Volume 7 Issue 14 Jul-Dec 2013Issue 14 | Jun - Dec 2013

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Have you enjoyed reading Young Scientists Journal?

Read on for some ideas about how to get involved!

www.ysjournal.com

First of all, who are these Young Scientists?

They areYOU!

All our articles are written by and, perhaps even more unusually, EDITED - by young people aged 12-20. The journal was founded in 2006 by a group of students at The Kings School, Canterbury but now we have authors and editors from high schools all over the world, communicating across the globe by email, Skype, Facebook, etc. The team is managed by the Chief Editor, a student usually in her/his last year at high school.

It is the only peer review science journal for this age group, the perfect journal for aspiring scientists like you to publish research.

What if Id like to write something for the journal?

Perhaps youve done a science project, coursework, holiday placement, competition or presentation in science which made you proud?

It is easy to submit your contribution by uploading it online at www.ysjournal.com and we can accept submissions in a variety of different forms, including pictures, videos and presentations.

We are also keen to receive shorter, review articles, and also other material such as news items, competitions, videos or cartoons for the website.

Can I help run Young Scientists?

Yes! We love to hear from students aged 12-20 who would like to join our team, editing articles, managing the website, graphic designing, helping with publicity.

You gain unique experience of working on an open-access, peer-reviewed, ISSN-referenced journal while still at school, learning editing and journalism skills which will impress any university.

Send an email to our Chief Editor, Sophie Brown: editor@ysjournal.com

or find out more by visiting the Young Scientists Facebook page.

And if you are a scientist, science communicator or teacher and would like to know more about how to support the work of the journal, please contact Christina Astin at cma@kings-school.co.uk

Issue 14 | Jun-Dec 2013

Contents...

Editorial

Sophie Brown .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .3

Photography Competition

Sophie Brown .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..4-7 Review Articles An Introduction to Chaos Theory Georgios Topaloglou .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..8-11

The Aurorae Andrew Watson .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12-14

A Sense of Scale Alex Ausden .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15-18

Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide Lucy Hayes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .19-20

Original Research Particle Size Optimisation of Sand Adam Dando .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 21-27

News and Events

Young Scientist Journal Conference .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .7

Call for Submissions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 14

Geoset Award 2014. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 18

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-duced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, elec-tronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and re-trieval system, without permis-sion in writing from the editor. The Young Scientists Journal and/or its published cannot be held responsible for errors or for any consequences arising from the use of the informa-tion contained in this journal. The appearance of advertising or product information in the various sections in the journal does not constitute and en-dorsement or approval by the journal and/or its publisher of the quality or value of the said product or of claims made for it by its manufacturer. The journal is printed on acid free paper.

Websites: www.butrousfoundation.com/ysjwww.ysjournal.comEmail: editor@ysjournal.com

The Young Scientist Journal Issue 14 is designed and produced in PDF and Flipbook format by Nikki Krol, at theKent Enterprise Hub, Canter-bury, UK. Email: nikki.krol@gmail.com

Young Scientists Journal

ERRATUMYoung Scientists Journal, Issue 13

Title: Crystal self-organizationThe name of author Arisa Okumura was mistakenly written as Arisa Oku-mara. Her hometown was indicated as Tokyo, Japan, instead of the correct Nagoya. The mistakes are regretted. -Editor in Chief

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Young Scientists Journal Issue 14 | Jun-Dec 2013Editorial Board

Chief Editor Sophie Brown, UK

Editorial Team

Team Leaders Emily Thompsett, UK Rachel Wyles, UK

Natalie Cooper-Rayner, UKEmma Copland, UKFiona Paterson, UKAlex Lancaster, UKGiblert Chng, SingaporeArthur Harris, UKMei Yin Wong, SingaporeJames Molony, UK

Claire Nicholson, UKGeorgios Topaloglou, UK

Louis Wilson, UKLouis Sharrock, UK

David Hewett, UKBen Lawrence, UK

Tim Wood, UKRobert Aylward, UK

Joanne Manaster, USAAlom Shaha, UKArmen Soghoyan, ArmeniaMark Orders, UKLinda Crouch, UKJohn Boswell, USASam Morris, UKDebbie Nsefik, UKBaroness Susan Greenfield, UKProfessor Clive Coen, UKSir Harry Kroto, FRS, UK/USAAnnette Smith, UK

Ghazwan Butrous, UKAnna Grigoryan, UK

Thijs Kouwenhoven, ChinaDon Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III, UK

Paul Soderberg, USALee Riley, USA

Corky Valenti, USAVince Bennett, USAMike Bennett, USA

Tony Grady, USAIan Yorston, UK

Charlie Barclay, UK

International Advisory BoardTeam Leader Christina Astin, UK

Young Advisory BoardLorna Quandt, USAJonathan Rogers, UKLara Compston-Garnett, UKOtana Jakpor, USAPamela Barraza Flores, MexicoCleodie Swire, UK

Steven Chambers, UKFiona Jenkinson, UKMalcolm Morgan, UK

Tobias Nrbo, DenmarkArjen Dijksman, France

Muna Oli, USA

Esther Marin, Spain

The web-based Young Scientists Journal (YSJ) is an online open access journal, available from www.butrousfoundation.com/ysj. It was first published in June 2006, and its unique structure sees research, review and original articles written, edited, and published by young scientists between the ages of 12 and 20. YSJ is where young scientists find their voices and inspiration, and can join in research, the editorial process, or the readership. Published twice-yearly, the Journal is print-on-demand as of June 2013, and continues to be available online.

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EditorialYoung Scientists Journal is proud to present Issue 14. Thanks must go to Fiona Jenkinson who has led the journal to great heights over the past year and has now handed the job of Chief Editor over to me. I am very excited to be working amongst such a committed team of young scientists and I hope to ensure the journals continuing success over the coming year. Emily Thompsett and Rachel Wyles are welcomed as the new Editorial Team leaders, taking over from Chloe Forsyth who must be thanked for her commitment to the journal and leadership of the Editorial Team. One of the challenges of a completely student run journal is that every year we lose many dedicated members of the team as they go to University, but we have great plans for the future of the journal and would be interested to hear from any young scientist who would like to contribute in any way from editing to web design and marketing.

This issue sees the publication of the winning entries of the photography competition 2013, a taster of which you can see on the front cover which is Jack Campbells high magnification pho-tograph of aspirin crystals. Articles on topics ranging from astronomy to mathematics have been put together in this issue, including one original research article in which Adam Dando investigates optimising particle size in sand to improve its efficiency as a water treatment medium. In a world where the availability of safe drinking water is a concern, this article provides an insight into using sand as a low cost method for purification.

Georgios Topaloglou explores the science of unpredictability in his article on Chaos Theory whilst Alex Ausden guides us to a new perspective on how we scale things around us in his article A Sense of Scale, taking us from the Great Wall of China to Superclusters and voids in space. At the other end of the scale Lucy Hayes looks at the uses of the hydrogen peroxide molecule in and out-side of the human body. Finally, we visit one of the seven natural wonders of the world in Andrew Watsons article on the Aurorae, commonly known as the Northern Lights.I hope that you enjoy reading this issue of Young Scientists Journal. I would like to thank all of the authors for submitting their articles to us and all the members of the Editorial and Technical teams who find time for the journal despite their work towards public examinations. Once again Miss Christina Astin and Professor Ghazwan Butrous must be thanked for their continuing guidance and direction.

