Sprenkle,+Ryan


 * Article of Interest:** The Canadian two dollar coin, also know as a toonie, is a coin composed of two separate parts. The outer ring is made of pure nickel while the inner section is made of a compound of copper, aluminum, and nickel. The two compounds have different properties. If the "toonie" is heated then quickly cooled, the inner section of the coin will shrink. This allows the coin to be separated into two different pieces. This act became so popular with the Canadian people that it was made illegal to prevent the destruction of further coins.

Ryan, Interesting. I think your last sentence is a bit contradictory. MW


 * Crude Oil:** When crude oil is distilled it separates into many different parts. It is distilled industrially by being sent through a large furnace. The furnace causes the oil to vaporize. As it travels up a large tank it begins to cool. Different parts of the vapor condense at different temperatures. This allows the different parts to be separated and used for different things. This is a similar process used when separating salt from water or sand from kool-aid.

Ryan, Salt from water yes. Sand from Kool-Aid no! Use filtering for that. MW


 * Redefining the Kilogram:** After the Enlightenment, when the world became more focused on science, the scientific community decided that there needed to be standards for each type of measurement. They chose to use the kilogram as the base measurement for weight. The kilogram was the only base measurement that was not perfect, meaning it was the only one that still required a physical object (which can decompose). Scientists are looking for a replacement for the physical kilogram.

Ryan, Pretty basic. MW


 * Where do Elements Come From?:** All elements begin simply as hydrogen atoms and are create during explosions during the creation of stars. Larger, heavier elements are formed inside of stars through fusion and a process know as nucleosynthesis. During this process, as well as the atoms being collided together, the neutrons of the atoms split into protons and neutrons. (That surprised me. Does thatProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 oxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 0mean that all neutrons are a proton and a neutron, or is it just certain processes that allow them to split?) I found the article fairly interesting. I knew elements were created through stars, but i wasn't sure of exactly how.

Ryan, Do you mean are all neutrons a proton and an electron? Overall pretty good. 5 stars. MW


 * Mole:** Avogadro was and Italian scientist and one of the founders of physical chemistry. He is well known for his law (Avogadro's Law) which states that //at a fixed temperature and pressure, equal volumes of gases contain the same number of molecules//. He was not recognized for his theory until almost 50 years after he created it. The Mole, 6.02x10^23, is called Avogadro's Number. He was not actually involved in the establishment of the mole however. The Mole is known as Avogadro's Number merely as a tribute to him.

Ryan, OK. Nice use of //italics//. MW


 * Dust Explosion:** At first I was surprised that sugar could possibly cause that great an explosion. I did know sugar was combustible because to make and certain custard type dish (don't know how to spell its name) sugar is burned. But I didn't expect sugar to actually explode. The article clarified my confusion however. It states that the smaller the particle the better it burns because it has the more surface area available, and sugar is quite small. The tragic incident makes much more sense to me now.

Ryan, Creme brulee. It's excellent! Yes surface area makes a big difference. MW


 * Helium Balloons and Sulfur Hexafluoride****:** ** Sulfur hexafluoride is actually one of my favorite gases (even though it doesn't explode. BOO!). I already know that it is incredibly dense and when it enters the lung it just sits there. When it enters the lungs it makes the voice incredibly deep, as opposed to helium, which makes a persons voice higher. It actually takes a lot less sulfur hexafluoride to get an effect equal to the caliber inhaling helium. This is because it is so dense and has difficulty exiting the lungs. I also know that sulfur hexafluoride is so dense (how dense is that?), that you can actually float things (ie. an aluminum foil boat) on it. I did learn quite a bit from this article too. First of all, I discovered that sulfur hexafluoride is (sadly) inert. I didn't realize why inhaling an exuberant amount of a gas was bad before (I was aware that it was though). It turns out it has nothing to do with oxygen, the body is actually trying to release the carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. I was also surprised to learn that a balloon filled with sulfur hexafluoride actually expands overtime because the outside air seeps in rahter than the sulfur hexafluoride leaking out.

Ryan, Well written! 5 helios stars! MW

Motion Detectors:** I was aware of all of three types of sensors and I had a general understanding of how they operate. For example, I know the sonar type sensors can be beaten by holding a sheet in front of yourself and moving slowly. The ones that use a photo sensor are often used by facilities such as banks. I also knew that thermal cameras don't actually detect heat, but rather they detect the IR signature emitted. There were a few things I did learn from this article though. I didn't realize all of these waves were considered light. I knew IR, UV, and X-Rays all moved in waves, but the are not visible and that's always what I've considered light. I was not also aware of Einstein's Photoelectric Theory (which I'm still not sure if I totally understand). One thing I really found interesting is that light is only waves sometimes but other times it is not.

Ryan,

"light" is really the colors that we see. The other frequencies are called electromagnetic radiation. Photons always travel in waves, but sometimes we use the particle aspect of photons. 5 stars. MW