Surface energy

It is a beautiful day in Utah at the Timpanogos Cave National Monument. I have packed a backpack of water, snacks, and a flashlight. After double checking to ensure I have my Cave ticket to tour the inside of the cave, I start the trail. After passing the Visitor’s Center I come to a talus slope. A talus slope is a pile of loose rocks that have collected at the bottom of a mountain, cliff, or any high point. Looking at the walls around the area I can see how erosion has weakened the walls near…

A common refrain in 1960 was "Lake Erie is Dead." In the 1960s Lake Erie was terribly polluted. We cleaned it up, but it’s polluted once again. Lake Erie contained increased levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which contributed to eutrophication, (a process that encourages the development of algal blooms). Since the 1960s Lake Erie has had many problems with algae. Waste water from the sewers also made their way into the lake, as this was happening factories were dumping pollutants into the…

one of the things that I learned more about was the problem with surface runoff of fertilizers and how it interacts with herbicides. The lab showed the participants on a small scale how eutrophication occurs and how it doesn't take a long time for algae to take over an area. Nitrogen and Phosphorus are usually found in fertilizers but not always at the same time. A study done said “ Concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen in surface waters are being regulated in the United States and European…

In the Florida Everglades ecosystem, Phosphorous is the main nutrient that the South Florida Water Management District is attempting to control. Phosphorous is the same nutrient that is a contributing factor to the algae problem in Lake Erie. In South Florida, the main source of drinking water stems from underground aquifers made of porous limestone, that is refilled via the everglades(NPS,2016). In our region, the main source for drinking water for cities, stems from Lake Erie. Thus,…

Egypt receives less than 80 mm of rainfall a year, and only 6 percent of the country is arable and agricultural land, with the rest being a desert. This leads to excessive watering and the use of wasteful irrigation techniques such as flood irrigation an outdated method of irrigation where gallons of water are pumped over the crops. Desertification is a land degradation problem of major importance in the arid regions of the world. Deterioration in soil and plant cover have adversely affected…

This research proposal seeks to test the hypothesis that pesticide run-off from agriculture, even in small amounts, can have a devastating impact on the aquatic ecosystem, in particular that of Daphnia.  For years, pesticides have been known to have devastating impact on the ecosystems surrounding the agricultural centers they are used in. On a regular basis, run-off from farms that utilize both fertilizers and pesticides can seep into the watershed and slowly trickle into bodies of water…

current case due to its inclusion of directional dependence of radiation intensity, which is not that in consideration here. Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) This model assumes that, for a certain range of solid angles, the radiation from a surface element can be approximated to a single ray. Due to this simplification, the RTE reduces to the following equation,…

Adapting water management processes could have a huge impact on the consumption of water annually, and result in increased efficiency. “An integrated research approach is required to assess the green house gas and energy balances of different biofuel production chains” (Walls, 2006). For this to succeed, this approach must be supported by quality research and innovative policies, and procedures. (Walls, 2006). “Today’s conventional or industrial agriculture is considered…

Water a vital biological molecule Molecule of water Water is a substance which is transparent, odourless and colourless liquid that has a boiling temperature of 373K, freezing temperature of 273K meaning it is liquid at room temperature. Water is a compound containing 2 hydrogen atoms, but also has an oxygen molecule as well this means it has the molecular formula of H2O. The relative atomic mass of water is around 18 with “11.188% being hydrogen and 88.182% being oxygen” [1]. When bonded it…

vacancy left by an ionized electron in the inner shell, the released energy can be passed to another outer electron that causes further emitting of an electron with characteristic energy, this is the basic principle of the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) [1]. Nowadays, AES is almost an indispensable tool in nanoscience research for its high surface sensitivity (can detect a single atomic layer of 0.1%), quick analysis, small surface damage (can be considered as nondestructive testing), etc…