Sophie J L BrownChief Editor

The Kings School, Canterbury, UKE-mail: 09sjlb@kings-school.co.uk

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Competition

This is a high magnification photograph of aspirin crystals, taken through a micro-scope under polarised light. Jack Camp-bell says Aspirin is one of the most widely used medications in many different cul-tures throughout the world, so my inspira-tion for this photo was to capture this famil-iar drug in an unusual way that is not seen in everyday life. Capturing this photograph involved the use of a technique known as polarised light microscopy. This involves the use of two polarising filters positioned perpendicular to each other in the field of view of the microscope. As the light passes from air into the aspirin crystals it refracts due to the higher refractive index of the crystals. As white light is composed of many different wavelengths of light, each wavelength is refracted to a different extent. This results in the full spectrum of vivid colours in this image.

Title: SpectralgesiaTheme: Medicine in CultureAward: WinnerPhotographer: Jack Campbell, UK

The Kings School, Canterbury, UK. E-mail: 09sjlb@kings-school.co.ukSophie J L Brown

This year saw the second annual Young Sci-entists Journal Photography Competition. We invited students aged 18 and under to take photos using any camera, phone, or other device to compete for prizes according to their age group, related to a scientific theme. These included: the general theme of Med-icine in Culture open to anyone under 18, Science in detail for those aged 16-18 years, Networking for those aged 12-15 years and Speedy Science for those under 12 years of age.The panel of judges consisted of Miss

Christina Astin (Head of Science at The Kings School, Canterbury), Mr Cordeaux (Director of Art at The Kings School, Canter-bury), Ajay Sharman (Regional Manager of STEMnet for South East England) and Dun-can Armour (Science teacher at Simon Lang-ton Boys School, Canterbury). I would like to thank them for the time and effort they put into judging the entries.I present the winners and runners up of each category, who received prizes in the form of amazon vouchers.

Prize-Winners

Young Scientists Journal Photography Competition 2013

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This is a close up photo of pollination in ac-tion. Matthew Law says This photo was taken on my trip to Portugal. Bees have now been widely used in medicine bee stings have been used to treat arthritis and other joint ailments. Honey is full of B vitamins and it can also be used as a topical salve to treat burns and wounds, due to its antibacterial qualities.

Title: PollinationTheme: Medicine in CultureAward: Runner-UpPhotographer: Matthew Law, UK

Title: Heart and soul Nebula IC 1805Theme: Science in DetailAward: WinnerPhotographer: Zhang Zhuoxin, China

Zhang Zhuoxin says This is the heart and soul nebula, at the edge of the distant horizon, hidden in the depths of the mystery of the uni-verse, such a beautiful heart of the universe. I spent a weeks time to take it and a months time to deal with it. Finally I got such a beauti-ful photo. I used my teacher star Observatory CSP devices.

Title: Ciliate of paphiopedilum maudiaeTheme: Science in DetailsAward: Runner-UpPhotographer: Tian Yi Yu, China

This is a photo of paphiopedilum maudiae The Queen, which is a type of orchid. Tian Yi Yu says that the species Paphiopedilum use deceptive methods to lure insects for polli-nation. They have a big lip that looks like the spawning ground of the Syrphidae species. At first, insects get into the lip, and when they realise it is a trap, the insects will reach the column and take away the anther. At that time, the ciliate is the most important thing the cili-ate on the petals can help the insect climb out of the column and spread this flowers pollen to another flower. The ciliate is so small that it is difficult to see clearly with the naked eye.

Title: Social NetworkingTheme: NetworkingAward: WinnerPhotographer: Henry Orlebar, UK

Henry Orlebar says that this photo is centred around a large padlock which is surrounded by small locks which are signed and have messages on them. It is in order to represent people leaving their mark of emotion on the surrounding people who read and acknowl-

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edge their feelings, in the same way as Face-book and Twitter, these padlocks are people statuses. This picture was taken on the Pont des Arts, Paris. This bridge is covered with Love-locks stating peoples love for one another. I took this when on my holiday to Paris.

Title: Networking- justice for the tears and evilTheme: NetworkingAward: Runner-UpPhotographer: Liwen Yang, China

Once Liwen Yang saw that the theme of the competition was going to be Networking, she came up with two words nature, and humanity. She chose the latter, and says that networking gave a lot of people the hope of life, people from all over the world are linked together through networking, and this great creation represents the intelligence nature has given us. However, on the dark side, networking somehow keeps people at a dis-tance: lies and violence can be disseminated through networking.Therefore, the nun I drew represents love, virtues, happiness and the bright side, while the devil is a symbol of pain, hatred, revenge, and the dark side.

Title: Magnetic LevitationTheme: Speedy ScienceAward: WinnerPhotographer: Xiaofei Zhang, China

Xiaofei Zhang says that this picture was taken from a science show, where I got the chance to sit very close to the teacher and capture the exciting moments. The black part is superconductor material, the metal in the hand is a coin, and you can also see the air attached with the superconductor, which is because there is liquid nitrogen in the white bowl on the table.

Title: Engineered for speedTheme: Speedy ScienceAward: Runner-UpPhotographer: Jessica Bennett, USA

This beautiful photo of two cheetahs was taken by Jessica Bennett, who says I was inspired to take this photo because cheetahs are amazing creatures, perfectly engineered for speed. They are the fastest land animals in the world, getting up to 75 miles per hour in short bursts and accelerating to 40mph in three strides. To maximise their speed they are aerodynamic with a slender body, small head, long legs, and a flattened rib cage.

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They have an enormous heart to pump a lot of blood with large lungs and nostrils for lots of air intake needed during acceleration.

Thank you to all the photographers who

submitted their photos in many cases the judging was very close because of the high standard of photos that we received. Several photos were given a special mention which can be seen on the website.

About the Author

Sophie Brown is a Year 13 student at the Kings School Canterbury. She is studying Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths for A level and hopes to study Chemistry at University

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system will finally arrive. In figure 2, we can see the phase portrait for a pendulum, with-out any friction or air resistance being exerted on it, which shows a very simple attractor (a circle). However, a pendulum which loses energy due to friction will eventually come to a complete stop, so the attractor is a fixed point attractor (figure 3), where the pendulum does

Nature is complex. It features a multitude of systems which, simple though they may be, are unpredictable in their behaviour, and seem not to be governed by the established deterministic laws of classical phys-ics. For many years, scientists ignored such systems claiming that their unpredictability was a result of the limitations in the accuracy of meas-urements, or pure chance. Others even rejected them as unscientific. However, in the 1970s, a new theory evolved, which, if its supporters are right, explains the diversity we observe in nature and provides an accu-rate and scientific description of the unpredictable phenomena in ques-tion. This is known as Chaos Theory, and the purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to it together with fractals, the elaborate pat-terns which have become its emblem.

