Geology of the Solar System

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--------------------- #1507 - Geological History of the Solar System

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- See Review # 1506 for the geological history of the Earth. To carry our lineage back further this review is about the geological history of our Solar System. We do not have many rocks to work with, a few meteorites, so the history lesson takes more imagination.
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- By studying the rocks, gas , and stars within 6,500 lightyears of Earth with detailed observations astronomers believe:
-
--------------The Sun formed in a nebula of 1,000 to 10,000 other stars. An example can be seen today in the Orion Nebula ( M42 ) in the Constellation Orion the Warrior.
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------------- One very large star, 25 Solar Mass, exploded in a supernova within the nebula. It was only 1 lightyear from our cluster of dense gas and clouds that became a nursery for stars to be born. An example today is the Star Cluster Pleiades ( M45 ).
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- The cloud of dust and gas has a temperature of 10 to 20 Kelvin. That is cool, only 18 to 26 F above Absolute Zero temperature. The surrounding interstellar medium has a density of one atom per cubic centimeter but an average temperature of 100 Kelvin. Atoms and particles in the colder cloud pack together to densities of million of atoms per cubic centimeter.
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- Atoms began to join together to form molecules. the molecular cloud was dozens of lightyears across. Gravity begins to have its effects the cloud begins contracting as it is brought together by the shockwave of the close exploding supernova.
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- The cloud does not contract evenly. It fragments into smaller pieces. Over a million years the cloud separates into individual clumps. Each clump is likely to become an individual star looking like the Star Cluster Pleiades.
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- Our Sun evolved without a binary star. Only 30% of the stars form without a binary. Our star has a higher percentage of the elements heavier that helium. Astronomers call all these elements metals.
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- Of the 50 closest stars only Sirius and Procyon are more massive than our Sun. Using the wider survey only 12% of the stars are more massive than our Sun. Only 25% of the stars have a higher percentage of metals.
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- Our Sun has a solar system with 4 giant gas planets and 4 smaller rocky planets. astronomers have discovered over 1,000 planets around other stars, but, they have to learned enough to define how common our type of solar system is. Some put the probability at 0.2%. However, this small probability would still mean that amongst the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy there would be 400 million Solar Systems like ours.
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- Evidence for the supernova blast that started the evolution of our Sun and its Solar System comes form meteorites (geology), dating the radioactive isotopes of Nickel-6 and iron-60. Iron-60 has a half-life of 1.5 million years. Therefore, these meteorites had to be delivered form a nearby source during the Solar System’s earliest days.
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- It takes a massive star to have the gravity and explosive power to create the element iron-60. Other radioactive elements, aluminum-26 and calcium-41 were also found. All this implies that the supernova star was a massive 25 Solar Mass. Such a massive star has a lifetime of 7.5 million years.
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- The distance away from the supernova could not be too close or too far away. It needed to occur about 1 lightyear away.
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- A few million years later our Sun began fusing hydrogen and helium. the accretion disk surrounding the Sun began to form planets. This all started 4,600 million years ago.
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- To help your imagination turn your binoculars on the Orion Nebula tonight. Search out the Pleiades Star Cluster. Our Sun was like one of these bright stars born in the nursery of the nebula. To see an animation of this event see www.astronomy.com/toc.-
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- To learn what happened starting 4,600 million years ago see Review #1506 The Geology of the Earth
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- #1157 Mysteries of Our Solar System
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- #15 The Sun and the Planets in Six Easy Pieces.
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- #1150 What is New and Extreme in Our Solar System?
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Gelogical history of the Earth?

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--------------------- #1506 - Geological History of the Earth

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- The planet Earth was formed 4,600 million years ago ( MYA) along with the nine other planets and a whole lot of other debris. ( See Review #1507 for the astronomical geological history of the Solar System.)
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- The oldest rocks found to date are the debris from the formation of the Solar System that have arrived as meteorites. These oldest rocks are called “ Chondrites” and they have been dated at 4,568 MYA.
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- Chondrites are stony meteors containing Chondrules, and Chondrules are small spheres of olivine or pyroxene. Olivine being a mineral found in igneous rocks containing the elements consisting of magnesium iron silicates. Pryoxene is a very similar group of minerals that are silicates of magnesium, iron, calcium and other elements.
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- Minerals are molecules and compounds of the elements which were formed in supernovae explosions. We know our Solar System accretion disks was composed of debris from 2^nd or 3^rd or 4^th generation stars that died as supernovae. The larger the star the shorter its lifetime and the sooner supernova occurs. We know that because our Solar System is rich in the heavier elements it came from the generational stars.
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- In the beginning it was just the elements hydrogen and helium. The supernovae created the heavier elements. Then these elements began growing into molecules and compounds called minerals. A small number of elements in the beginning have grown to over 4,500 minerals found today. And, the list grows at the rate of about 12 new minerals per year being discovered.
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- 4,550 MYA: There were about 150 minerals on the planet. Minerals are inorganic substances having definite chemical composition and often a definite crystalline structure.
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- 4,500 MYA: The Moon was formed. It was believed to be created by the Earth’s crust being splashed into orbit after being hit by a meteor or a sub-planet, about the size of Mars. (footnote 2).
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- 4,400 MYA: The second oldest rocks to be found were zircons. Zircons are zirconium silicate minerals, ZrSiO4, having a tetragonal shaped crystalline structure. Zircon crystals are hard enough to resist erosion. They have a high melting point and can withstand most chemical attacks.
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- 4,200 MYA: Most of Earth’s atmospheric oxygen was in the form of water vapor.
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- 4,000 MYA: The list of minerals had grown to about 350 different minerals. The Earth’s crust was forming new compounds and molecules out of the elements churned in the caldron of volcanoes and tectonic lava flows.
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- 3,900 MYA: Earth and the Moon experienced very heavy meteor bombardments. (footnote 1).
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- 3,800 MYA: Earth’s surface solidifies, liquid water first appears, and the oceans formed.
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- 3,700 MYA: Coarse-grained igneous rocks formed called Granites. These Granites were composed of feldspars, and quartz with some mica, hornblende, and augite. feldspars are a group of minerals composed of aluminosilicates of potassium, sodium, and calcium. Quartz is silicon dioxide, SiO2. It is the chief constituent of sand. By now 550 minerals existed on the Earth.
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- 3,600 MYA: The planet’s first super continent formed.
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- 3,500 MYA: The planet’s first life arrived in the form of single-celled cyanobacteria .
Cyanobacteria began the first photosynthesis. ( Spring Lake has had an algae bloom this summer. Green algae has filled the lake. Mats of algae formed on the surface and blue-green moss-like colors formed on the mats. This was cyanobacteria that is toxic if ingested. I had to be careful to keep my dog out of the water. We walk around the lake every day. Dogs lick their fur that gets wet and can get poisoned.) (See footnote 1)
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- 2,500 MYA: The Earth has now created 1,500 different minerals.
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- 2,400 MYA: The algae and photosynthesis in the oceans have created oxygen in the atmosphere. ( See footnote 1).
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- 1,500 MYA: Oxygen has reached the concentration of 10% of the gas in the atmosphere.
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- 1,000 MYA: The super continent “ Rodina” has formed.
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- 310 MYA: The oxygen content in the atmosphere reaches 30%.
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- 250 MYA: The oxygen content has dropped to 12%.
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- 200 MYA: The Pacific Ocean forms.
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- 180 MYA: North America separates from Africa.
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- 110 MYA: The Atlantic Ocean forms.
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- 60 MYA: The Rocky Mountains form.
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- 0 MYA: Today, there are over 4,500 minerals in the Earth’s crust and the atmosphere has 21 % oxygen.
-
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- (1) 2.400 MYA: was the greatest climate change Earth has ever experienced. the primordial methane-rich atmosphere changed to an oxygen content level that we can still breath today. This change occurred because primitive , single-celled cyanobacteria began the process of photosynthesis to be alive.
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- The bacteria took in carbon dioxide and warm sunlight to grow while exhaling oxygen into the atmosphere. The rocks in the Earth took on the oxygen and “ rust” until there were no more unoxidized metals left. After that there was a runaway build up of oxygen in the atmosphere.
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- (2) The six Apollo missions to the Moon brought back 842 pounds of lunar rocks. All the rocks were dated to 4,000 MYA to 3,850 MYA. This is hundreds of millions of years after the Moon was formed. The conclusion: The Earth and the Moon were bombarded with these rocks for a period of 100 million years. The bombardment almost completely remade the surface of the Moon by 3,850 MYA.
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- (3) What caused this immense meteor bombardment?
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- There are several theories still under study. A likely scenario has the outer planets orbiting nearer to each other and nearer to the Sun when the Solar System first formed. Originally the giant planets were 5 to 17 astronomical units from the Sun. ( The Earth is 1 AU). The asteroid belt was 35 AU distant. After a few hundred million years Jupiter and Saturn passed through orbits that had 2:1 resonance. Jupiter made 2 revolutions around the Sun for every 1 revolution Saturn made. The combined gravitational effects of these resonances caused Uranus and Neptune to pass through the asteroid belt scattering the small bodies everywhere. These meteors entered the inner Solar System and created the bombardments on the Earth, Moon , and inner planets.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Evolution of dogs over 120 million years

