Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Macroscale Quantum Mechanics
Quantum mechanics explains the behavior of matter and its interaction with energy at the level of atoms and atom particles. In the TED video it shows a physicist Aaron O'Connel who researched quantum mechanics to get a deeper meaning of it. He constructed an experiment with a computer chip with a piece of metal sticking over a ledge.
Aaron took the computer chip and removed it from the light, heat, and air. He did this by placing the computer chip in vacuum sealed area with no lights and with a temperature of almost absolute zero. When observed the metal, its atom's particles were vibrating and not vibrating at the same time. This would have to mean that the metal was at two places at once. This opens the door for chemistry. Now scientist from all over the world can go deeper into the world of mechanics, and go in dept of why can particles can be at two places at once and why can they go through walls, and if its possible to get even larger particles to act the same.
Airbags
How do airbags work? There are three main parts to airbags. First is the bag itself. It is made of nylon fabric stored into the steering wheel and the dashboard of the passenger's side. Second is the sensor, which lets the bag know when to inflate. The sensor detects a collision with force of hitting a brick wall at about 10-15 mph. Finally is the inflation system. This is when sodium azide (NaN3) and potassium nitrate (KNO3) react very rapidly and produce hot nitrogen gas. The gas inflates the bag and burst out of the steering wheel very quickly. Charles' Law is demonstrated here, because as the temperature of the gas is increased, the volume of the bag is quickly increased.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Explosions
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