ABSTRACT

An Introduction to Chaos Theory

Review Article

Georgios TopaloglouThe Kings School Canterbury, Kent. UK. Email: georgios.topaloglou@gmail.com

Figure 1: The Mandelbrot Set, the most famous fractal [Available from http://upload.wikime-dia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mandel-brot_set_rainbow_colors.png]

Chaos Theory

Should a small variation in the force one exerts on the plunger of a pinball machine be made, then this action can result in a com-pletely different trajectory being taken by the ball. A butterfly flapping its wings in Beijing could cause heavy rainfall, instead of sun-shine, in New York. Two paper boats placed exactly next to each other on a river could fol-low two completely different routes and end up in two completely different places. These are examples of systems which display extreme sensitivity in the variation of their initial condi-tions. Such dynamical systems are called cha-otic, and unpredictability is endemic in them. However, this is not because these systems are governed by chance. Most of them can be described by non-linear differential equations, but this non-linear quality makes predictions and calculations very difficult.A phase portrait is a way to visualise the re-currence, or not, of a systems behaviour, in a series of orbits including one orbit to which the

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Figure 4: The Lorenz attractor [Available from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com-mons/5/5b/Lorenz_attractor_yb.svg

not move (both speed and distance are zero). There are other attractors as well (such as loop or tori attractors), but most of the attrac-tors of plain, predictable systems are sim-ple. In contrary, chaotic systems have very intri-cate attractors. These attractors are called strange attractors and the Lorenz (butterfly) attractor is the most famous of them (Figure 4). This attractor, which has a fractal (Haus-dorff) dimension equal to approximately 2.06, describes atmospheric convection, using three differential equations (it is of course a very simplified model). What is notable about it is

Figure 3: A fixed point attractor [Available from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Phase_Portrait_Stable_Focus.svg?uselang=el]

Figure 2: An attractor for three different pen-dulums swinging without friction or air resist-ance [Available from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Phase_por-trait_center.svg

that the orbits never intersect, and, as a result, the system never repeats itself (if the orbits intersected, then the system would choose between two behaviours, thereby becoming non-deterministic). This is a bit difficult to visualise, but the attractor is of infinite length and occupies a limited space. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [11] [12] Fractals

In the absence of a strict mathematical defini-tion of a fractal, a description of their proper-ties is used in lieu of a definition. According to Kenneth Falconer, a fractal exhibits the follow-ing properties: Ability to be differentiated and to have a

fractal dimension Self-similarity (exact, quasi self-similarity,

statistical or qualitative) Multifractal scaling Fine and detailed structure at any scale Simple, and perhaps recursive definitions

This description might seem a bit abstruse, but it will become clearer with the following examples and elucidations. [7] [11]

Koch snowflake & Fractal geometry Let us now examine the mathematical con-struction of a typical fractal curve and the properties that it has. This fractal is called

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Kochs snowflake, because its shape re-sembles that of a snowflake and it was first conceived by Helge von Koch, a Swedish mathematician. It can be seen in figure 5. The algorithm for its construction is the following:

From an equilateral triangle, remove the middle third of each side.

Draw another equilateral triangle, with its sides being equal to one third of the sides of the initial triangle, one of its sides replacing the line segment removed, and the other two sides lying outside the initial triangle.

If this algorithm is executed ad infinitum, we can observe some very interesting properties this snowflake has. For example it displays exact self-similarity, i.e. it is exactly the same as the initial curve no matter how much we zoom in.If we consider the sides of the initial triangle to be of unitary length, and let be the perimeter of the initial shape, be the perimeter of the shape created after one execution of the algo-rithm, be the perimeter of the shape created after two executions etc. In every stage of the construction, we remove one third of the pe-rimeter and add two thirds, thereby creating a shape whose perimeter is equal to four thirds multiplied by the perimeter of the previous shape.

So,

and .

That means that, although the area of this shape is finite (we can always draw a circle of finite radius around it), its perimeter is infinite! This paradox, which cannot be explained by Euclidean geometry, is an intrinsic character-istic of fractal geometry. Another characteristic of fractal geometry is the fractal dimension (i.e. the dimension of fractals is not an inte-ger, as in Euclidean geometry. For example, the Koch snowflake has a fractal (Hausdorff) dimension approximately equal to 1.2618.) [8] [9] [11]

Figure 5: The Koch snowflake [Available from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com-mons/8/8e/KochFlake.png]

Fractal objects & Applications Fractals, however, are not just abstract math-ematical constructions. Many natural objects and structures exhibit (quasi) self-similarity, and they have many applications in virtually all fields of natural sciences and technology. In our bodies, for example, in order for the blood to reach every cell, and so that a large area for oxygen diffusion in our lungs is achieved, without the networks serving this purpose oc-cupying a large volume, has created a fractal network of blood and pulmonary vessels. Turbulent flow is the field from which chaos theory (to a very large extent) evolved. The flow of water in a river for example can seem very disorderly and difficult to monitor, but chaos theory and fractals can more accurately describe this kind of flow, and further advance-ments are expected in the future. Snowflakes, broccoli, coastlines and mountain ranges are some self-similar natural objects which can be described as fractals. Of course, the dif-ference between mathematical fractals and natural fractals is that the self-similarity in the latter is not exact, as it is in the former, but it is quasi-self similarity, and that we cannot see a natural fractal at an infinitely small scale. [7] [11]Let us now examine one particular application of fractals a little more closely. Fractals have many applications in computing, one of the most important of which is fractal image com-pression. Compressed digital images often appear pixelated which results in a loss of picture quality. Fractal image compression, by identifying self repeating patterns in the image

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About the Author

Georgios Topaloglou is a 17 year old student at the Kings School Canterbury. He is doing Further Maths, Philosophy and Physics at A level, and has a strong interest in Mathematics, Philosophy, and the overlap between the two. Georgios was part of the team representing the UK in the 2013 International Young Physicists Tournament (www.iypt.org), which in 2014 is to be hosted by the UK. He likes reading (especially Russian literature and detective novels), and adores solving maths problems and riddles. Geor-gios wants to study Mathematics at university and hopes to pursue an academic career in the subject.

Figure 6: The Barnsley Fern, a fractal [Availa-ble from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe-dia/commons/7/76/Barnsley_fern_plotted_with_VisSim.PNG]

to be compressed, can create an algorithm which reconstructs the image when it is de-coded. Of course, encoding requires a lot of computing power (or time), and this method works best with images that contain pat-terns (e.g. landscape or natural images), but the advantages offered are quick decoding and fractal scaling, which is a fractal com-pressed images property to be resolution independent, i.e. to include the same level of detail no matter how much the user zooms in the image. [10]

Conclusion

As one can see, chaos theory and fractals

can offer some very promising solutions to problems which cannot be addressed by classical physics. Although the theory itself is new, the basic

idea behind it, the sensitive dependency to ini-tial conditions, is quite old, as an old proverbial rhyme proves:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. [13]

References

1. Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick (Vintage, 1987)

2. Chance and Chaos, David Ruelle (Princeton Uni-versity Press, 1991)

3. Chaos. Available from: http://mathworld.wolf-ram.com/Chaos.html

4. Chaos Theory. Available from: http://en.wikipe-dia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory

5. Attractor. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractor

6. Lorenz System. Available from: http://en.wikipe-dia.org/wiki/Lorenz_attractor

7. Fractal. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal

8. Koch snowflake. Available from: http://en.wiki-pedia.org/wiki/Koch_snowflake

9. Fractal dimension. Available from: http://en.wiki-pedia.org/wiki/Fractal_dimension

10. Fractal compression. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal_compression

11. : , (Fractals: The mathematical creatures that decipher the world), Theodoros Vergidis

12. Cosmology of the mind Introduction to Cos-mology, M. Danezis & E. Theodossiou (Diavlos, 2003)

13. For want of a nail. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail_%28proverb%29

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The Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis are amongst the worlds seven natural wonders and have left men in awe for generations. This article in-vestigates the causes of The Aurorae, the causes of the different colours and investigates Auroras on other planets such as the Jovian Aurora on Jupiter.

