Galileo and the moon
'Galileo had discovered many wonderful things which are very useful, even in the present life. At 20 while in a cathedral Galileo investigated the time it takes a lamp to swing using his very own heartbeat as a timer, and he realised that the each swing took the exact same time. In addition he invented the thermometer and a military compass to aim cannonballs which still are useful and ingenious. He did not invent the telescope but produced his own and used it to investigate the Moon and realised that it was not as smooth as first though, but full of craters and rough surface. At first he was rejected, and a mathematician stated that the moon was covered in 'invisible, transparent, smooth crystal.' Also Galileo said that the Moon like the Earth consisted of valleys and Mountains and that the dark spots were created by the Sun producing shadows. Then using his 30x power telescope Galileo focused on Jupiter and found three stars all in a straight line to each other. However Galileo was very secretive he wrote his discoveries as anagrams, so that it did not escape to others. Finally he concluded that Jupiter had three satellites which orbited Jupiter. This made Galileo suspicious if the earth was the centre of our solar system as the three 'stars' orbited Jupiter. Although Galileo thought that the sun was the centre of our solar system, he failed to accept this himself as he was
Our solar systemconsists of an average star we call the Sun, the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth,Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It includes: the satellitesof the planets; numerous comets, asteroids, and meteoroids; and the interpla...
Our solar system consists of an average star we call the Sun, the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It includes: the satellites of the planets; numerous comets, asteroids, and meteoroids; and the interplanetary medium. The Sun is the richest source of electromagnetic energy (mostly in the form of heat and light) in the solar system. The Sun's nearest known stellar neighbour is a red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 4.3 light years away. The whole solar system, together with the local stars visible on a clear night, orbits the centre of our home galaxy, a spiral disk of 200 billion stars we call the Milky Way. The Milky Way has two small galaxies orbiting it nearby, which are visible from the southern hemisphere. They are called the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. The nearest large galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy. It is a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way but is 4 times as massive and is 2 million light years away. Our galaxy, one of billions of galaxies known, is travelling through intergalactic space. The planets, most of the satellites of the planets and the asteroids revolve around the Sun in the same direction, in nearly circular orbits. When looking down from above the Sun's North Pole, the planets orbit in a counter-clockwise direction. The planets orbit the Sun in or near the
Stars, Supernova and Black holes
Stars, Supernova and Black holes Stars have been around for a long time it starts from a concentration of mass in a cloud of gas and dust this started from a process of collapse. This concentration attracted matter to itself by gravity and the whole cloud started to fall in on itself. As it started to shrink, the cloud began to spin. Gas and dust were pulled in to the centre as they clashed together; it caused the temperature to rise. As the cloud collapsed more and more, it spun faster and faster, as it spinning, it flattened out until a disc formed around a central core to form what is called a solar nebula. Most of the gas and dust from the spinning cloud were released in huge plumes above and below the forming star. The pressure and temperature in the middle of the cloud eventually became so great that the atoms started to fuse releasing huge amounts of energy, and then the star started to shine. The sun is a star, like the other stars it is a ball of very hot gas. The sun gives us huge amounts of energy into space. The energy that keeps the sun shining is produced in its centre or core. The pressure in the core is enormous, and the temperature reaches 15 million degrees centre grade. Under these conditions, atoms of hydrogen gas join together to form another gas called helium. This process is called nuclear fusion. The sun is a very important star in the sky, the sun
evolution of the atmosphere
The Evolution of the Atmosphere The present composition of the atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and the remaining 1% is made up of Nobel gases and also 0.04 carbon dioxide. As well as these there is also lots of water vapour. Here is how the atmosphere evolved: * About 4.5 billion years ago the earth was just evolving and the volcanoes gave out four things: steam, carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane. There was no oxygen around at this time. * Two billion years on from this oxygen was produced due to the green plants, which were evolving. The covered most of the earth and removed the carbon dioxide and produced oxygen. Also much of the carbon dioxide dissolved in to the oceans. More nitrogen was also produced from the methane and ammonia reacting with oxygen. * During the last billion years or so a lot has changed. The build up of oxygen has taken place and more complex organisms are around to make use of the oxygen the ozone layer has been created which blocks the suns harmful raise. The most important change would be how the amount of carbon dioxide has decrease and there is virtually none left. Today's Atmosphere The atmosphere today is perfect for us. However there is a worry that we maybe changing it for the worst by releasing various gases from industrial activity. The two main worries are acid rain and The Greenhouse Effect. Acid rain is mainly sulphur
Analysis of our Solar System
Analysis of our Solar System On a hot summer night, as you are sitting outside enjoying the evening, you tilt your head back and look into the night sky. You begin to wonder what is really out there? How far away are the stars? Are they stars or are they planets? We live in a part of the night sky called the "Milky Way Galaxy." Our galaxy can be seen with the naked eye on a clear summer night. It resembles a ribbon stretched across the night sky. During the summer is when the Milky Way is at its fullest with the stars so clustered together they look like one white mass. Our galaxy is a gigantic agglomeration of stars and planets whose numbers will probably never been known. Currently we estimate this number to be about thirty billion. Scientists have estimated that the radius of our galaxy if it were to be travelled, would take us about fifty thousand light years and the thickness to be about fifteen to twenty light years. We live in small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is referred to as a solar system. Our solar system is made up of nine planets and 31 moons, which orbit the centre of galaxy. At the centre of our galaxy is our Sun, which is approximately twenty-five thousand light years from our solar system. These nine major planets in order from the centre are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Mercury is the planet
Astronomical observation
Astronomical observation .Describe the observed motion of the stars during one night. At first sight stars appear not to move in the sky, they are seen static by human eyes. However recently astronomers have found that the stars are moving at fast velocities through space. The reason why they appear not to be moving is that they are so far away from us, the closest star is Proxima Centauri, which is 40 million million kilometers far away. 2.Describe the observed motion of the sun in the sky each day, and how this varies over the year, at different latitudes. From the earth the sun is seen to rise in the east, arc across the sky, and set in the west. However this is only an apparent motion, which happens because the earth spins on its axis from west to east. The sun is seen to rise higher in the sky in summer than in winter. This occurs because the earth spin is tilted in space. As the earth circles in orbit around the sun during a year, a particular place on the surface is tilted more towards the sun at some times than at others. This brings about the season. The greatest tilt occur on about June 21 and December 21 every year. On June 21 the Northern Hemisphere is tilted most towards the sun, and it is mid-summer. On December 21 the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun and it is mid-winter. This days are known as the Solstices. 3. Describe the
What do we know with absolute certainty ?
