: 'When a body is partially or totally immerse in a fluid, the upthrust is equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces.' When terminal velocity has been reached by the ball bearing the forces acting upon it will be balanced and the ball bearing will fall at a constants velocity. The magnitudes of these forces are related: Or: This equation can be rearranged by cancelling common factors of ? and r, multiplying by 3 and ten dividing by 2 to give: ? can then be made the subject: [Salters

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Prove or conversely disprove the inverse square law.

Introduction My aim of this experiment is to prove or conversely disprove the inverse square law, which simply states that the intensity of any point source, which spreads its influence equally in all directions without a limit to its range, will decrease in intensity inversely proportional to the square of the distance. Background information Research As first proposed by Isaac Newton when proposing his universal law of gravitation it became clear to him that the intensity of gravity would decrease according to the inverse of the square of the distance. This is the heart of the inverse square, which states for any point source, which spreads its influence equally in all directions without a limit to its range, will obey the inverse square law. Quite simply the inverse square law states that for sources emitted from a point the intensity will be deduced as the inverse of the square of the distance. You double the distance you reduce the intensity by a factor of 1/4. This has applications in electric fields, light, sound, gamma radiation, and gravity. All of these are expressed in the medium of a field. To explain the properties involved in a field it is useful to use the idea of flux. When water flows form a 'source' to a sink it is transferred at a certain rate, or flux. The flux density will be the mass of water per second crossing a unit area

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Properties of cathode rays

AIM To determine some of the properties of the rays which come from the cathode of a discharge tube. APPARATUS * two power packs * two plug-plug leads * one pair of magnets * induction coil * four plug-clip leads * discharge tubes (maltese cross, electric plates, rotating wheel, screen display) METHOD . Connect the power pack to the induction coil and set it at 6 volts. Adjust the points on the induction coil so that a strong steady spark is being produced. 2. Connect the terminals of the induction coil to the discharge tube containing the maltese cross (Crooke's tube). Observe the end of the tube containing the cross when the cross is down and when it is up. 3. Replace the Crookes' tube with the tube containing the electric plates and connect the terminals of the plate to its high DC voltage supply. Observe the effects of the electric field on the cathode rays. 4. Connect the tube with the fluorescent screen display to the induction coil and record the effect of placing a set of bar magnets around the cathode rays. 5. Finally, attach the tube containing the paddle wheel on tracks to the induction coil and observe the effects that the cathode rays have on the wheel when the tube is horizontal. RESULTS * In Crookes' tube, the upright cross produced a shadow in the green glow on the end of the tube opposite the cathode, showing the path of the beam was blocked by

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