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---------------- #1505 - Molly’s Grandpa was a Llama?

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- Molly is a Golden Retriever, 7 months old and 50 pounds. My brother, Bob, wanted to know her pedigree. She came from a flea and burr infested farm in Napa at 3 months and was considered a rescue dog. Her lineage goes back to Scotland where her ancestors were bred for retrieving water fowl and game birds. In the 18^th century guns were getting better and the downed game was too hard to find. Golden Retrievers were ideal for the job. Her lineage goes back to over 120 million years. Then, they were called Llamas.
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- Science now knows that mammals and dinosaurs lived together for millions of years. 65,000,000 years ago dinosaurs died out and mammals took over and began to diversify. Mammals began as small, shrew-like creatures, some up to the medium sized dog. From there, evolution created a diversity of mammals where today we have 4,316 different species of mammals.
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- Mammals are different from other creatures in that they have fur, or hair, are warm-blooded, and produce milk. They have live births, with a few mammals that lay eggs ( platypus), and a few that have a mother’s pouch (kangaroos), but 90% are placental mammals.
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- Of these placental mammals there are at least 23 categories, called orders, and within these orders there are 4,316 different species. Each has a Latin name but I will just use a few representatives with common names for each species. For example the largest number of species is in the order “Rodentia” which has 1,995 species of mice, squirrels and guinea pigs. Here is a table of the order and species:
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---------- 1 ------------ mice, squirrels ---------- 1,995 species
---------- 2 ----------- rabbits ------------------------ 80
---------- 3 ------------ bats -------------------------- 925
---------- 4 ----------- bears, cats, dogs, seals ---- 280
---------- 5 ----------- monkeys, men -------------- 233
---------- 6 ----------- whales, dolphins ------------- 78
---------- 7 ------------ cows, pigs, deer ------------ 215
---------- 8 ------------ horses, rhinos ------------- -- 18
---------- 9 ------------ sloth’s, anteaters ------------ 29
---------- 10 ----------- pangolins (1) ----------------- 7
---------- 11------------ flying lemurs ---------------- 2
---------- 12------------ aardvarks (5) ----------------- 1
---------- 13------------ manatees ---------------------- 4
---------- 14------------ hyraxes (2) ------------------- 11
---------- 15------------ elephants ---------------------- 2
---------- 16------------ elephant shrews ------------- 19
---------- 17------------ hedgehogs ------------------- 21
---------- 18------------ moles ------------------------- 42
---------- 19------------ tree shrews ------------------ 19
---------- 20------------ shrews ---------------------- 312
---------- 21------------ tenrecs, moles (footnote 3) - 24
---------- 22------------ golden moles ---------------- 18
---------- 23------------ solenodons (footnote 4) ----- 2
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- We can try to combine these orders into groups that have common characteristics in order to determine a common ancestor. Common characteristics might be similar teeth, similar toes or hooves, similar spines, etc. Another way to combine these species into a family tree is to group those with the most similar DNA. This review does not go into the details of mutations in DNA. But, evolution has occurred through mutations in the DNA code. The mutations that improve the species, or create another species that are better survivors, live on. Those with the poor mutations die off. Only the strong survive.
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- The DNA string is unique to each species as it is passed on to generation after generation. When you get back to common ancestors of species they have common DNA mutations. So, without going into the explanations here are the results:
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The genetic differences in DNA between:
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---------------- humans -------------- chimpanzes ------------ 1.24%
---------------- humans -------------- gorillas ---------------- 1.62%
---------------- humans -------------- orangutans -------------- 3.08%
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----------------- chimps ----------------gorillas ---------------- 1.63%
----------------- chimps -------------- orangutans -------------- 3.13%
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----------------- gorillas ------------ orangutans --------------- 3.09%
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- Using DNA results, humans are more like chimps than any other species. And, humans are to gorillas almost as chimps are to gorillas. Using this data from the DNA we conclude that humans and chimps had a common ancestor from which both species diverged 6,500,000 years ago. And, humans and chimps diverged from gorillas some 7,500,000 years ago. These species of humans, chimps and gorillas diverged from orangutans with a common ancestor 16,000,000 years ago.
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- It is important to note that only males were included in this DNA survey, ha, ha.
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- We are interested in Molly’s common ancestors. Together dogs and bears are in the species “ Carnivores”. The number of nucleotide differences between dogs, bears, llamas, and antelope are:
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-------------------- dogs --------------- bears ------------- 36 different nucleotides
------------------- dogs --------------- llamas ------------ 35
-------------------- dogs --------------- antelope ---------- 46
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-------------------- bears -------------- llamas ------------ 45
-------------------- bears -------------- antelope ---------- 50
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- It looks like dogs are more closely related to llamas than to bears. But, comparing dogs and bears to llamas they are 10 differences apart. Comparing them to antelope they are only 5 differences apart. Dogs and bears had a common ancestor with llama and antelope some 80,000,000 years ago.
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- As best we can determine there evolved two basic groups of mammals. One from Africa and one from the Northern Latitudes.
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From Africa common ancestors existed:
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65,000,000 years ago for:
------------elephants
----------- hyraxes (footnote 2)
----------- manatees
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and 80,000,000 years ago for:
---------- aardvarks (footnote 5)
---------- elephant shrews
---------- tenrecs (footnote 3)
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- As best we can determine from Northern Latitudes common ancestors existed:
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80,000,000 years ago for:
------------rabbits
---------- mice
---------- tree shrews
------------flying lemurs
---------- primates, you and me Leroy
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and 90,000,000 years ago for:
---------- hedgehogs
---------- bats
--------- dogs and bears
---------- pangolins (footnote 1)
----------- horses
----------- pigs, whales
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- This grouping certainly had something to do with continental drift when Africa separated from Gondwana some 120,000,000 years ago. South America separated from Africa some 105,000,000 years ago. South America joined up with North America some 90,000,000 years ago. The categories for these mammals come together with a common mammal ancestor some 110,000,000 years ago when they were all shrews. Then, the dinosaurs died off some 65,000,000 years ago. Interesting!
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(1) Pangolons are a scaly anteater. They look like a walking pine cone that is up to 3 foot long. They can curl up into an armored ball with razor sharp scales for protection. Its claws are also sharp for climbing and burrowing.
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(2) Hyrax is a small rabbit-like mammal said to be the closest living relative to the elephant. Found in Africa and the Middle East it has fossil records dating back 40,000,000 years ago.
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(3) Tenrecs are found in Madagascar and Africa. They vary in size from shrew-like to opossum-like. They are omnivorous and nocturnal and usually live in groups.
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(4) Solenodons are shrew-like mammals that resemble a species very closely to those living with the dinosaurs. They have long snouts and eat insects. Their tits are on their butts and their saliva is venomous. Once adult they are solitary animals.
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(5) Aardvarks are called the ant-bear because it is the size of a pig. It is a living fossil. It is nocturnal and feeds on ants and termites. It has a long, sticky tongue. It borrows out a home. Its predators are lions and leopards and for defense it will lie on its back and slash with its long claws.
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- From review #873 written January 15, 2008.-
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Monday, October 29, 2012