What do we know with absolute certainty ? In this essay some of the certainties that humans know will be mentioned and discussed. The essay will contain an introduction paragraph where the certainties are going to be mentioned, a middle part which is going to be a brainstorming about the certainties and the last paragraph is going to be the conclusion and my own opinion about what I think people know with absolute certainty. There are many things in the world which people say we know with absolute certainty, but is that really true. Lets take for example the earth, we know with absolute certainty that there are 4 seasons which are winter, spring, summer and autumn, but can we really say that there are 4 seasons? In Southern Africa the people which lived there for their whole life don't know the true meaning of the word seasons because there are no seasons in Africa its just day and night. A similar example can be the Antarctic which is icy throughout the year and u don't notice if it is spring or summer. Another fact that we know with absolute certainty is that we cannot breathe as soon as we leave the atmosphere, but how can we really tell that we cannot breather as soon as we leave the atmosphere? Of course there are devices which show us if there is oxygen present or not but how can we know if the devices are correct or how do we know that we cannot breathe in space.
Physics Research and Report - What is Antimatter?
Physics Research and Report What is Antimatter? Antimatter is matter that has the same gravitational properties as ordinary matter, but that has an opposite electric charge as well as opposite nuclear force charges. Matter is not common, it is very rare and can only be found in space, though now it can also be created right here on earth, but that is very expensive and takes many years to make. Though if successfully created, it can be a great source of energy. There are many implications with Antimatter, it is very unstable, and it reacts with almost anything, even air. Where does Antimatter come from? Some scientists say that Antimatter comes from neutron stars and black holes which are leaking out positrons into space. Antimatter has come from the same place as matter; the big bang, but they are both just different in that one way; there difference in charge. What will happen if Matter and Antimatter come into contact? If these two opposites come into contact, annihilation will take place, producing gamma rays. In other words it will be total destruction or complete obliteration. It produces pure energy, which can be dangerous if not contained properly, though if it is it can be useful in more ways than one. After annihilation, charge, momentum and energy are all conserved. Why is there more Matter than Antimatter? There is a substantial amount more Matter in
Black Hole
BLACK HOLE Group No. 6 A black hole is a theorized celestial body whose surface gravity is so strong that no light can escape from within it. It is one of the three postulated final stages of stellar evolution wherein a star's core cools and contracts and begins to collapse under the enormous weight of the outer layers. No black hole has ever been identified but scientists have described certain parts of the universe where they might exist. A black hole is a theorized celestial body whose surface gravity is so strong that no light can escape from within it. Although black holes have been of intense scientific interest only in the later 20th century, the concept goes back to the French mathematician Pierre Simon de Laplace. In a 1798 treatise Laplace agreed with Isaac Newton that light is composed of particles. He reasoned that if enough mass were added to a star like the sun, the gravitational force of the star would eventually become so great that its escape velocity would equal the velocity of light. At that point, light particles would not be able to leave the surface of the star, and it would blink out and become an invisible black star. More than a century later, Albert Einstein, in his special theory of relativity, maintained that nothing can move faster than light. This means that Laplace's black stars are also black holes, because if light cannot escape, all other
How Successful is Graham Greene as a story teller? Referring to both stories in your answer, indicate the one you prefer and why - I spy and All but Empty
). How Successful is Graham Greene as a storyteller? Referring to both stories in your answer, indicate the one you prefer and why. I think Graham Greene can be said to be a successful storyteller with some of the stories he wrote. I will consider the stories 'I Spy' and 'All But Empty' both post 1914 in this essay. I think the short story 'I Spy' has been written well because the story is based on a real part of history, one of the world wars that he could remember and this makes it much more believable. Greene also uses real situations that could arise such as peer pressure on the value of smoking. Also the language is correct for the early twentieth century because old-fashioned words and phrases are used. To give the correct atmosphere the writer uses words and phrases such as "the walls were dark" which creates an atmosphere when Charlie Stow is about to get up. "No sense of safety" is when Charlie is going down the stairs to the shop, when "Charlie cowered in the darkness" is when he hid under the shop counter and lay under a "haze of smoke" this describes the place where Charlie was, and you could imagine what It must have been like. Tension is also created in this story such as " Charlie clenching his fingers" and "the footsteps of the policeman on the pavement" made Charlie scared that he may get caught in the shop. "Dive for the hole" also creates tension because
