SCIENCE CAPSULES

          Your friend asks " shall I bet 1000 dollars in Las Vegas tonight? " You want answer "yes" secretly.  You can do it in the following way easily. Step 1. Write down the binary code of  YES as used in computer.                             Y                          E                            S                      01011001             01000101              01010011             ( 8 bit binary code)  Step 2. Write some sentences like                          " my life is open book. I have no secrets. " ...

Can just a pair of plates(conductors) make an important component in all the gadgets and appliances we use daily?  Yes it is.      Imagine two metal plates separated by a small gap.  If one plate is charged positively using a battery, negative charge will be induced in the other plate since they are very close.  Both the plates hold charges and the electric field.  They act as a temporary storage of electricity or like a small battery.  When the plates are connected externally by a wire, they discharge and send a current.  This arrangement is called capacitor .  It has wide applications.      In a camera,  charges stored in the capacitor is released all at once triggering a 'flash of light'.  Since it act as a temporary storage between the source of electricity and the appliance, it can smooth out the fluctuations in the current and can supply a steady current.        Tak...

  We grow as an adult; complete our studies; find a good carrier; then select a suitable spouse; get married.  Offsprings get portions of our genes.  They grow as adults…. The story continues generation after generation.  The point here is; the fittest get married and produce off-springs. This principle can be used to solve a maths problem.   f(x) = 3.x-x^2/6.62 The above function yields different results for different values of X.  I want to find a particular value of X for which the function yields maximum.  That is, I want to maximize the function.  Let us assume that X can only take values from 0 to 31.  In a binary system, the range is 00000 to 11111(for the explanation of binary number see note 1) Let us randomly select six x values in the range 0 to 31 and evaluate the function. X- decimal X- binary f(x) = 3.x-x^2/6.62 selected? 2 00010 5.395 yes 8 01000 14.33 yes 12 01100 14.24 ...

    One cannot think of  a mathematical step without 'is equal to ' .  It balances right hand side and left hand side.  It aids simplification and manipulation of a mathematical expression. example: 2(A+B)  = C 2A+2B  = C         2A = C-2B           A = C-2B/ 2   In an electronic calculator,  the pressing of ' = " sign executes an asthmatic expression  or simply calculates.       In computer languages, it plays very important role.                                                                 A = B   When a computer looks at this expression, the value stored in the location named B is just transferred to the storage named A .  After execution both A and B will have the same value an...

  What is the solution of X^2 + 1 = 0 ?   X^2 = -1     X = ROOT OF -1 = i    Root of -1 is meaningless and does not have any physical or real attribute.  So we call it imaginary number i.  Now a new number system is born 1i, 2i, 3i,...      Normally, positive numbers are represented in positive X - axis and negative numbers are represented in negative X - axis.  That is, 180 degree opposite to the positive numbers .Since i = (-1)^1/2 , the imaginary number should be represented half way between positive and negative numbers.  That is in Y - axis perpendicular to the X-axis.  So finally i means 90 degree rotation.      Now we take one real example.  Let there be a square table on the floor.  Let us assume that you and your friend push the table at the two sides.  that is, both of you push the table perpendicular to each other.  Commonsense says that table will move i...

  Throw a stone on the sheet of water in a pond.  Circular waves are created and spread throughout the water surface.  The waves travels as crests and troughs.  We are going to model this waves mathematically.       In a right angled triangle, opposite side divided by hypotenuse gives the sine of the angle x   as illustrated in the figure.     Trigonometry says:  As the angle goes from zero degree to 90 degree, the sine value goes from 0 to 1.  When the angle increases to 180 degree, the sine goes down to 0.  As the angle further increases to 270 and to 360 degree,  the sine goes to -1 and then back to 0.  So when the angle makes one rotation, the sine makes one wavy motion as given in the figure.      So sine function is very suitable to represent a wave.   Y = sin x        As the x goes from 0 to 360 degree or in radian 0 to 2 pi, Y oscillat...

        We know, the flow of electrons is electric current.  Electrons are said to be negative charge carriers.        In a molecular structure, if there is a vacancy for an electron,  it is called hole .  When an electron from somewhere in the structure fills-up  this hole, a new  hole will be created where the electron has just left.  Hence a hole can move opposite to the electron .  So the holes are said to be positive charge carriers.     In a germanium crystal, arsenic is infused.  We get electron rich material called N type (negative) material.  When boron is added to germanium, we get holes surplus P type (positive) substance.        A thin P type material is sandwiched between two N type material.  Now a transistor is made.  These three pieces NPN are respectively called emitter, base, and collector.      By co...