MRIs use Nuclear Magnetic Resonance imaging?

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--------------------- #1504 - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
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- Nuclear magnetic resonance has nothing to do with radioactivity. Nuclear refers to the nucleus of atoms which are made up of charged particles called “protons.” Protons spin on a rotational axis. They carry a positive charge of 1.9*10^-19 Coulombs, the same as the negative charge of an electron. A spinning electric charge creates a magnetic moment.
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- We do not usually detect this magnetic moment because all the protons are lined up in random directions. However, if the atoms are placed in an external magnetic field they can be made to all line up in the same direction. Using this phenomenon allows medicine to create Magnetic Resonance Imaging, an MRI, of the tissues in the body. Medicine drops the “Nuclear” in the names because patients would not stick their head in a machine that was called “ nuclear”.
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- The external magnetic field aligns all nuclei’s magnetic moments to point in the same direction. The north poles of the spinning protons have an axis of rotation in parallel with the magnetic field lines of the external field. The next step is to get the rotating axes to tilt and precess around this true north axis. The rotating protons also have angular momentum and this can cause a wobble like a spinning top with the rotational axis making a circle around the true vertical.
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- To inner act with this precession we use a radio wave at right angles to the magnetic field lines. The electro-magnetic wave has a magnetic field that aligns perpendicular to the precessing magnetic moment causing it to tilt even further than its natural precession when the wave frequency is exactly the same as the precession frequency. When this happens it is called frequency resonance. Energy is absorbed in the angular momentum of the rotating proton. When the radio wave is turned off the proton returns to its original precession angle and emits that fixed amount of energy corresponding to the resonant frequency. This is what is detected as a unique signal in the frequency spectrum representing the particular atom that is doing the precessing. The resonant frequency is unique for every element.
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- The precession angle is a function of the strength of the magnetic field. The resonance frequency is 42 Megahertz per Tesla of magnetic strength. An MRI machines uses a very strong magnetic field, say 5 Tesla. So , the resonant frequency is 210 Megahertz for the hydrogen that it is detecting to form the image. Thus, that is the reason a radio frequency orthogonal to the magnetic field is the what is chosen.
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- The MRI technology uses hydrogen as the atom nucleus to be detected. The radio frequencies used in other application varies from 60 to 1,000 Megahertz. These are the familiar range of frequencies used in VHF and UHF television broadcasting. Each atomic structure has a unique resonant precession frequency and detecting it can identify the element or the molecule involved.
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- Atomic elements that have an odd number of protons, or an odd number of neutrons (called isotopes) have natural magnetic moments of precession that are easier to detect. If the atomic nucleus has an even number of protons or neutrons its spin is zero and balanced lacking a magnetic moment.
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- Our bodies are mostly water ( H2O) so looking at the tissues in the body works well using the resonant frequency of hydrogen. Carbon 13 is also used with its 6 protons and 13 neutrons. But, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance has many different applications other than MRI, imaging. There are many isotopes that can be detected in any number of elements and molecules found in poisons, toxins, environmental pollution, explosives, etc. Here is a list of some of the elements having natural magnetic resonances:
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--------------------- hydrogen 1
--------------------- carbon 13
--------------------- hydrogen 2
--------------------- lithium 6
--------------------- boron 10
--------------------- boron 11
--------------------- nitrogen 14
--------------------- nitrogen 15
--------------------- oxygen 17
--------------------- fluorine 19
--------------------- sodium 29
--------------------- silicon 29
--------------------- lead 31
--------------------- cadmium 113
--------------------- xenon 129
--------------------- platinum 195
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- A significant application for NMR is having a non-intrusive way of identifying these elements and their molecules. To get to 3-dimensional imaging we need a few more tricks.
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- A constant uniform magnetic field works well in detection in 1-dimension to simply identify that a target element is there. However, to locate the target in 2-dimensions we need to very the magnetic field intensity over space and time. Then, when the resonant frequency is emitted matching the correct magnetic field intensity we also have its location in space. This gradient in the magnetic field allows us to create a 2-dimensional image throughout the target. The image represents a “slice” of detected hydrogen protons. Where there is more water the image is white, less water in fat is gray, still less water in muscle is dark gray, bone with little water and is black.
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- To get a 3-dimensional image we simply move the target slightly and get another “slice”. After passing through the entire target we put the slices together and create a 3-dimensional image of the inside of the body. Medical experts can study the MRI image and complete a diagnosis. The non-intrusive image is very similar to an X-ray image, but much safer for the patient.
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- NMR also works in chemistry to determine the structure of molecules. For example, NMR was used to discover the structure of the “ buckyball”, a carbon 60 atoms structured to form a sphere. In biology it is used for non-destructive study of proteins, including DNA.
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- NMR is used in oil drilling, the magnetic resonance detection is lowered into the drill hole to discover oil and natural gas. Once the oil is in the refinery NMR is used again in process control to produce the oil products.
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- Someday NMR may be used in quantum computing
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- Lasers can be used to align magnetic moments in place of strong external magnetic fields. NRM technology is on the verge of many new discoveries. An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- 2 learn more Wikipedia has excellent animations and videos that explain nuclear magnetic resonance.
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- Google Alex Pine, University of Berkeley, California for several links to the state of the art in NMR. I attended his lecture at Sonoma State on October 22, 2012.
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- The Earth has a magnetic field that can be used in NMR with sensitive enough detectors. The Earth is also a precessing magnetic axis with its north pole pointed exactly at the star Polaris, The North Star. The planet is not a balanced sphere and it is influenced by gravitational fields from the Sun and the Moon. The magnetic axis precesses in a giant circle. In a few thousand years the north pole axis will be pointing at the star Vega. It takes 26,000 years for precession to complete one cycle back to Polaris.
( See Review # 622 to learn more about Polaris.)
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Monday, October 29, 2012

