My Followers:

Showing posts with label secrets of science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secrets of science. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

How are Tides Formed?

Tides:

Tides are the regular rise and fall of sea levels caused by the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun, as well as the rotation of the Earth.

The Basics of Tides:

Gravitational Pull: The Moon’s gravity pulls on the Earth's water, creating a bulge of water on the side of the Earth facing the Moon. This bulge is the high tide.

Centrifugal Force: As the Earth and the Moon orbit around a common center of mass, a centrifugal force is generated. This force causes another bulge on the opposite side of the Earth, creating a second high tide.

Types of Tides:

High Tide: Occurs where the water is bulging due to the gravitational pull of the Moon and the centrifugal force.

Low Tide: Occurs in areas between the high tides, where the water level is lower.

The Role of the Sun:

The Sun also exerts a gravitational pull on the Earth's waters, but it is less significant than the Moon's pull because the Sun is much farther away. However, the Sun's gravity can either enhance or diminish the effects of the Moon's gravity:

Spring Tides: When the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned (during full moon and new moon), their combined gravitational forces create higher high tides and lower low tides. These are known as spring tides.

Neap Tides: When the Sun and Moon are at right angles to each other (during the first and third quarters of the moon), their gravitational forces partially cancel each other out, resulting in lower high tides and higher low tides. These are called neap tides.

The Tidal Cycle:

Semi-Diurnal Tides: Most coastal areas experience two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes. This is because it takes about 24 hours and 50 minutes for the Earth to complete one rotation relative to the Moon.

Diurnal Tides: Some areas experience only one high tide and one low tide each day.
Mixed Tides: In some locations, there are two high tides and two low tides of different heights each day.

Factors Affecting Tides:

The Shape of the Coastline: Coastal shapes can influence how high or low tides are. Narrow bays, inlets, and estuaries can experience much higher tides than more open coastlines.

Ocean Basin Topography: The depth and shape of the ocean floor can affect tidal ranges. Shallow areas can amplify the effects of tides.

Earth’s Rotation: The rotation of the Earth also affects the timing and height of tides, creating complex tidal patterns.

Tidal Effects and Uses:

Intertidal Zones: The area between high and low tide marks is called the intertidal zone. This area is rich in marine life and is crucial for many ecosystems.

Tidal Energy: Tides can be harnessed to generate renewable energy. Tidal power plants use the movement of water caused by tides to produce electricity.

Navigation and Fishing: Knowledge of tides is essential for navigation and fishing. Ships must account for tides when entering and leaving harbours, and many marine species rely on tidal cycles for breeding and feeding.

Tides are a fascinating natural phenomenon influenced by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, the rotation of the Earth, and the shape of coastlines and ocean basins. They play a crucial role in marine ecosystems, human activities, and even renewable energy. Understanding tides helps us appreciate the intricate connections between celestial bodies and our planet’s oceans! 

Saturday, June 22, 2024

The Toughest Predators Ever: Tyrannosaurus Rex.

    Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of the most ferocious creature to ever roam the Earth. With a gigantic body, keen teeth, and jaws powerful enough to smash a vehicle, this renowned carnivore controlled the forested river valleys of western North America during the late Cretaceous period, 68 million years ago.

    T. Rex is a well-known Tyrannosaur, yet our understanding of him is continually changing. Improved technologies, including as biomechanical modelling and x-ray imaging, have helped scientists obtain a better understand of how this apex predator lived.

    Tyrannosaurus rex, which means "King of the Tyrant Lizards," was designed to take control. This dinosaur's massive body covered up to 40 feet—roughly the length of a school bus—from its nose to the tip of its powerful tail. T. rex, weighing up to eight tonnes, raised headfirst across its territory with two powerful legs. These dinosaurs most likely hunted living animals and collected cadavers, and they occasionally ate one another.


    Tyrannosaurus rex had a good sense of smell, which helped it find its prey. While scientists have long known that this dinosaur's brain was dedicated to scent processing, current research has revealed that T. rex has nearly as many genes encoding its olfactory receptors as a house cat does today. This strong nostrils most likely helped T. rex find mates and identify other predators.


    The head of a Tyrannosaurus dinosaur was very terrifying. This ruthless carnivore was designed to crush through its prey, with a hard cranium that allowed it to concentrate all of its muscle power into a single bite, making a up to six tonnes of pressure. This dinosaur utilised its 60 hooked teeth, each about eight inches long, to puncture and hold flesh before throwing it into the air and eating it whole. To protect from overheating while crushing prey with its powerful jaws, the gigantic animal developed openings in its head to keep its brain cool, similar to those found in alligators.

Tyrannosaurus Rex.



    Tyrannosaurus rex, a ferocious dinosaur, had tiny arms that biologists debated. Some believe they were evolutionary leftovers or served non-predatory purposes, while others argue they were evolved for "cruel cutting" in close quarters. Considering their powerful thighs, these dinosaurs could only walk at 12 miles per hour, which scientists believe would have fractured their feet if they travelled faster.