ABSTRACT

The Aurorae

Review Article

Andrew Watson

him (Birkeland currents), that streamed along geomagnetic lines, flowing between the magneto-sphere and high latitude iono-sphere, away from the polar region of the Arctic. Birkelands theo-ry of the auroral electrojets and Birkeland currents were a source of controversy when he was alive and even a number of years after his death. However, his theory was proved in 1967 when the USA sent a probe into space.[5]

Actual Causes of the Aurorae

Both of the Aurorae, the Borealis and Austra-lis, are caused by solar particles in the solar wind (numbering in the hundreds of millions) colliding with the atmospheric shielding. These solar particles, without the atmospheric shielding, would make the Earth an inhos-pitable place to live. The solar particles are electrically charged when they collide with the

St Lawrence College, Kent, UK. Email: andrewwatson96@hotmail.com

Figure 1: A picture of Kristen Birkeland, available at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Asta_Norregaard_Kristian_Birkeland_1900.jpg

The Aurorae

The Aurora Borealis is one of the worlds sev-en natural wonders, and with the exotic array of colours found in it, it isnt at all a wonder why so many people wish to see it.Both the Aurora Borealis (named by Pierre Gassendi, a French artist, after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Roman god of the northern wind, Boreas) and the Aurora Australis (named Australis, meaning Southern) [1] have caught the attention of hundreds of men for hundreds of years, and records dating back from the Vikings (The Kings Mirror, written in 1250).In The Kings Mirror, a number of ideas on the formation of the Aurora Borealis, such as the frost and glaciers have become so powerful there that they are able to radiate forth these flames. [2]Not only the Vikings had their ideas on the Northern Lights, but also the Romans; Seneca the Younger classified the Northern Lights into a number of different categories depending on how they looked there was the well (putei), casks (pithaei), chasms (chasmata), bearded (pogoniae) and cypresses (cyparissae). [3]Much later in history, from 1902 to 1903, a Norwegian scientist by the name of Kristian Birkeland [figure 1] did extraordinary amounts of research into the Aurora Borealis. His theory was that the auroral electrojets (which are found in the auroral ionosphere) [4] were connected to currents named in honour of

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collision of solar particles with nitrogen found in the atmospheric shielding. However, at alternate altitudes nitrogen can also cause some pink and red colours as well. Purple can be seen when really energetic particles pierce deep into the atmospheric shielding about eighty kilometres above the surface of the Earth.Solar storms can also cause aurorae. This can change the course of the aurorae, shifting them towards the equator due to the magnetic disturbance of the Earth by the sun. [7]

Aurorae Found on Other Planets

Just like aurorae on Earth [figure 2], other planets have their own versions. On Jupiter, the Jovian Aurora is found. These are caused by the same effect as that on Earth, by the solar particles colliding with an atmospheric shield. Even more similar is that Jupiters au-rorae are at its poles, just like that of Earth.Not only Jupiter and Earth have aurorae though. Saturn is another planet that has its own aurorae, caused by the same effect as that on Earth and Jupiter. However, Saturns aurorae have only recently been found by

Figure 2: An image of an aurorae: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red_and_green_auroras.jpg

atmospheric shielding surrounding the Earth. The energy resulting from these crashes is released as photons, innumerable particles of light, giving the intense colours of the Aurorae.Seneca the Younger was right when he cat-egorised the aurorae into different groups by how they looked, as they can vary vastly. The shimmering effect in most aurorae is produced by the fading particle explosions at the exact same moment that new collisions and explo-sions occur. The colours of the aurorae are caused by two things:

1) The height of the collisions2) The gases in the atmosphere

The green in the aurorae, the most common of all colours, is caused by low height colli-sions of the solar particles with oxygen, from heights of one hundred kilometres above the Earths surface. At greater heights of around 250 kilometres these collisions with oxygen produce red aurorae. [6]The blues are found at the very bottom of the aurora zone, at only ninety-six kilometres from the Earths surface. They are caused by

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its rare to see it outside of Antarctica, though they can be seen in countries such as New Zealand and the southernmost tip of Argentina and Australia. [9]

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)2. http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/njordrljos.shtml3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)#His-

tory_of_aurora_theories4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrojet#Auroral_Elec-

trojet5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristian_Birkeland6. http://www.universetoday.com/42623/aurora-australis/7. http://news.discovery.com/space/aurora-north-

ern-lights-space-phenomena.html8. http://news.discovery.com/space/aurora-north-

ern-lights-space-phenomena.html9. http://odin.gi.alaska.edu/FAQ

camera - the Cassini camera in 2008. Again, like Earth, Saturns aurorae are at its poles due to the magnetic fields, found on every planet, which force them either northward or southward. [8]

Where to see the Aurorae

The best places to see the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, are in high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, in countries such as Norway and Sweden, and some areas of Russia, such as Siberia. The best time of day to see the aurora is during the night, as long as its clear.The Aurora Australis is much harder to see as

About the Author Andrew Watson is currently doing GCSEs at school and is hoping to go into medicine later in life. After having travelled around for most of his young life, he has settled into school and enjoys sport, including rugby, hockey and running. Also, as an avid fan of the outdoors, Andrews interest in the Aurorae has made him go to a lot of effort to try and see them, and see them he has, recently, in Iceland.

Call for Submissions, Scientists and Editors

Who are we?The Young Scientists Journal is an unique online science journal, written by young sci-entists for young scientists (aged 12-20). More than that, the journal is run entirely by teenagers. It is the only peer review science journal for this age group, and the perfect journal for aspiring scientists, editors, and graphic designers.

Who are you?Do you enjoy research? Or are you more interested in editing text and graphics? Do you work well in a team? Or perhaps you have the ability to produce papers on inter-esting topics by the handful? In short, if you have recently done an interesting school project, enjoy pursuing unique research, or have documents written for competitions languishing on your computer, get in touch about having your article published by The Young Scientists Journal! Simply submit your work via the website, and your article will be processed by a team of students and then an International Advisory Board, before being made into an official article with its own unique code. We are also keen to receive shorter review articles, and creative material such as videos or cartoons.Similarly, if you would be interested in getting more involved in the management of the Journal, let us know! We are actively recruiting students at the moment to our Young Scientists team for tasks such as editing articles, managing the website, graphic design and helping with publicity.

Get Involved!Involvement with the Young Scientists Journal promises to be rewarding, fun, and will look fantastic on your CV. Get in touch at editor@ysjournal.com

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From sub-atomic to Universal, the range of scale tends towards infinity - in both directions. It could be argued that the small can be imagined as our minds can attempt to grapple with the concept of nothing and then it is only a case of imagining something getting infinitesimally closer to that limit. Yet with large scale we become stuck - viewing from or within a constricted radius of planet Earth it is difficult to put scale into per-spective. We quickly lose our ability to compare the large with the larger which soon appear to be both insignificantly small in comparison to the larger still. This article helps rebalance scale. What you once thought big, youll think big no longer.

ABSTRACT

A Sense of Scale

Review Article

Alex AusdenKing Edward the Sixth College, Hampshire, UK. Email: auzzy_ausden@hotmail.co.uk

Do you ever find yourself looking at people and thinking how short or tall they are? Do you ever think that the building in front of you is huge, while the grains of sand on the beach are tiny? If you call a person big, a building huge, a planet gigantichow long until you run out of words? Just how big do things get, and how far away are those dots in the night sky?Our minds can only readily comprehend what is in our usual experience; many quan-tum phenomena seem unintuitive to us even though they are perfectly natural, whilst a computer interface is non-natural but familiar, and therefore, we can understand it. The tall-est freestanding structure, the Burj Khalifa, is 818m tall and this is just about as large as we can easily imagine. The Great Wall of China, the longest man-made structure, is 8,852km from tip to tip (it is one thousand times as long as Mt Everest is tall). By volume, the now closed Fresh Kills Landfill was the largest man made structure, but this was only 12 square kilometres (although at its most full it was just 25m shorter than the torch on the Statue of Liberty). Contrary to popular belief, The Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon; for a sense of scale, if one were standing on the

moon, the Great Wall of China (at an average of 384,393km away) can be compared to a 2cm thick cable does 1000km away not at all.[1] So let us say that the largest man-made structure is on a scale of around 107m (10,000,000m or 10,000km). Currently the largest proposed structure with any level of plausibility is a space elevator, and rough ideas of the length for this put it at around 100,000km [2] (Earth is 13,000km in diame-ter), which would mean it would go a quarter of the way to the moon. So for planned struc-tures, the current upper limit is 108m.Beyond this, we start to get to what most people would consider to be unimaginable scales. Jupiter, the largest planet orbiting the sun and that which consists of 71% of the mass of all the planets in the solar sys-tem combined is 143,000km in diameter. This means you could fit around 1,300 Earths in-side the volume of Jupiter! The planet with the largest confirmed size is TrES-4 at 260,000km wide [3], although the more recently discov-ered (11-08-09) WASP-17b may be the largest known planet but this is yet to be confirmed. It is estimated to have a radius 1.5-2.1 times that of Jupiter. Also of interest is that it is the