How you can measure the speed of light?

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--------------------- #1503 - How did we learn the speed of light?

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- How you can learn the speed of light by using some astronomy. You will need some binoculars or a telescope. Find Jupiter in the night sky high above the Constellation Orion. With binoculars you can easily see the four moons of Jupiter:
-
------------------------ Ganymede
------------------------ Io
------------------------ Callisto
------------------------ Europa
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- The moons in orbit around Jupiter change positions every night. Io is the closest and orbits every 42.5 hours. Pick any monthly astronomy magazine and it will show a chart of the positions of Jupiter’s moons each day of the month. I will pick October 31, 2012 at 12:45 AM Viewed through the telescope the south pole of Jupiter is up, not down. This is because the telescope lens flips the image, north to south. At that time the moons are located:
-
---------------------- Callisto is far to the left, west
--------------------- Europa is not as far to the right, east
--------------------- Ganymede and Io are closer to Jupiter about the same distance, 15 arc seconds to the right, east
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- I picked this time for the unusual event that you can see Ganymede’s shadow on the face of Jupiter. It is the black dot at the top near the south pole. When Io passes behind Jupiter, is eclipsed by Jupiter, it repeats every 42 hours, 30 minutes. It is like a pendulum in a clock.
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- If you continue these measurements throughout the course of the year there will be a time delay of 22 minutes, from the shortest time to the longest time. This represents the point that the Earth orbit is closest to Jupiter, and when it is farthest from Jupiter six months later. That 6 months represents one half a complete orbit which spans the distance of the diameter of an Earth orbit. The distance to the Sun is 93,000,000 miles. Therefore the diameter is 186,000,000 miles.
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- The 22 minute delay is the time it takes light to travel that extra distance across the diameter of Earth orbit. We can calculate the velocity:
-
-------------------- Velocity = 186,000,000 miles / 22 minutes
-
-------------------- Velocity = 8,450,000 miles per minute
-
--------------------- Velocity = 141,000 miles per second.
-
- Well that was with 25% of the right answer. Close is good for astronomy measurements. The speed of light is 186,282 miles per second.
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----------------------- 141,000 / 186,282 = 76%
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- We need to realize that Jupiter is in orbit too. Io’s eclipses actually appear to follow a 13 month cycle. So, we need some refinements in our calculations.
-
- In the 17^th century when mariners first tried to use Io eclipses as a clock, they found the time to be earlier and later than expected depending on the time of year. The clock turned out to be not accurate enough to avoid the rocks. They did not realize that they had to take into account the Earth’s orbit about the Sun. Astronomers first realized that the time difference was actually the greater distance across the diameter of Earth’s orbit. They got their answer with about 5% for the speed of light.
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- To get even better accuracy astronomers started to measure the parallax of distant stars. In 1728 the astronomers began measuring the parallax shift as the Earth orbited the Sun. One particular star’s position, that of Gamma Draconis, shifted by an angle of 0.006 degrees. Basic trigonometry was used to calculate how fast light traveled between the Sun and the Earth. The result of 8 minutes and 12 seconds was only 7 seconds shorter than the right answer. They estimated that light travels 10,210 times faster that Earth’s orbital velocity. This overestimate of light speed is with 1% correct.
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- In 1850 an electric motor was used to spin a disk having fine teeth with gaps between. A mirror was placed 5 miles away. Returning light pulses with a slow moving disk returned through the same slot. Spinning the disk faster allowed a tooth to block the returning light pulse. Spinning still faster and the returning light pulse passes through the adjacent gap. Using this method the round trip journey for the light pulse could be measured. The result only overestimated the speed of light by 4%.
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- In 1920 scientists bounce light beams off a rotating mirror that was located 21 miles away. The mirror was a spinning octagonal mirror. It would reflect the light beam back to the source only when the mirror face was exactly perpendicular to beam. By varying the speed of the rotation they could calculate the time for each reflecting beam. This measurement put the speed of light at 299,796 + or - 4 kilometers per second,
186, 208 miles per second.
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- Today’s best measurements put light speed at:
-
----------------------------- 299,792.458 kilometers per second
-
---------------------------- 186,282 miles per second.
-
- When radar was used during World War II precise speeds were needed to calculate accurately incoming planes, missiles, and ships. To get even more accuracy scientists combined microwaves inside a cavity of precisely known dimensions. The standing waves produced by the microwaves were known to within 0.8 microns. Measuring the frequency accurately allowed the calculation of the speed of light multiplying frequency times wavelength:
-
------------------------- c = f * w
-
- This measurement got the result to within 299,792.5 + or - 3 kilometers per second. You could make the same measurement in your microwave oven if you could measure accurately the standing wave on a pad of butter and you knew the frequency of the magnetron to be 2.45 GHz. c = f * w
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- By 1980 light speed was one of the most accurate constants known. It became the standard to determine the length of one meter. A meter became the distance the light travels in a vacuum in 1 / 299,792.458 seconds.
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- All attempts to date to prove that light is not this constant speed in a vacuum have failed. Electromagnetic radiation instantly travels at this constant speed, and is usually abbreviated as “c”.
-
------------------ as in: E = m * c^2
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Want to learn more about light?
Here are some more reviews available upon request:
# 1386 Light speed
# 1389 The power of light
# 940 Not enough light
# 934 Light’s mysteries
# 915 Light - atomic interferometer
# 1335 Light spectrum
# 1043 The strangeness of light
# 1044 Light to matter, stranger still
# 615 The energy of a quantum of light
# 912 Wave-particles, anti-matter, and entanglement.
# 768 The wave-particle duality of light
# 34 Getting light from electricity and magnetism
# 589 Light
# 645 How far away is the Sun.
--------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Protons made of Quarks made of Preons?

