Tag: Pique the Geek

The first installment of this series may be found here, and it gives the basics as to how nuclear energy works.  The way that the stars generate their energy is interesting, and we shall consider it in greater detail this time.

Young stars almost always fuse hydrogen into helium.  There are several reasons for this, amongst them 1) hydrogen (protium, see the previous installment) is the most common nucleide in the cosmos, 2) more energy is released by fusing protium into helium nuclei than any other known process, and 3) there are multiple processes to accomplish it.

Hello, all.  I did not have research time to finish up the next installment about nuclear fusion in stars, so we will have to do with this.  I began planting my garden last week, so the subject of canning food came to mind.

Most people do not realize that canned foods are relatively recent developments, not counting wine and beer, which are at least technically, canned in many cases.

Nuclear fusion is often proffered as the final solution to our energy needs.  That well may be, but hardly anyone understands what it means, and almost no one, outside of physicists, knows how it relates to nuclear fission (the power source that we use now).

It all has to do with Dr. Einstein’s simple, but seminal equation, E = mc².  This means that mass can be converted to energy in a huge fashion.  Let us take a kilogram of mass, any mass, and convert it to energy.  Using the formula, and it has been proved over and over to be correct, one kilogram of mass (think of a big sirloin steak, for example) becomes a LOT of energy.

According to the equation, that kilogram of mass becomes thus:

E = (1 kg)(2.9979 x 10⁸ m/s)²  = 8.99 x 10¹⁶ Joules

This is almost 90,000 billions of Joules.  We are talking big energy.  But it does happen quite like this.  Only in matter-antimatter annihilation does all mass become energy.

Nuclear fusion is often proffered as the final solution to our energy needs.  That well may be, but hardly anyone understands what it means, and almost no one, outside of physicists, knows how it relates to nuclear fission (the power source that we use now).

It all has to do with Dr. Einstein’s simple, but seminal equation, E = mc2.  This means that mass can be converted to energy in a huge fashion.  Let us take a kilogram of mass, any mass, and convert it to energy.  Using the formula, and it has been proved over and over to be correct, one kilogram of mass (think of a big sirloin steak, for example) becomes a LOT of energy.

According to the equation, that kilogram of mass becomes thus:

E = (1 kg)(2.9979 x 108 m/s)2  = 8.99 x 1016 Joules

This is almost 90,000 billions of Joules.  We are talking big energy.  But it does happen quite like this.  Only in matter-antimatter annihilation does all mass become energy.

Nuclear fusion is often proffered as the final solution to our energy needs.  That well may be, but hardly anyone understands what it means, and almost no one, outside of physicists, knows how it relates to nuclear fission (the power source that we use now).

It all has to do with Dr. Einstein’s simple, but seminal equation, E = mc2.  This means that mass can be converted to energy in a huge fashion.  Let us take a kilogram of mass, any mass, and convert it to energy.  Using the formula, and it has been proved over and over to be correct, one kilogram of mass (think of a big sirloin steak, for example) becomes a LOT of energy.

According to the equation, that kilogram of mass becomes thus:

E = (1 kg)(2.9979 x 108 m/s)2  = 8.99 x 1016 Joules

This is almost 90,000 billions of Joules.  We are talking big energy.  But it does happen quite like this.  Only in matter-antimatter annihilation does all mass become energy.

Well, I am back now.  I had planned to provide an installment last week, but I had a bad cold and just did not feel much like setting at the keyboard.

Personally, I do not mind the coughing nor the sneezing, or even the sore throat.  The one thing that bothers me the worst is to lose my ability to thermocompensate, such that I feel either cold or hot when I should be in my comfort zone of temperature.  Aspirin assists me to regulate a bit better, but being well is the better feeling.

Things get expensive from time to time.  Right now, with the cold weather, heat is expensive.  At other times, being cool is expensive.

Please follow me over the fold to talk about cutting expenses starting now.  Most of them will not affect your comfort, but one the most important one just might.

Carbonated water is incredibly common, and, in one form or another, just about everyone drinks it.  Sometimes it is enjoyed alone, but often it is mixed with flavoring ingredients.  Just about all soft drinks are flavored carbonated water, and in a sense beer, ale, champagne, and spumati are as well, except the traditional carbonation method for the alcoholic drinks is different from that of carbonated water.

Carbonated water with no other ingredients is usually called seltzer in the United States, whilst carbonated water with some added minerals is usually referred to as club soda.  Please join me in looking at the history of this material and its unlikely contribution to modern chemistry.

Carbonated water is incredibly common, and, in one form or another, just about everyone drinks it.  Sometimes it is enjoyed alone, but often it is mixed with flavoring ingredients.  Just about all soft drinks are flavored carbonated water, and in a sense beer, ale, champagne, and spumati are as well, except the traditional carbonation method for the alcoholic drinks is different from that of carbonated water.

Carbonated water with no other ingredients is usually called seltzer in the United States, whilst carbonated water with some added minerals is usually referred to as club soda.  Please join me in looking at the history of this material and its unlikely contribution to modern chemistry.

“Captain, tomorrow you will get your ship.  She is the best in the fleet.  Cruising at Warp 7, you will have the best of the best that we have.”  Admiral Archer told Smith.

“Sir, thank you for the confidence.  I will try to make us proud.”

“Don’t be late for the ceremony.  Have you chosen your crew yet?”

It is still cold here in the Bluegrass, as it is in much of the country.  The last time that it was freezing or above was at 02:00 on New Year’s Morning.  My thermometer right now reads 17.4 degrees F, and it made it up to nearly 30 when the sun came out for a little while this afternoon.  There is still snow all over the ground, but the road crews have done a good job with the roads, although two people were killed on the highway off of which I live when it fist started, one only about two miles from me.  Drive carefully, please.

Someone asked me the other day why static electricity is so noticeable in winter and not so much so in the summer.  I thought this would make a good topic for Pique the Geek, but to understand that it is important to understand what static electricity is in the first place.  Please follow for fun and information.