    Tyrannosaurus rex, a dangerous predator with a life expectancy of 28 years, suffered a growth rise during its adolescent years. A 2020 analysis of Nano Tyrannus fossils found that the bones belonged to a young T. rex rather than another species. This shows that Tyrannosaurus rex's growth rate varied as it aged, and that it could slow down when food was limited. Despite its advantages, T. rex was unable to equal the 66 million-year-old catastrophe that killed three-quarters of all species on Earth. This catastrophe occurred when an asteroid or comet collided with Earth, destroying Tyrannosaurus rex and other non-avian dinosaurs and marking the end of the Cretaceous epoch. 



Thursday, December 21, 2023

Particle Nature of light: Einstein's Explanation.

 Particle Nature of light: Einstein's Explanation.


Einstein extended Planck's quantum concept to explain the photoelectric effect in 1905. According to Einstein, the energy in light is not spread out over wavefronts but is concentrated in small packets or energy quanta. Therefore, light (or any other electromagnetic waves) of frequency v from any source can be considered as a stream of quanta and the energy of each light quantum is given by E=hv.
[1] 

He also proposed that a quantum of light has linear momentum and the magnitude of that linear momentum is p=h/c. The individual light quantum of definite energy and momentum can be associated with a particle. can behave as a particle and this is called photon. Therefore, photon is nothing but particle manifestation of light.


Light is made up of particles called Photons.


Characteristics of photons:

According to particle nature of light, photons are the basic constituents of any radiation and possess the following characteristic properties:

i) The photons of light of frequency v and wavelength & will have energy, given by E=hv= hc/λ

ii) The energy of a photon is determined by the frequency of the radiation and not by its intensity and the intensity has no relation with the energy of the individual photons in the beam.

iii) The photons travel with the speed of light and its momentum is given by hhv P=h/λ =hv/c

iv) Since photons are electrically neutral, they are unaffected by electric and magnetic fields.

v) When a photon interacts with matter (photon-electron collision), the total energy, total linear momentum and angular momentum are conserved. Since photon may be absorbed or a new photon may be produced in such interactions, the number of photons may not be conserved.... 


“Matter is Energy… Energy is Light…We are all Light Beings” —Albert Einstein.
  

Monday, November 13, 2023

History of Cinema: Beyond Screens.

Cinema is the most widely acclaimed means of entertainment in the world today. It is a combination of various equipments, techniques and art which constitutes cinema. But the most important things needed to experience cinema are camera, film reel and a projector. "Wheel of life' or 'zoopraxiscope' was the first machine to show animated pictures. It was patented in 1867 by William Lincoln. In a zoopraxiscope, moving photographs were watched through a slit. 


Zoopraxiscope


"The cinema is an invention without a future." - Louis Lumière. The Lumiere brothers-Auguste and Louise - are credited for inventing the first motion picture camera in the year, 1895. But even prior to Lumiere brothers, many others had made similar inventions. Lumiere brothers  invented a portable motion-picture camera, film processing unit and a projector called the Cinematographe. Here, three functions were covered in one invention. 


Lumiere Brothers



Cinematographe


The first footage shot by Lumiere brothers was that of workers leaving the Lumiere factory.


Cinematographe or Cinematography brought a revolutionary change in the world of cinema and made motion pictures popular. Though, prior in 1891, the Edison Company came up with a kinetoscope which allowed to watch cinema one person at a time, Edison's vitascope (1896) was the first commercially successful projector in USA. 


Kinetoscope



A camera shoots an activity on a film roll, also known as a film negative. This film negative is then edited. An editor removes away unnecessary scenes by cutting away that portion of the film role. Then the edited film roll is processed in a lab with required effects. The final film footage is then mounted on a projector. A projector is a device which projects the film running on the film roll on a blank white screen with the help of light. There are two pulleys on a projector. The film reel is mounted on the first projector and is run through the first to the second projector with the help of a motor. 


Advertising of Edson's  Vitascope


The film reel passes between a magnifying lens and a light bulb. The lens increases the size of the image on the blank white screen.


Cinematography is an art form unique to motion pictures. Although the exposing of images on light-sensitive elements dates back to the early 19th century, motion pictures demanded a new form of photography and new aesthetic techniques. In the infancy of motion pictures, the cinematographer was usually also the director and the person physically handling the camera. As the art form and technology evolved, a separation between the director and the camera operator emerged. With the advent of artificial lighting and faster (more light sensitive) film stocks, in addition to technological advancements in optics and new techniques such as colour film and widescreen, the technical aspects of cinematography necessitated a specialist in that area. 

It was a key during the silent movie era no sound apart from background music, no dialogue the films depended on lighting, acting and set. 





In 1919, in Hollywood, the new motion picture capital of the world, one of the first (and still existing) trade societies was formed: the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), which stood to recognise the cinematographer's contribution to the art and science of motion picture making. 

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called the beta movement. 
 
A Film Projector


CINEMA 4D is a 3D modelling, animation and rendering application developed by MAXON Computer GmbH of Friedrichsdorf, Germany. It is capable of procedural and polygonal/subd modelling, animating, lighting, texturing, rendering and common features found in 3d modelling applications.  

"IF A MILLION PEOPLE SEE MY MOVIE, I HOPE THEY SEE A MILLION DIFFERENT MOVIES."            ---QUENTIN TARANTINO--- 
QUENTIN TARANTINO. 







Why Light Bends by Gravity?

Introduction to General Relativity: The Equivalence Principle Einstein's theory of General Relativity builds on the Equivalence Principl...