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Carbon Dioxide, Cartesian Divers, Raisins, and Quinine...

11/29/2011

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Video below...
Carbonated beverages have been known for a very long time and the first ones were naturally occurring and had noticeable features. Carbon dioxide is slightly acidic and gives the beverage a slight tang, and it is a preservative as well. It can be seen to change the taste when the CO2 is gone, or the beverage has become flat. The taste is sweeter and not as enjoyable. Joseph Priestly was the first of many experimenters beginning in the 1770's who helped to give rise to a now mature product.
I was curious to determine how much CO2 a one liter bottle contained, so I weighed the contents with all of the CO2, and then heated the contents without the cap at a slow rate. After it was all free, I re-weighed the bottle and found that it was about 3.8 grams! That translates to about four times the volume of the one liter contents. That's a lot of CO2! This particular beverage was tonic water that also contains quinine. According to the manufacturers, they charge the CO2 at about 2 atmospheres, or a little less than 30 PSI (Pounds per square inch). And although I misspelled raisins in the title, the video is just for fun. It is also a two for the price of one. Enjoy and have some fun with science...


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Hydrogen Perioxide, Germs, and the Potato

11/18/2011

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Video below

We all cut ourselves many times over a lifetime and there are several strategies to deal with the common cut, wound, and body invasion based on collisions with too many sharp objects. I am assuming that the cut or wound will not require stitches or other serious medical attention. Generally we clean the cut, use alcohol or other disinfectant, and cover with a bandage if necessary. But, there are a number of people who believe that to effectively kill invading armies of germs, hydrogen peroxide is needed to combat any possible infection. Well, this turns out to not be what is happening. All of those wonderful bubbles are simply oxygen being liberated from the peroxide by reaction with an enzyme in the blood and cells. Check out the video:

The human body is constantly generating hydrogen peroxide which can be harmful, and the enzyme catalase is in all of the cells, blood, and in every organ of the body  to break down the peroxide. 2H2O2----->2H2O +O2. So, catalase is a catalyst that renders hydrogen peroxide harmless. The process has nothing to do with killing germs, but it does help to clean the cut.
An interesting side story is that catalase is used to determining the presence of some very nasty real germs. E-Coli, Listeria, and Salmonella all show positive results when they are reacted with hydrogen peroxide. And what about the gray hair? Although there is a genetic component to graying hair, it has been discovered that people with a diminished amount of catalase may have premature graying by the hydrogen peroxide in the hair causing bleaching from the inside out. "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble"... Sorry about the inaccurate words attributed to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Its actually "Double, Double". Poetic license...
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Cable ties as both a gear and a flexible rack...An unfinished idea

11/2/2011

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Two years ago I bought two 4 foot cable ties as they were only $1. I thought that I should get them even though I had absolutely nothing big enough to effectively use them. But, after tripping over them for a while I thought that they may work as both a gear and a flexible rack and I tried some experiments. And, I did get the idea to work but the real usefulness has not been realized. I have run out of ideas to use the process and wanted to pass along the information in hopes that someone else might be able to use the idea. I will post the photos and the writeup with the downsides of the procedure:

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I began with a battery operated clock and attached a 2 inch gear as it was all that I had that was round enough. I then cut a length of cable tie 6.25 inches. (2 X 3.1416, Pi). The edges were removed as shown in the lead photo.This was then epoxied to the gear as the "real" outer gear. Instead of wheels, I used nylon washers with ball bearings to let it move freely. Then, I used Velcro (adjustable) to attach the rack, (37.7 inches) to the inside diameter of a cut down joint compound bucket. Not shown in the photo is an arm that extended from the clock to the center post to allow control for the clock to run  concentrically. With the gear on the minute hand shaft, the speed was 6 inches/hour. It certainly worked but it was not very impressive! I was going to make an inclined rack and use the gear as in a cog railway but did not get around to it.
I still believe that the idea has utility but there are at least two concerns. Nylon is a stiff polymer and it is difficult to get a tight radius. And, the gear "teeth" are a sawtooth pattern, and not trapezoidal so this scheme can be run in only one direction. Having added the caveats, I hope than someone can use the idea, or I just made a very bad clock...

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    The author has an eclectic background in chemistry, electronics, writing, mental health, and community action...Ken

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