Riccardo's Science Blog

Summary : Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian scientist who created what is now known as Avogadro's law. Known as a founder of the atomic-molecular theory, he was the first scientist to realize that elements could exist in the form of molecules rather than as individual atoms. His biggest contribution to science, Avogadro’s law, states that equal volumes of gasses under the same conditions of pressure and temperature will contain an equal number of molecules. Amedeo Avogadro was born on August 9th 1776 to Filippo Avogadro and Anna Maria Vercellone. Coming from a family of lawyers, Advogadro was guided to a legal career, and became a bachelor of jurisprudence in 1792. Despite a successful legal career; Avogadro has started private studies of mathematics and physics, which then he pursued full time. SP8 - Communicating Information : This week, I communicated information in the form of a wanted poster about a certain scientist. I decided to create a wanted poster about Am...

Summary:  Galaxies come in three different forms, spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Spiral galaxies have a distinct winding or twisting shape. The Milky Way galaxy (above) is an example of a spiral galaxy. Elliptical galaxies have more of a spherical shape and look similar to circles. Irregular galaxies look unique compared to spiral and elliptical galaxies, hence their name. Irregular galaxies appear misshapen and lack a distinguishable form because they are within the gravitational influence of other galaxies close by. During nuclear fusion, four hydrogen atoms fuse into one helium atom. This makes hydrogen the most common chemical element in stars. When the core of a star starts losing Hydrogen, the star begins to collapse. Black holes form from the collapse in the core of a supernova. S&EP: Analyzing Data:  I used tables to display and analyze data on different planets, noticing the differences and similarities between them. I no...

Summary : Stress takes a variety of forms. Some stress happens as the result of a short-term event such as having an argument with a loved one. Other stress happens due to recurring situations, such as working a demanding job. When recurring situations cause stress that is both intense and sustained over a long period of time, this is known as chronic stress. Even though all stress triggers physiological reactions, chronic stress is a big problem because of the significant harm it can do to the body and the brain. When someone experiences a stressful event, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee. This “fight-or-flight” response is responsible for the physical reactions most people correlate with stress including increased heart ...

15) What type of tide would this arrangement of earth-moon-sun create?  My answer: Spring tide. Correct answer: The correct answer is spring tide. This is the correct answer because when the moon and sun are aligned, they combine their gravitational pulls. This is also why spring tides have the biggest difference between the high tides and low tides. On the mastery quest, this answer was marked wrong even though it was correct. 17) Why do we experience the changing of seasons on the earth? My answer: Rotation of the Earth Correct answer: The correct answer is the tilt of the Earth's axis because when the Earth revolves around the Sun, the axis affects the position of the northern and southern hemispheres in relation to the sun, which causes a change in the seasons. 37) What is your science teacher's full name?  My answer: Mariana Garcia-Serrato Correct answer: The correct answer is Mariana Garcia Serrato. This is the correct answer because in all other ...

Summary : The relationship between frequency and pitch is that frequency influences pitch. If there is a low frequency, there will be a low pitch. A wave changes with a change in the pitch because the higher the pitch the shorter the wavelength. The appearance of the wave changes with a change in the volume because the louder the sound, the larger the amplitude. When you play higher notes, the waves are closer together. Yet, when you play louder, the waves are taller. Backward-Looking: How much did you know about the subject before we started? Before we started this unit on musical waves I knew next to nothing about how musical instruments worked. I knew you could tune them and amplify them but I didn't know that vibrations created sound and how these vibrations were made. Another thing I didn't know about this subject before we started was the difficulty of construction for some instruments and how much precision goes into making musical instruments. Inward-Looking: What...

Summary: The vibration of some device, such as a wire, drum, or reed, creates musical sounds. As well as moving air can be made to vibrate at certain frequencies. All of the devices involve a vibration of some source to create a musical sound. When you pluck or tap a wire of some sort, the vibration creates compression waves in the air, resulting in sound. When you strike the head of the drum, it causes it to vibrate and make a sound. In reality, the head of a drum is like a string in two-dimensions. You can also blow on things to create sounds. By blowing through or across a chamber of air you can create sound vibrations. The best example of this is whistling. You can also tune musical instruments to your desired pitch. By adjusting the tension of the wire, the frequency can be changed slightly until it is exactly at some set pitch. SP2 - Using Models: I created a model this week when my group and I started to create our musical instrument. We created a bass flute out of PVC p...