-
--------------------- #1502 - Atoms with Protons, with Quarks, with Preons?

-
- The ancients in Greece first proposed the atom as the smallest indivisible particle that makes up matter in the natural world. Science later discovered the electron which turned out to be the basis for chemistry. Later, the nucleus of atoms were discovered to contain protons and neutrons. Then, more recently protons and neutrons were found to each contain 3 Quarks. Today, do you suppose we will find that Quarks contain even more elementary particles?
-
- In today’s Standard Model of Particle Physics Quarks are considered “ fundamental particles”, point like in size with a spin of ½. Spin ½ means that they have a “quantum” spin. It is either +½ or -½ . It is like the magnetic moment of spin is either the north pole or the south pole. There is nothing in between. Here are the sizes we are talking about:
-
------------------------- Hydrogen atom --------------- 1.1*10^-10 meters
------------------------- Proton ------------------------- 1.7 * 10^-15 meters
------------------------- Quark -------------------------- less than 10^-18 meters
-------------------------- Preon -------------------------- smaller still.
-
- Could the Quark be composed of these even smaller “fundamental particles”, Preons?
-
- No evidence measured to date will give us the answer. But, that does not stop physicists from imagining such particles and developing the theories for there existence. They have even given them a name, “ Preons”.
-
- Here is how the theory might work and still match the Standard Model:
-
----------------------------- STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE PHYSICS -----------
-
------------------- 12 Fermions ------------------------------ 4 Bosons plus the Higgs
-
--------------- 6 Quarks and 6 Leptons -------------------- 5 Force Carriers
-
- Lowest Energy Generation of Quarks and Leptons:
-
--------------------------------------------------- Charge --- Mass in million electron volts.
-
-------------------------------- Up Quark ------ +2/3 ----------------- 2.3
------------------------------- Down Quark --- -1/3 ----------------- 4.8
------------------------------- Electron --------- -1 -------------------- 0.511
------------------------------ Electron Neutrino -- 0 ------------------ less than 0.000002
-
- Boson, Force Carriers Energy Levels:
-
--------------------------- Photon ----------------- 0 ------------------ massless
--------------------------- Gluon ------------------ 0 ------------------ massless
-------------------------- Z Boson ----------------- 0 ---------------- 91,188
------------------------- W Boson ----------------- + - 1 ------------ 80,385
------------------------- Higgs Boson ----------- 0 --------------- 125,000
-
- If there are two types of Preons one having a charge of +1/3 and the other being neutral. And, an anti-Preon exists at a charge of -1/3, then this Standard Model can be constructed with each Quark containing 3 Preons and each Boson containing 2 , or, 6 Preons. Here is what the table would look like:
-
- Fermions
-
--------------------------------------------------- Charge --- Mass in million electron volts.
-
--------------------------------------------------- +1/3 Preon -----------Neutral Preon
-
-------------------------------- Up Quark ------ 2 ------------------------- 1
------------------------------- Down Quark --- 1 anti ------------------ 2 neutral anti-
------------------------------- Electron ------= 3 anti -------------------- 0
------------------------------ Electron Neutrino - 0 ----------------------- 3
-
- Boson, Force Carriers
-
--------------------------- Photon ----------------- 1+1 anti ------------------ 0
--------------------------- Gluon ------------------ too complicated -------
-------------------------- Z Boson ----------------- 3 +3 anti --------------- 0
------------------------- W Boson ----------------- 3 -------------------------- 0
------------------------- Higgs Boson ----------- too complicated -------
-
- You can see how it would work for Quarks and Leptons to be made up each of 3 Preons having an electric charge of + 1/3.
-
- The future for hunting for structure within Quarks and Leptons is brighter than ever. The Large Hadron Collider in CERN , Switzerland, has already produced a year’s worth of collision data of protons and anti-protons colliding at 7,000 million electron volts. This year it will increase collision energies to 8,000 million electron volts. And, in 2015 to 14,000 million electron volts. Physicists are busy hunting through the debris.
-
- Physics is busy finding the smallest elementary particles. Preons to make up Quarks, Quarks to make up Protons, Protons to make up atoms, atoms to make up molecules, molecules to make up chemistry, chemistry to make up biology, biology to start with a breath of air, learn the alphabet, learn their numbers, grow in knowledge to read this review and figure this stuff out.
-
- There is still more stuff to figure out. The Standard Model does not include gravity. We have no mathematical method of deriving the masses we have discovered. They are all obtained from experiments. The theory for the Higgs Boson started over 50 years ago; experimental evidencewas found just this summer. Another announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Redshifting Back In Time?