15

Figure 1 [8] A Scale Comparison Chart

least dense planet at 0.14g/cm3 [4] (compared to 1.33g/cm3 for Jupiter) and was the first dis-covered planet with a retrograde orbit which is in the opposite direction of the rotation of its host star. The physical upper mass limit for a planet is roughly 13 times the mass of Jupiter; [5] this is because beyond this mass, thresh-old deuterium will fuse and a star is born. Thus, objects with a mass more than 13 times that of Jupiter are stars, failed (like brown dwarfs) or otherwise.But failed stars are not the smallest type of star; this honour belongs to neutron stars. Between 20 and 40km in diameter (which is less than the width of some cities), they are so dense that they are almost at the limit for how dense something can be before collapsing into a black hole. If all of humanity were com-pacted to the size of a sugar cube, this would have the approximate density of a neutron star.[6] Most stars, however, are significantly bigger than this; even dwarf stars, assumed to be small, can have a diameter many hundred times greater than that of the Earth. The Sun, a yellow dwarf (which is in fact white, only appearing yellow through the Earths atmos-phere), consists of 99.86% of the mass in the whole Solar System and is a near perfect sphere (its polar and equatorial diameters

differ by only about 10km considering the diameter is roughly 1,392,000km, this is fairly negligible.). Nonetheless, our Sun does have issues: not only is it currently going through an extended period of sunspot minimums, but its magnetic field is less than half of the minimum recorded 22 years ago, and the Solar Wind has cooled by 13% in the last two decades. [7] Our next step up takes us to subgiant stars. These stars are in the process of swelling up to giant stars, which usually takes a few tens or hundreds of millions of years. Subgiants normally start at just a few times the diame-ter of the Sun, but by the time they are fully converted to giant stars are between 10 and 100 times the diameter. Some giant stars are many hundred times larger than the Sun. For a sense of scale, if the Sun expanded to just over 100 times its current size, Earth would be inside it. Giant stars can be up to 1,000 times more luminous than the Sun, and the brightest of these are known as bright giants, not quite massive or luminous enough to be included in the next category up, but too luminous (and often too massive) to be a giant star. Amongst the largest of any individual objects are the supergiant stars. These can go beyond 1000 times the diameter of the Sun as well as being hundreds of thousands of times as

16

bright, although blue supergiants are smaller than red ones of the same luminosity. Contra-ry to what one might think, hypergiants are not necessarily more massive than supergiants, as they are defined by the rate at which they burn mass. The largest of these supergiants are so bright that they approach the Eddington limit the point at which radiation pressure outward equals gravitational pressure inward. Beyond this, the star would radiate out part of its outer layers until it fell below the Eddington limit once more. The largest known star, VY Canis Majoris, is believed to be around 2000 times as large as the Sun, meaning that if it were the star in the Solar System (replacing the Sun) then it would extend beyond the orbit of Saturn. Light travels around the Sun in 14.5 seconds; it would travel around VY in 8 hours. For a sense of scale, it would take 7,000,000,000,000,000 (7 quadrillion) Earths to fill the volume of this star, compared with just 1,300,000 to fill the Sun this is 5.5 billion times as many! Only a small fraction larger than VY Canis Majoris, a supermassive black hole is current-ly theorised to have a maximum size of 10AU (VY has diameter 9AU, where one Astronomi-cal Unit is the distance from Earth to the Sun). However, while only a little larger, it is far more massive; although the star is estimated to be around 20 times as massive as the sun, the black hole could be tens of billions of times as massive. The largest known black hole is at the centre of the OJ 287 galaxy and has a mass estimated at 18 billion solar masses. It can be hard to imagine how large a billion is, but help is at hand; consider that a billion minutes ago the Roman Empire was thriving (1,900 years ago), a billion hours ago we were in the Stone Age (114,000 years ago), and a billion months ago dinosaurs roamed the Earth (82 million years ago). These are, so far as we know, the largest individual astronomical objects. However, astronomical bodies range from far smaller (such as the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter) to far larger (such as intergalactic filaments, the largest structures yet known to humankind). Something everyone is familiar with, the Milky Way Galaxy is 100,000 light years across, compared to just 0.00047 light years from the Sun to Neptune. Yet galaxies are very rarely isolated, instead often forming

groups or clusters of tens, hundreds or thou-sands of galaxies together. The Milky Way Galaxy is part of the Virgo Cluster which is 15,000,000 light years across and contains an estimated 1500 galaxies. Beyond this scale we reach Superclusters which, if you can imagine a cluster as being a group of galaxies, are equivalent to a group of clusters of galaxies. These form the largest structures known to us and the largest so far is the Great Sloan Wall (essentially a wall of galaxies, named after the Sloan Digital Sky Survey which discovered it) spanning 1.37 billion light years. Now this is truly huge, but considering that an estimate for the minimum size of the Universe is 78 billion light years, theres still a lot of space to fill. Unfortunately, lots of this space isnt filled. Voids in space which span tens or hundreds of millions of light years are not too rare, and have an average density of one atom per cubic metre. These fill the distance between galaxy clusters and often contain no galaxies at all. In 2007 scientists found a void almost a billion light years wide, devoid of matter and dark matter alike, but thought it highly unlikely to be the largest void there is. Quite right too; they have now found a void over 3.5 billion light years wide. And you thought a building was big. There are millions of galaxies near the Milky Way Galaxy, but there are billions of galaxies elsewhere. If there were a way to travel at the speed of light (or very near to it) it would still take hundreds of millions of years to get to most of these galaxies. That is far longer than humans have been around, and an implau-sible amount of time to be travelling. Even crossing our own galaxy at the speed of light would take 100,000 years, and if we consider that 100,000 years ago is when humans are estimated to have started using tools, we get a sense of scale of how large some things truly are.

References 1. Lpez-Gil, Norberto. Journal of Optometry 1 (1): 34.

Retrieved 31-07-2011.2. http://www.journalofoptometry.org/Archive/vol1/

pdf/02%20Vol1-n1%20Letter%20to%20the%20Editor.pdf.

3. Bonsor, Kevin. How Space Elevators Will Work. Re-trieved 31-07-2011. http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-elevator.htm

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4. Schneider, Jean. Notes for planet TrES-4. Retrieved 31-07-2011. http://exoplanet.eu/planet.php?p1=TrES-4&p2=.

5. Kaufman, Rachel. Backward Planet has Density of Foam Coffee Cups. Available from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090817-new-planet-orbits-backward.html (last cited 2011)

6. Plait, Phil. The Upper Limit to a Planet. Available from:

7. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastrono-my/2006/09/07/the-upper-limit-to-a-planet/ (last cited 2011)

8. Ankit. Neutron Stars, Sugar Cubes and Squeezed Humans. Available from:

9. http://www.ankitsrivastava.net/2010/06/neutron-stars-sugar-cubes-and-squeezed-humans/ (last cited 2011)

10. Gibson, Sarah. WHI vs WSM and comparative solar minima: If the Sun is so quiet, why is the Earth still ringing? International Astronomical Union (page 3)

11. Nerlich, Steve. Astronomy without a telescope How big is big? Available from: http://www.universetoday.com/91691/astronomy-without-a-telescope-how-big-is-big/ (last cited 2011)

About the Author

Alex Ausden is studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics at King Edward the Sixth College, Southampton. Currently he intends to study Physics or Astrophysics at University.