Summary : There are two types of signals, analog and digital. An analog signal changes in frequency and amplitude all the time in a way that matches the changes in the voice or music being transmitted. A digital signal has just two values, which we represent as 0 and 1. An analog signal varies in frequency and amplitude. A digital signal has two values, 0 and 1 (or ‘on’ and ‘off’). The signal is converted into a code using only the values 0 and 1. The signal becomes a stream of 0 and 1 values. These pulses are added to the electromagnetic wave and transmitted. The signal is received and then decoded to recover the original signal. Both analogue and digital signals can pick up unwanted signals that distort the original signal. Digital signals can be cleaned up in a process known as regeneration because each pulse must be a 0 or a 1, so other values can be removed. Analogue signals can be amplified, but the noise is amplified too. This is why digital signals give a...

The format of music I would like to use to produce my music is digital. Digital music is much easier to distribute, to make many copies of and is more likely to be purchased. The reason I want to produce my music in a digital format is because digital is much easier to edit, as you can cut, edit and manipulate the audio in any way you want. However, my producer wants to record my music in an analog format. I can see his point, as it may sound better being an analog, but there are too many problems with analog that don't exist with digital. Digital music is much more convenient, and that is why I want to produce my music that way. Recording music digitally has many pros, including what is said in the article Analog and Digital by Chris Woodford, "It's easier to store information in digital form and it generally takes up less room. You'll need several shelves to store 400 vinyl, analog LP records, but with an MP3 player you can put the same amount of music in your pocket...

Summary : A wave is a disturbance of a medium which transports energy through the medium without permanently transporting matter. There are two types of waves, there are mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves. An example of a mechanical wave is sound, and mechanical waves require matter, or a medium, in order to pass. Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium and an example of one is light. There is a spectrum of electromagnetic waves and we can only see a very small portion of it. The things we can see in the electromagnetic spectrum are the following: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, invisible light, ultraviolet light (UV), x-rays, and gamma rays. Sound waves are both mechanical waves and longitudinal waves. The mediums sound require to travel through are solids, gases, and liquids. Sound waves travel the fastest through solids, because the molecules are close together. Sound waves travel slower but farther in a liquid, because the molecules are still close (just n...

1.) What is the measure of how many waves pass a point in a certain amount of time? The correct answer to this question is frequency. The difference between frequency and wavelength is that frequency measures how many waves pass a point in a certain amount of time, while wavelength is the distance between successive crests of a wave. 3.) A _____________________ is the distance between a point on one wave and the identical point of the next wave. The correct answer to this question is wavelength. The difference between wavelength and amplitude is that one measures distance, while one is the maximum extent. Wavelength is the distance between successive crests of a wave, while amplitude is the maximum extent of a vibration. 6.) Which of the following is the state of matter that will carry sound faster? The correct answer to this question is solids. This is because their molecules are the closest together, so they can transfer the sound waves without losing energy. 1...

Summary: There are multiple types of sound waves, but the most popular are transverse waves and longitudinal waves. In regard to transverse waves, the displacement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of propagation (the transmission of motion, light, sound, etc.) of the wave. A ripple on a pond and a wave on a string are easily visualized transverse waves. With longitudinal waves, the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave. A wave in a "slinky" is a good visualization. Another example is sound waves through air. A sound wave, like any other wave, is introduced into a medium by a vibrating object. The vibrating object is the source of the disturbance that moves through the medium. Regardless of what vibrating object is creating the sound wave, the particles of the medium through which the sound moves is vibrating in a back and forth motion at a given frequency. The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of ...