-
--------------------- #1501 - Redshifting Back In Time

-
- Since 1676 astronomers have known that light travels at a finite speed. Using the moons of Jupiter as a pendulum clock, astronomers measured the difference in time for the moons to pass Jupiter’s horizon at six month intervals of the year. In six months the Earth orbits at a point closest to Jupiter to a point furthest from Jupiter. That distance being the diameter of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The time difference measured divided by that distance calculated the speed of light.
-
- 336 years later our measurements put the speed of light at 186,282 miles per second.
-
----------------------- 670,633,500 miles per hour
-
---------------------- 5,880,000,000,000 miles per year
-
- 5.88 trillion miles is the distance light travels in one year.
-
- If astronomers observe a galaxy 1 million lightyears away, they are looking at that galaxy as it was 1 million years ago. That is how long it took for the galaxy’s light to reach us.
-
- Through these observations astronomers have learned that the Universe in the past appeared much different than the Universe we see today.
-
- In the beginning the Universe was only primordial gas, hydrogen and helium. It was only after the first stars formed out of this gas that nuclear fusion created the heavier elements. The first stars were giants, 300 to 400 Solar Mass. Our Sun is 1 Solar Mass. These giant stars had short lives due to their immense gravity and rapid fusion of their hydrogen and helium fuel. When they ran out of fuel they collapsed and exploded into a supernova with immense heat and pressure that fused the lighter elements into heavier elements. Stars that formed later out of the interstellar medium created from the first stars contained these heavier elements.
-
- Each element is different. The light spectrum from stars contains absorption lines that are fingerprints for each element. Each absorption line pattern represents specific wavelengths of energy absorbed by an electron as it jumps to higher excited orbits. Every element has its own unique set of electrons in orbit. Elements can be identified in the light spectrum using these “fingerprints” of absorption lines.
-
- In 1950 Quasars were first discovered. “Qausi-Stellar Objects” had spectral absorption and emission lines that were unlike any known elements found on Earth. At first they were thought to be newly discovered elements. It was not until 1960 that Caltech in Pasadena discovered that these fingerprints were really known elements that had their wavelengths redshifted to longer wavelengths due to the expanding space.
-
- By 1980 Quasars were understood to be the central regions of galaxies that contained massive Blackholes. Billion Solar Mass Blackholes consume vast quantities of gas. The gas forms in an accretion disk orbiting just outside the Event Horizon. The rotating gas heats up and emits intense energy that astronomers see as a point source of light from a Quasar.
-
- The earliest Quasar discovered so far has a redshift of 7.085 times, which means it exists just 770,000,000 years after the Big Bang. This tells us that galaxies first formed before this time.
-
- Astronomers started using the fingerprints of neutral hydrogen to look even further back in time. Neutral hydrogen emits photons at a wavelength of 21 centimeters. The redshifts for these longer wavelengths require telescopes using low-frequency radio waves. Using this technique the most distant galaxy was found at 480,000,000 years after the Big Bang.
-
- The table that follows lists some of these most distant discoveries:
-
-------------------------------------------------------- Redshift ----- Years after BB
-
--------- 1960 ------------- Galaxy --------------- 0.461 --------- 8.9 billion
--------- 1965 ------------- Quasar --------------- 2.018 --------- 3.3 billion
--------- 1974 ------------- Quasar --------------- 3.53------------ 1.8 billion
--------- 1987 ------------- Quasar --------------- 4.01 ---------- 1.6 billion
--------- 1997 ------------- Galaxy --------------- 4.92 ----------- 1.2 billion
--------- 1998 ------------- Supernova ----------- 0.83 ----------- 6.7billion
--------- 2001 ------------- Quasar --------------- 6.28 ----------- 0.9 billion
--------- 2009 ------------- Supernova ---------- 2.357 ---------- 2.8 billion
--------- 2010 ------------- Galaxy --------------- 8.56 ----------- 0.6billion
--------- 2011 ------------- Quasar --------------- 7.085 ---------- 0.77 billion
--------- 2011 ------------- Galaxy Cluster ------ 2.07 ---------- 3.2 billion
--------- 2011 ------------- Gamma Ray Burst -- 9.4 ----------- 0.52 billion
--------- 2011 ------------- Galaxy ---------------- 10 ------------ 0.48 billion
--------- 2012 ------------- Supernova Type 1a -- 1.55 ---------- 4.2 billion
-
- From the table Gamma Ray Bursts have been discovered occurring 520,000,000 years after the Big Bang.
-
- A Galaxy Cluster existed 3,200,000,000 years after.
-
- The most distant Quasar at a redshift of 7 at 770,000,000 years after.
-
- The most distant galaxy at a redshift of 10 at 480,000,000 years after.
-
- Of course the greatest redshift object is the CMB at 1,100 redshift and 380,000 after the Big Bang. This object is the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation that was emitted in the infrared wavelengths when hydrogen atoms first lost ionization and became neutral allowing the photons to escape. Today we detect their redshifted light in the microwave end of the electromagnetic spectrum.
-
- To see backwards in time even further astronomers need to detect even longer wavelengths. This requires even bigger telescopes. A telescope planned for Chile is 24.5 meters in diameter. One planned for Mauna Kea, Hawaii is 30 meters. A European telescope also planned for Chile is 39.3 meters.
-
- It is race to ever higher redshifts to see farther back in time. Only in astronomy do you get to do this sort of thing. An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) More about redshifts #925 Hydrogen Radio Signal.
-
(2) #835 The Redshift Explained.
-
--------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Sunday, October 21, 2012

Is the Universe Infinite?