New Award 2014: Annual GEOSET Prize for High School Students

The GEOSET (www.geoset.info) initiative is a network of participating Internet edu-cational outreach sites located in universities (currently Florida State University, USA; and Sheffield University, UK) and related educational institutions, including high schools, contributing to a rapidly growing globally accessible cache of educational material pack-aged for classroom use anywhere in the world. University and high school students are contributing by making recordings about subjects they find fascinating. Not only are they adding to a cache of knowledge, but also revolutionizing their CVs and improving their chances immeasurably of getting awards, jobs and course admission. The initiative is flexible, as the sites use a wide range of recording approaches: Mediasite, Camtasia, Tegrity, Echo360, Polimedia, Accordent and YouTube. The global currently includes the US, UK, Japan, Croatia, Hong Kong, and Brazil, and GEOSET will soon launch Hispanic language sites in Spain and Chile.

The GEOSET Prize 2014

The founders of GEOSET, Sir Harold and Lady Kroto, have instituted awards for the best GEOSET recordings by high school students either individually, or in a group in which all in the group participate. The prizes are as follows: 1st Prize $500; 2nd Prize $300 and 3rd Prize $200 (to be split 50:50 between the student or group of students and the school). Closing date: midnight 30th April 2014. Winner to be announced 1st July 2014. Further information from Dr. Steve Acquah at geoset@fsu.edu

GEOSET is supported by The Florida State University, The Kroto Research Institute at Sheffield University and has obtained further support from Microsoft Research and Sir Harold and Lady Kroto.

18

ABSTRACT

Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide

Review Article

Lucy HayesRugby School, Warwickshire, UK. Email: hayela@rugbyschool.net

Human Body Hydrogen peroxide is produced by numerous enzymes in the body. Particularly, some en-zymes breaking down certain amino acids and fatty acids make significant amounts of hy-drogen peroxide. Because hydrogen peroxide can be damaging to regular body tissue, these enzymes are stored inside specialized orga-nelles inside cells called peroxisomes. The peroxisomes also contain large amounts of catalase to break down the hydrogen peroxide before it can diffuse. Additionally, recent scientific examination of the cell cultures in human hair verifies that the cause of grey hair associated with human ageing is due to a substantial accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle. The hydrogen peroxide inhibits the synthesis of melanin, essentially bleaching the hair pig-ment from within.

Aesthetical and Cosmetic Uses

Ordinarily, hydrogen peroxide is used to bleach hair, skin and teeth due to its proper-ties as an oxidising bleach which allows it to break the chemical bonds of a chromophore. A chromophore is the part of a molecule respon-sible for its colour, subsequently this changes the molecule into a different substance that

either does not contain a chromophore, or contains a chromophore that does not absorb visible light. On contact with the epidermal layer of skin it causes a capillary embolism which causes temporary whitening. However, during numerous laboratory studies, hydrogen peroxide was shown to damage skin cells in a process known as oxidative stress; a process associated with Alzheimers disease and heart disease. Its inclusion in many cosmetics may also be due to its role as a preservative it has antimi-crobial properties which help kill or inhibit the growth or reproduction of micro-organisms.

Industrial Uses

Hydrogen peroxide is becoming an increasing-ly popular choice in pulp bleaching processes

Fig. 1: The effect of hydrogen peroxide on contact with skin [1]

The human immune system largely depends on hydrogen peroxide to func-tion Lymphocytes located in the blood produce H2O2 and utilise its an-ti-bacterial properties to eradicate malicious bacteria in the blood stream. The body also produces it organically as a by-product of particular chem-ical processes, and it predominantly originates from the thyroid gland, lungs, and intestines.

19

due to the replacement of chlorinated bleach-es with environmentally friendly bleach prod-ucts. In the pulp and paper industry, hydrogen peroxide is used in three areas: for bleaching of cellulose, pulp bleaching, and for re-cycling waste paper (removing ink and colour from the paper).Hydrogen peroxide has been used for years as a chemical treatment in municipal water systems. It has several benefits, including iron and hydrogen sulfide removal and the neutral-ization of tastes and odours.

Use in the textile industry is declining. In full bleaching, hydrogen peroxide is used before dyeing and for the oxidation of reductive dyes in dyeing. However, in general, hydrogen peroxide consumption for bleaching is increas-ing because it is seen as an environmentally harmless alternative to chlorine-based bleach-es.

Domestic Uses

Due to its bleaching and antimicrobial proper-ties, it is a popular household cleaning product and features as an ingredient in many. Holistic and MedicinalAlthough its medicinal benefits are yet to be proven scientifically, it is widely used as a ho-listic cure for many illnesses.

References:

1. The effect of hydrogen peroxide on skin, availa-ble at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgelazen-by/6839301585/

2. Pulp and paper industry, available at: http://www.hol-lysys.com.sg/home/process-automation/process-au-tomation-applications/pulps-and-papers

Fig. 2: The process in which hydrogen peroxide is used as a bleaching agent for paper [2]

About the Author

Lucy Hayes is 15 years old and currently attends Rugby School. She loves all areas of science, but is pre-dominantly interested in natural sciences and equally fascinated by astronomy.

20

More efficient treatment methods must be developed for ensuring the future availability of drinking water. The purpose of this project was to determine how particle size composition can be optimized to improve the performance of sand as a natural, inexpensive, sustainable water filtra-tion media.Calibrated sieves were used to selectively remove specific particle size fractions from all-purpose sand. Permeation times, together with pH and calcium concentrations of filtered water samples were used to prove that the water filtration rate of sand can be increased by 65% by removing the

Figure 2. The permeation tube setup employed for test-ing sand samples.

Figure 3. Test setup for measuring pH and ion concentra-tion in permeate samples.

Table 1. Electrode Calibration Data, Fertilizer Solution Data and Tap Water Analyses.

Table 2. PH and Ion Selective Electrode Repeatability Test Data.

hard surface to remove gaps or holes. Sec-tions of coffee filters were placed in the bottom of the permeation tubes prior to filling with sample to hold the sand in place.The permeation times of sand samples were measured by adding 200 ml of distilled water to the permeation tubes, collecting every 20 ml of permeate in labeled collection bottles and measuring the time of each 20ml water collection. The permeation time measurement setup is shown in Figure 2. A pH meter and calcium ion selective elec-trode (Vernier Scientific) were calibrated using high and low calibration standards (Vernier Scientific). [5,6] The experimental setup used for measuring the pH and Ca2+ in each of the permeate samples is shown in Figure 3. The calibration standards used for calibrating the electrodes and the actual electrode responses to the standard solutions after running them as samples (before and after running the per-meation samples) are shown in Table 1. All electrode responses to the calibration solu-tions were within 5% of their stated values.The repeatability of the pH and ion selective electrode measurements was evaluated by performing five repeated measurements on separate samples of tap water. The data from this repeatability test is listed in Table 2. The repeatability relative standard deviation (RSD) for all test methods was equal to or less than 3.3%.