Summary : A roller coaster ride is a thrilling experience which involves a lot of physics. Part of the physics of a roller coaster is the physics of work and energy. The ride often begins as a chain and motor which exerts a force on the train of cars to lift the train to the top of a vary tall hill. Once the cars are lifted to the top of the hill, gravity takes over and the remainder of the ride is an experience in energy transformation. At the top of the hill, the cars possess a large amount of potential energy. Potential energy is dependent upon the mass of the object and the height of the object. As the cars descend the first drop they lose much of this potential energy in accord with their loss of height. The cars subsequently gain kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is dependent upon the mass of the object and the speed of the object. Therefore, their original potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy. Backward-Looking:  How much did you know about the subject befor...

Summary: A roller coaster is a thrilling experience which involves lots of physics. Part of the physics of a roller coaster is the physics of work and energy. At the top of the hill, the cars possess a large amount of potential energy. Potential energy is dependent upon the mass of the object and the height of the object. The car's large amount of potential energy is due to the fact that they are at a large height above the ground. As the cars descend the first drop they lose much of this potential energy in accord with their loss of height. The cars subsequently gain kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is dependent upon the mass of the object and the speed of the object. The train of coaster cars speeds up as they lose height. Thus, their original potential energy (due to their large height) is transformed into kinetic energy (revealed by their high speeds). SP2 - Using Models: The project we are doing is a big model which helps us understand potential and kinetic energy, sp...

Summary: There are two forms of energy, kinetic and potential. Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity and is the energy of motion. An object that has motion - whether it is vertical or horizontal motion - has kinetic energy. Potential energy is the energy stored and waiting to be used. Potential energy is split into 3 forms, gravitational, elastic, chemical. Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position or height. Elastic potential energy is the energy stored in elastic materials as the result of their stretching or compressing. Chemical energy is potential energy stored within the chemical bonds of an object. If you have mass and speed, you have to the ability to do work. Work is measured in the unit of joules, using the formula Force x Distance = work.  SP6 - Constructing Explanations and Designing Solution:  This week, I have been studying the energy, specifically potential and kinetic energy. To learn a...

Summary : Acceleration is an example of a vector quantity, meaning that it measures both the magnitude and direction. Acceleration is the rate of which an object changes its velocity. You are accelerating when you change your speed or change direction. Even slowing down is a form of acceleration, for deceleration is negative acceleration. To model acceleration in a graph, you can make a velocity-time graph. The y-axis represents the change in velocity. The x-axis represents the time. To measure acceleration, you take the change in velocity and divided by time. Acceleration is measured in units of distance units of time squared. S&EP-Using Mathematics: In the past few assignments and labs we have been doing, I have been seeing a lot of math used.  For instance, during the acceleration lab, I used math to find all the average velocities. This was done by adding all the velocities together and dividing by the number of velocities there were. As well as I used the formula...

Summary : Speed is a scalar quantity that refers to "how fast an object is moving." Speed can be thought of as the rate at which an object covers distance. Velocity is a vector quantity that refers to "the rate at which an object changes its position." To find speed, you take the distance traveled and divide the time. This is also known as rise over run. You can model speed with a graph. The y-axis represents the distance from the initial point. The x-axis represents the time. The steeper the slope of the line, the faster the object is traveling. When the slope is traveling in the positive direction, the object is moving toward its final point. When the slope is in the negative direction, the object is moving back to its starting point. S&EP - Conducting Investigations: During the matchbox lab I designed and performed an experiment to test my hypotheses. I hypothesisized that the green car would have the highest average speed because when I go...

Summary : Motion is the change in position of an object over time. A scalar quantity measures the magnitude of something or the number that measures something. A vector quantity measures both the magnitude and the direction. Distance and displacement are examples of scalar and vector quantities. Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to "how much ground an object has covered" during its motion. While displacement is a vector quantity that refers to "how far out of place an object is"; it is the object's overall change in position. Speed and velocity are more examples of scalar and vector quantities. Speed is a scalar quantity that refers to "how fast an object is moving." Speed can be thought of as the rate at which an object covers distance. Velocity is a vector quantity that refers to "the rate at which an object changes its position." SP2 - Using Models : I used models and diagrams when practicing distance and displacement...