-
--------------------- #1500 - The Infinite Universe

-
- See Review #1499 “ Using Supernovae to Measure Dark Energy”. These measurements conclude that the Universe is 30% Matter and 70% Dark Energy. The 70% is vacuum energy that is expanding the Universe at an ever accelerating rate. The expansion of the Universe is gaining speed.
-
- OK, but, what is the Universe expanding into?
-
- There is evidence to suggest that the answer is simply more Universe. That the Universe is infinite in size. This is an idea totally inconsistent with logic. However, the idea is consistent with measurements made of sound waves in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, with redshifts in Type 1a Supernovae, with calculations of the Hubble Constant, and with the conclusion that space has a flat topology. So an infinite Universe is not contrary to evidence so far.
-
- The Hubble Constant measures how fast galaxies are moving away from us. The more distant the galaxy the faster the recession velocity. It may not be a constant over time, or distance, but, in our neighborhood of the Universe the Hubble Constant is 47,000 miles per hour for every million lightyears distance. That is 13 miles per second per million light years of space.
-
- If space never ends there is no limit to the number of galaxies, stars, planets, and energy in the Universe. The constant does remain with the speed of light. So, we can only see over the space of so many lightyears distance. Called our “ Observable Universe” it contains at least 200,000,000,000 galaxies. If the Universe is infinite then this is a very small fraction that we can see. In fact, it is essentially zero.
-
- Where did this infinite Universe come from? Well, it came from nothing. You take all the mass and gravity and balance that against the negative repulsive force of Dark Energy and the balance equals zero.
-
- I told you that it was inconsistent with logic.---------------
-
- With these assumptions of the mass being zero and the volume being infinite the density of the Universe is zero/infinity. That ratio would drive a mathematician nuts.
-
- We certainly live in a special part of the Universe where the density of things make up our natural world . Take the density of the air we breath for example. The total volume of the Earth’s atmosphere is 4.2 * 10^18 cubic meters. The total mass is 5.1*10^18 kilograms. The average density is 1.214 kilograms per cubic meter. That is equivalent to the average being 0.000044 pounds per cubic inch.
-
- But, all that atmosphere is over our head. It is sitting on our shoulders with an atmospheric pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch.
-
- An interesting way to compare the densities in the Universe is to use the units of the number of hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. A hydrogen atom weighs 1.6*10^-27 kilograms. The Earth’s atmosphere then has an average density of 7.5*10^26 hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. That is a lot of atoms weighing down on us.
-
- That is an average. If you go up in elevation from 600 miles to 4,000 miles you can measure density at 53 hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. That region is called the Van Allen Radiation Belt, or more recently simply the “magnetosphere“. It is the magnetic shield around the Earth that protects us from the Solar Wind.
-
- The Solar Wind coming at us from the Sun has a volume of 1.4 * 10^34 cubic meters. It has a total mass of 4.5*10^14 kilograms. So the average density of the Solar Wind between us and the Sun is 20,000,000 hydrogen atoms per cubic meter.
-
- The average density of the total Milky Way Galaxy is the ratio of 1.6 *10^60 cubic meters divided by 2*10^39 kilograms. The gives us an average density of 81,000 atoms per cubic meter.
-
- Here is a table of densities measured in the number of hydrogen atoms:
-
------------------------- Earth’s atmosphere ------------------- 7.5*10^26 atoms
------------------------- Sun’s atmosphere -------------------- 6.2*10^13 atoms
------------------------- Sun’s surface ------------------------ 1.3*10^23 atoms
------------------------- Orion Nebula ------------------------ 1.5*10^8 atoms
------------------------- Milky Way Galaxy ------------------- 8.1*10^4 atoms
------------------------- The Universe ------------------------- 0 atoms / infinite volume = nothing. I like our part of the Universe the best.
-
- An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
-------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Using Supernovae to measure Dark Energy

-
--------------------- #1499 - Using Supernovae to Measure Dark Energy.

-
- Astronomers find about one new supernova explosion each night. These are stars that explode at end-of-life when they run out of nuclear fuel, violently collapse, bounce off their core in a tremendous explosion back into space. These supernovae are from all sizes of stars and all distances of space.
-
- Astronomers are looking for a particular type of supernova. Called Type 1a Supernova it is believed to be the explosion of a White Dwarf Star. Its core is almost entirely made of carbon and oxygen. It is about the size of the Earth in volume. The core is what is left behind after a star sheds its outer hydrogen/helium shell.
-
- The theory is that all White Dwarf supernova occur in the same way. The White Dwarf dead star’s gravity accrues additional mass by siphoning off mass from a companion star. The companion could be a normal star ( main-sequence star), a Red Giant Star, or another White Dwarf Star. If the White Dwarf accumulates mass that reaches 140% the mass of our Sun an uncontrolled thermonuclear fusion explosion occurs. The explosion becomes 10,000,000,000 times brighter that our Sun.
-
- At 1.4 Solar Mass the amount of gravity pressure inward is greater that the electron pressure of atoms outward. The atoms can not hold up. Electrons collapse into the nuclei creating neutrons. A fusion explosion occurs that is equivalent to 100,000,000,000,000 trillion hydrogen bombs. The explosion consumes all of the core’s carbon and oxygen fuel in seconds. The mass converts into energy. The amount of energy is calculated to be 10^36 watts. If true, that consistent wattage becomes a “standard candle” for astronomers.
-
- If you know how bright a light source is and you measure how dim it becomes due to its distance away from you, you can calculate its distance based on that measured luminosity. ( See note 1 for the calculation).
-
- Also, if astronomers measure the spectrum of the light they can measure how much redshift has occurred due to the speed the galaxy is moving away from us. Or, more accurately, how much the space has expanded between us and the galaxy containing the supernova.
-
- If the wavelength of the peak color of the spectrum has gotten bigger, the wavelength shifts towards the red end of the spectrum, it indicates that the Universe has expanded during the journey, during the time it takes the light to reach us. The greater the expansion , the greater the redshift of wavelength, the greater the distance, the longer the time of light travel.
-
- By measuring Type 1a Supernovae explosions over distances of 1 billion, 3 billion, and 5 billion light years the redshift tells how fast the Universe has expanded over those time periods.
-
- If the expansion were constant and the Universe were empty the plot of the redshift with time would be a flat line. If the Universe were composed of 100% matter (gravity) and no Dark Energy of repulsion the plot would decay rapidly with greater redshifts and greater distances. A plot of actual measured supernovae data with a best fit line occurs if we assume 30% matter and 70% Dark Energy for the composition of the Universe.
-
- To astronomers surprise the data also showed that the Universe was not only expanding with this ratio of mass to energy, it was accelerating in its expansion. The Universe continues to become less dense, more rarefied. Galaxies keep moving away from each other faster. Eventually astronomers will not see any galaxies outside our local group that is still held together with gravity. ( See Review #1500 “ The Infinite Universe”, to learn more thoughts on what comes next.)
-------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, October 16, 2012

What is the Higgs Boson?

--------------------- #1498 - What is the Higgs Boson?