Results

Particle Size Composition of All-Purpose SandThe all-purpose sand used in this study is principally composed of silicate and calcium carbonate particles. The sand particles are composed of a wide range of particle sizes. As shown in Figure 1, calibrated sieves were used to separate the all-purpose sand into eight separate particle size fractions. The weight of each particle size fraction was used to calculate the weight % particle size compo-sition of all-purpose sand, as shown in Figure 4. The data shown in Figure 4 is based on av-eraged results from five independent particle size separations of all-purpose sand. The in-dividual particle size composition data is listed in Table 3. The relative standard deviations of the particle size composition data ranged

ISE Calibration MeasurementsStd pH CA

values 4.0, 7.0 10, 1000 mg/LInitial Final Initial Final

low 4.0 4.2 9.8 9.9high 7.0 7.1 1033 1008

Precision DataSample pH Ca (mg/L)

1 6.9 14.02 7.0 13.53 6.8 12.84 6.8 13.75 7.0 13.5

Average 6.9 13.5Std. Dev. 0.10 0.44R.S.D. (%) 1.5 3.3

22

Figure 4. Weight % particle size composition of all-purpose sand (average of 5 measurements).

Table 3. Particle size composition of all-purpose sand (5 separate tests).

from 7.6 to 18.6 %, depending on particle size fraction. This data suggests that some parti-cle size segregation may have occurred in the bag of all-purpose sand during storage and handling.

Impact of Sand Particle Size on Water Per-meation Time The effect of particle size on water permeation time was studied by comparing the water per-meation time of all-purpose sand to the per-meation times observed for each of the eight sand particle size fractions shown in Figure 4 and Table 3. The average results from two independent permeation tests of all-purpose sand and the eight separate particle size frac-tions of all-purpose sand are shown in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 5, the

Figure 5. Permeation volume versus time for all-purpose sand and eight particle size fractions of all-purpose sand.

Figure 6. Permeation volume versus time for all-purpose sand and sand samples where eight different particle size frac-tions (see legend) were selectively removed from all-purpose sand.

Table 4. Water Permeation Times for Sand and Sand with Individual Particle Size Fractions Removed (data shown is the average of 2 separate tests).

Volume vs Time for Different Particle Size Ranges Removed from SandVolume

(ml)2380u

1700u

1190u

595u

500u

354u

150u

< 150u Sand

20 7.22 5.83 6.31 6.35 8.72 6.50 7.47 3.48 6.8840 18.46 11.76 14.03 13.70 17.47 12.46 15.11 7.18 14.3360 29.63 18.28 20.28 21.84 23.31 24.07 23.23 11.32 25.5580 42.02 24.72 26.88 29.55 33.67 34.08 31.73 16.05 39.31100 51.71 31.35 33.31 34.73 43.78 54.36 40.74 21.39 56.46120 65.29 38.44 41.53 41.45 52.93 68.19 50.40 27.05 70.61140 78.59 46.90 49.23 49.57 61.02 82.88 61.28 33.92 80.48160 96.01 54.75 57.78 55.95 67.98 92.70 72.68 42.20 98.54180 116.65 62.38 67.76 65.18 77.83 113.85 83.46 51.08 115.93200 134.76 72.42 75.76 74.13 88.39 130.44 94.96 60.25 133.46

where u= microns, time = minutes

24

Figure 7. The impact of sand particle size of the pH of deionized water.

Table 5. Impact of Sand Particle Size on Permeate Water pH.

Impact of Sand Particle Size Fraction on Water pHThe pH was measured on each 20 ml sam-ple collected from the water permeation test shown in Figure 5 in order to determine if sand particle size has an impact on the efficiency of sand for treating the pH of deionized water. The pH data shown in Figure 7 and Table 5 is the average of two independent permea-tion tests on each sand sample. As shown in Figure 7, all particle size fractions of sand, including all-purpose sand, raise the pH from an initial value of 6.25 at 20 ml of permeate to a final value of 6.8 after 200 ml of permeate water are collected. Given that the repeatabil-

ity (1 standard deviation) of the pH test meth-od is + 0.1 pH units, the data shown in Figure 7 indicates that all sand particle size fractions have the same effect on the pH of permeate water (to 95% confidence interval). This ob-servation suggests that increasing permeation rate will increase water treatment efficiency (more water can be treated per unit of time) without reducing the pH treatment capacity of the sand. The calcium ion (Ca 2+) concentration in all the permeate samples shown in Figure 5 were also measured using a calcium ion selective electrode in order to determine the effect of sand particle size on the alkalinity of filtered

Impact of Particle Size (microns) on pHVolume

(ml)2380u

1700u

1190u

595u

500u

354u

150u

< 150u Sand

20 6.5 6.3 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.0 6.2 6.1 6.340 6.7 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.6 6.2 6.6 6.6 6.660 6.7 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.7 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.780 6.7 6.5 6.5 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.7 6.7 6.7

100 6.7 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.7 6.8 6.8120 6.6 6.4 6.7 6.7 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.7140 6.6 6.8 6.6 6.7 6.6 6.8 6.7 7.0 6.7160 6.7 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.8 6.0180 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.7 6.9 6.7 6.6 6.8 7.0200 6.7 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.7 7.0 6.8

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Figure 8. Calcium ion concentrations in water permeate samples collected from all-purpose sand and eight different particle size fractions of all-purpose sand.

Table 6. Impact of Sand Particle Size on Permeate Alkalinity (mg Ca/L).

Figure 9. Sand particle size versus calcium ion concentration in initial 20 ml permeate samples.

Impact of Particle Size (microns) on pHVolume

(ml)2380u

1700u

1190u

595u

500u

354u

150u

< 150u Sand

20 4.9 18.9 29 32.8 39 36.6 59.2 117.5 4940 3.5 6 12.5 12.4 13 27.8 29 30.4 3260 2.6 5 9.4 5.9 8.3 3 10.2 10.5 1480 1.7 3 6.1 4.5 5.5 1.8 7.7 8.4 7.8

100 1.4 3.8 6 3.4 4.9 1.7 6.1 8.1 6.1120 1.5 2.5 5.6 2.9 5.5 1.8 5.4 8.2 4.2140 1.4 1.7 6 3.2 6.5 2 5 4.9 4.4160 1.3 1.8 2.9 2.9 6.1 1.9 4.4 8.4 3.1180 1.4 2.3 4.8 2.6 3.7 1.7 4.4 8.2 1.3200 1.3 1.9 4.5 2.4 3.9 1.9 4.3 8.1 1.8

26

About the Author

Adam Dando is 18 years old and enjoys competitive swimming and participating in national and interna-tional science and engineering fairs. His research interests focus on sustainability based water treatment, for which he received a 4th place Grand Award at the 2011 INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair. In 2013, Adam graduated from High School, and is now at university studying Civil Engineering.

water. The calcium ion concentration data, shown in Figure 8 and Table 6, is highest for the initial 20 ml permeate sample collected from all-purpose sand, as well as all eight of the sand particle size fractions used to filter deionized water. The calcium ion concentra-tion falls off rapidly with increased permeate volumes for all sand particle size fractions tested in this study. It is interesting to note that the initial calcium ion concentrations observed in Figure 8 are correlated to the particle size of the sand. For example, the

Young Scientist Journeys Editors: Paul Soderberg and Christina Astin

This book is the first book of The Butrous foundations Journeys Trilogy. Young scientists of the past talk to todays young scientists about the future. The authors were members of the Student Science Society in high school in Thailand in the 1960s, and now, near their own 60s, they share the most important things they learned about science specifically and life generally during their own young scientist journeys in the years since they published The SSS Bulletin, a scientific journal for the International School Bangkok.