--
- What is the Higgs Boson?
-
- The “Higgs Boson” is a fundamental particle that permeates the “Higgs Field” that, in turn, creates the property of mass for the other fundamental particles. In other words, fundamentally the Higgs Boson is where mass and inertia come from.
-
- A more familiar analogy might by the electron which is another fundamental particle. It creates an electric field where opposite charges experience an attractive force and like electric charges experience a repelling force. The “Boson” that permeates this electric field is called the “photon“. The photon is the force carrier for light and all the other electromagnetic radiation. It is a quantum particle that permeates all electromagnetic energy in our Universe.
-
- There is a lot of particle physics background needed to get a better handle on all this. So, hang in there.
-
- Our natural world that we are familiar with is made up of fundamental particles at their lowest energy level. That is what makes them stable particles. These are electrons, (protons and neutrons), and photons. Protons and neutrons, that make up the nucleus of all atoms, were thought to be fundamental particles but it turns out that they are made up of lighter fundamental particles called Quarks.
-
- Protons are comprised of two “Up Quarks” and one “Down Quark” and have a positive electric charge. Neutrons are comprised of two Down Quarks and one Up Quark and have a neutral charge, or said in another way, carry no charge at all.
-
- The fundamental particles that make up our natural world are:
-
------------ Electrons, Up Quarks, Down Quarks and Photons.
-
- There are not just 4 fundamental particles however. The Universe has higher energy particles to bring this total to 12 fundamental particles. Then, we have anti-matter outside our natural world that brings the total to the Universe having 24 fundamental particles. Then, there are additional force carrier particles that bring us the Weak and Strong Nuclear Forces, and Inertia Mass. So, hang in there we have a ways to go.
-
- If you add energy to an electron it transforms into another fundamental particle called a “Muon“. If you add more energy to a Muon it transforms into a third fundamental particle called the Tau. The higher energy particles are always seeking the lowest energy level and they quickly decay to the lowest energy state. In this case, to become an electron. Here are the energy levels of these three fundamental particles:
-
--------------------------- Electron ======== 0.000511 billion electron volts
--------------------------- Muon ======== 0.106 billion electron volts
--------------------------- Tau ======== 1.777 billion electron volts
-
- The Quarks have similar higher energy counterparts:
-
-------------- Electron ---------- Up Quark ----------- Down Quark
-------------- Muon --------- Charm Quark -------- Strange Quark
-------------- Tau -------------- Top Quark ----------- Bottom Quark
-
- That is 9 of the fundamental particles. Together they are called “Fermions“. The Top Quark was the latest Fermion to be discovered. The Top Quark has an energy level of 173 billion electron volts. As we shall see, Higgs Boson has an energy level of 125 billion electron volts.
-
- There are 3 other Fermions that we have not been mentioned yet. These fundamental particles are the “Neutrinos“. They are in the family of the electrons, but, they have on charge, have almost zero mass, and are very difficult to detect. Together with the electron family they are called “Leptons“. The 6 Leptons are:
-
--------------- Electron -------- Electron Neutrino
-------------- Muon --------- Muon Neutrino
-------------- Tau --------------- Tau Neutrino
-
- That brings the total to 12 fundamental particles, 6 Leptons and 6 Quarks. What we are building here is called the Standard Model of Particle Physics. We are on the way to the Higgs Boson, so, hang in there:
-
- We finished the Fermions, let’s move on to the Bosons. The photon is the familiar Boson that permeates the electromagnetic field. The photon force carrier is what holds the electrons in orbit about the nucleus of all the atoms. The number of electrons in orbit and protons in the nucleus determine each of the elements in the Periodic Table. There are 92 elements , ranging from Hydrogen to Uranium. The photon is responsible for all electromagnetic energy.
-
- The protons are positive like -charges and they should be repelled from the nucleus of the atoms by the electromagnetic force. The force that overpowers the electromagnetic force and holds the nucleus of atoms together is called the “Strong Force“. Actually, it is the Quarks that are held together in the nucleus. And, the Boson that is the force carrier for the Strong Nuclear Force is called the “Gluon“ which holds the nucleus together.
-
- There is another Nuclear Force that holds the neutrons together and it is called the “Weak Nuclear Force“. The force carriers for the Weak Nuclear Force responsible for radioactive decay are the “W and Z Bosons“. The family of 4 Bosons responsible for these three forces of nature are :
-
------------------- Photons ----------- Electromagnetic Force
------------------- Gluons ------------ Strong Nuclear Force
------------------- W- Bosons ------- Weak Nuclear Force
------------------- Z- Bosons -------- Weak Nuclear Force.
-
- So far you have learned that the Standard Model of particle physics describes:
-
----------------- 12 Fermions --------------- 4 Bosons
-
- And, that the 12 Fermions are made up of:
-
----------------- 6 Leptons ---------------- 6 Quarks
-
- As mentioned earlier, to complicate things further, each of these particles has an equivalent “anti-particle“. Anti-particles are the same in every way except the opposite charge. Electrons have a negative charge. The anti-electron , or “positron” as it is called, has a positive charge. When particles and anti-particles of opposite charges come together they annihilate each other into a burst of Gamma Rays. All their mass is annihilated into equivalent amounts of energy. Neutral particles can become their own anti-particles.
-
- Fortunately, anti-matter does not occupy our natural world in any stable form. However, we can easily produce anti-matter in the laboratory. And, it is readily made in the nuclear reactions in the stars. A great mystery in physics is why equal amounts of matter and anti-matter, produced in the Big Bang, have not annihilated the entire Universe long before now. Somehow, there was a balance tipped in one direction that allowed matter to outnumber anti-matter. What is left is the natural world made up of the fundamental particles of matter and energy.
-
- Now we get to add one more fundamental particle, the Higgs Boson. It was discovered this summer in CERN , Switzerland, in the Large Hadron Collider. This particle accelerator smashes beams of protons and anti-protons together at tremendous energies, trillions of electron volts. The debris of particles that exit the collision are detected and analyzed to determine what fundamental particles were involved. The Higgs Boson was discovered at 125 billion electron volts.
-
- “Higgs” comes from Peter Higgs, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, who in 1964 wrote 2 papers, each 2 pages long, explaining how a new fundamental particle added to the Standard Model could explain the property of inertia and mass. ( Actually several physicists worked out the theory but Peter was the one who got is name attached to it.)
-
- 48 years later in Switzerland physicists finally discovered the particle that matched the theory.
-
- The Higgs Boson permeates the Higgs Field. The Field offers resistance to motion of fundamental particles depending on how strongly each interacts with the Field. This creates the property of inertia which is the defining quality of mass.
-
- This discovery expands the Standard Model of Particle Physics. There is still more to learn. Gravity is not part of the Standard Model. Its fundamental particle is called the “Graviton”, but, it has never been discovered. There may be Supersymetry that adds higher energy particles to each of these fundamental particles. But, that is only another theory. The Higgs Boson theory took nearly 50 years to be discovered. Let’s hope new discoveries can come a little faster for today’s generation. Today you know, what is a Higgs Boson!
-
- An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
-
-------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Sunday, October 14, 2012