Reading this first book is a journey, that starts on this page and ends on the last one, having taken you, Young Scientist, to hundreds of amazing places, like nanotechnology, Song Dynasty China, machines the length of football fields, and orchids that detest wasps. But the best reason to take the journey through these pages is that this book will help you

prepare for all your other journeys. Some of these will be physical ones, from place to place, such as to scientific conferences. Others will be professional journeys, like from Botany to Astrobiology, or from lab intern to assistant to researcher to lab director. But the main ones, the most exciting of all your journeys, will be into the Great Unknown. That is where all the undiscovered elements are, as well as all other inhabited planets and every new species, plus incredible things like communication with dolphins in their own language, and technological innovations that will make todays cutting-edge marvels seem like blunt Stone Age implements.

For further information please write to info@butrousfoundation.com

The Butrous Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering today the scientists of tomorrow. This foundation already publishes Young Scientists Journal, the worlds first and only scientific journal of, by, and for, all the worlds youngsters (aged 12-20) who want to have science careers or want to use science in other careers. 100% of proceeds from sales of The Journeys Trilogy will go to the Foundation to help it continue to fulfill its mission to empower youngsters everywhere.

Book Details:

Title: Young Scientist Journeys

Editors: Paul Soderberg and Christina Astin

Paperback: 332 pages

Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches, Weight: 345 grams

Publisher: The Butrous Foundation (September 26, 2010)

ISBN-10: 0956644007

ISBN-13: 978-0956644008

Website: http://www.ysjourneys.com/

Retailer price: 12.45 / $19.95

The Butrous Foundation Journeys Trilogy Thirty-one years ago, Sir Peter Medawar wrote Advice to a Young Scientist, a wonderful book directed to university students. The Butrous Foundations Journeys Trilogy is particularly for those aged 12 to 20 who are inspired to have careers in science or to use the path of science in other careers. The three volumes are particularly for those aged 12 to 20 who are inspired to have careers in science or to use the path of science in other careers. It is to mentor in print these young people that we undertook the creation and publication of this trilogy.

Young Scientist Journeys (Volume 1) This book

My Science Roadmaps (Volume 2) The findings of journeys into key science issues, this volume is a veritable treasure map of clues that lead a young scientist to a successful and fulfilling career, presented within the context of the wisdom of the great gurus and teachers of the past in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Great Science Journeys (Volume 3) An elite gathering of well-known scientists reflect on their own journeys that resulted not only in personal success but also in the enrichment of humanity, including Akira Endo, whose discovery as a young scientist of statins has saved countless millions of lives.

Table of Contents: Introduction: The Journeys Trilogy, Ghazwan Butrous . . . 11 Chapter 1. Science is All Around You, Phil Reeves . . . 17 Chapter 2. The Beauty of Science, and The Young Scientists Journal, Christina Astin . . . 19 Chapter 3. The Long Journey to This Book, Paul Soderberg . . . 25 Chapter 4. Dare to Imagine and Imagine to Dare, Lee Riley . . . 43 Chapter 5. How the Science Club Helped Me Become a Human Being, Andy Bernay-Roman . . . 55 Chapter 6. Your Journey and the Future, Paul Soderberg . . . 63 Chapter 7. Engineering as a Ministry, Vince Bennett . . . 83 Chapter 8. Cold Facts, Warm Hearts: Saving Lives With Science, Dee Woodhull . . . 99 Chapter 9. My Journeys in Search of Freedom, Mike Bennett . . . 107 Chapter 10. Insects and Artworks and Mr. Reeves, Ann Ladd Ferencz . . . 121 Chapter 11. Window to Endless Fascination, Doorway to Experience for Life: the Science Club, Kim Pao Yu . . . 129 Chapter 12. Life is Like Butterflies and Stars, Corky Valenti . . . 135 Chapter 13. Tend to Your Root, Walteen Grady Truely . . . 143 Chapter 14. Lessons from Tadpoles and Poinsettias, Susan Norlander . . . 149 Chapter 15. Its All About Systemsand People, J. Glenn Morris . . . 157 Chapter 16. A Journey of a Thousand Miles, Kwon Ping Ho . . . 165 Chapter 17. The Two Keys to Making a Better World: How-Do and Can-Do, Tony Grady . . . 185 Chapter 18. Becoming a Scientist Through the Secrets of Plants, Ellen (Jones) Maxon . . . 195 Chapter 19. The Essence of Excellence in Everything (and the Secret of Life), Jameela Lanza . . . 203 Chapter 20. The Families of a Scientist, Eva Raphal . . . 211 Appendix: Lists of Articles by Young Scientists, Past and Present . . . 229 The SSS Bulletin, 1966-1970 . . . 230-237 The Young Scientists Journal, 2008-present . . . 237-241 Acknowledgements . . . 243 The Other Two Titles in the Journeys Trilogy . . . 247 Contents of Volume 2 . . . 249 Excerpt from Volume 3: A Great Scientist . . . 251 Index . . . 273

Editors Christina Astin and Paul Soderberg

The Butrous Foundation

The foundation aims to motivate young people to pursue scientific careers by enhancing scientific creativity and communication skills. It aims to provide a platform for young people all over the world (ages 12-20 years) to participate in scientific advancements and to encourage them to express their ideas freely and creatively.

The Butrous FoundationButrous Foundation

The Butrous Foundation is a private foundation established in 2006. The current interest of the foundation is to fund activities that serve its mission.The MissionThe foundation aims to motivate young people to pursue scientific careers by enhancing scientific creativity and communication skills. It aims to provide a platform for young people all over the world (ages 12-20 years) to participate in scientific advancements and to encourage them to express their ideas freely and creatively.

Thematic approaches to achieve the foundation mission:1. To enhance communication and friendship between young people all over the world and to help each other with their scientific interests.2. To promote the ideals of co-operation and the interchange of knowledge and ideas.3. To enhance the application of science and its role in global society and culture.4. To help young people make links with scientists in order to take advantage of global knowledge, and participate in the advancement of science.5. To encourage young people to show their creativity, inspire them to reach their full potential and to be role models for the next generation.6. To encourage the discipline of good science where open minds and respect to other ideas dominate.7. To help global society to value the contributions of young people and enable them to reach their full potential.Visit Young Scientists journal www.ysjournal.com

The Butrous Foundation

The foundation aims to motivate young people to pursue scientific careers by enhancing scientific creativity and communication skills. It aims to pro-vide a platform for young people all over the world (ages 12-20 years) to participate in scientific advancements and to encourage them to express their ideas freely and creatively.

The Butrous FoundationThe Butrous Foundation is a private foundation established in 2006. The current interest of the foundation is to fund activities that serve its mission.

The Mission

The foundation aims to motivate young people to pursue scientific careers by enhancing scientific creativity and communication skills. It aims to provide a platform for young people all over the world (ages 12-20 years) to participate in scientific advancements and to encourage them to express their ideas freely and creatively.

Thematic approaches to achieve the foundation mission:1. To enhance communication and friendship between young people

all over the world and to help each other with their scientific interests.

2. To promote the ideals of co-operation and the interchange of knowledge and ideas.

3. To enhance the application of science and its role in global so-ciety and culture.

4. To help young people make links with scientists in order to take advantage of global knowledge, and participate in the advance-ment of science.

5. To encourage young people to show their creativity, inspire them to reach their full potential and to be role models for the next generation.

6. To encourage the discipline of good science where open minds and respect to other ideas dominate.

7. To help global society to value the contributions of young people and enable them to reach their full potential, visit Young Scientists journal www.ysjournal.com

YSJcoverFinalupdated insidecoverContent listEditorial Board YSJEditorialPhotography Comp.pdfFinal TopalogouFinalWatsonFINALAusden2FINALHayesFINALDandoPages from The Butrous Foundation-4backcover