11/30/12
Heather was back this week and spent the day with Daniele and I. We hopped right to work as we headed to the room where they kept the furnaces in hopes of fixing a furnace that had been out of service for a few weeks now. The furnaces are humerously named after the three stooges (Moe, Larry, Shemp and Curly) along with the Marx brothers (Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo). I was a little apprehensive, as fixing a machine that can easily heat up to 1100 degrees Celsius seemed to be a difficult task to say the least even though I did like their names. Daniele on the other hand seemed to think the furnace was anything but scary as she compared it to a high power toaster as we started to fix it. The furnace consists of a ceramic tube with a coil of wire wrapped around it. What often causes the furnaces to stop working is the coils of the wire will bend and touch each other, causing the furnace to short out since it produces heat using electrical energy. Insulation is then wrapped around the wire and tube and a thermocouple is tucked inside the insulation. The thermocouple gets hooked up to a monitor beneath the furnace and measures the temperature within the furnace. After sufficiently insulating the furnace and stuffing our contraption into its stand, it was ready to roll. We attached the wires to the electricity (double checking to make sure the furnace was switched off first) and the wires from the thermocouple to the monitor. The trick to matching up the wires is that the wire that hooks up with the red wire is magnetic. There is a little magnet next to the furnaces to ensure you are hooking up the right wires. We then turned on the furnace and to our delight it worked. Daniele had made a capsule while I was at Thanksgiving break and we put it in the furnace at a toasty 700 degrees.
With the furnace up and running, Daniele and Heather decided to show me how to make wires for a thermocouple. Daniele helped me cut two different types of wires to an appropriate length and then showed me how to cross the wires, forming a little "x" where the wires overlapped. A small machine would send a pulse of electricity through an electrode which would heat and seal the middle of the "x" where the two wires crossed one another together. Daniele easily lined up the minuscule center of the "x" on the tiny electrode and easily fused the two, then flipping it over to securely seal the other side. Then it was my turn. For some reason, my hand eye coordination was simply not on par and I could not line up the tiny "x" with the electrode to save my life. It got to the point where we had to stop and sand down the electrode because the build up from the wires was preventing the spark from even having a hope of fusing the two wires even if I could get my aim on target. After a few more tries, my persistence paid off and I successfully fused two sets of wires.
Daniele is going to a conference in San Francisco this week, but will be back in time for my internship next week even though Heather will still be gone. Hopefully we'll be able to take out our capsule and make a new one for another trial of our experiment.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Burning Blunders
11/17/12
Heather wasn't here today, so I spent the day with Daniele as we began our first experiment. Daniele had made a power point for me explaining our experiment which would be taking a closer look at the diffusion of different isotopes of sulfer through pyrite. Instead of pyrite, we are going to be using a mineral associated with pyrite called sphalerite. Since geological processes take so long, the movement of the molecules have to be measured on the molecular scale in nanometers. Daniele mentioned a machine at SUNY Albany that uses an ion beam that can make very specific measurements and give us results for our data. Daniele has used the machine several times and even suggested that we could take a trip down there one week to analyze our data.
After Daniele went over the power point with me, we went to the lab to make another capsule, this time containing the sulfer and sphalerite we would be using in our experiment. After I cut the silicon tube into an appropriate length, Daniele and I walked over to the furnaces to get one heated up to the appropriate temperature for our experiment. The furnaces reach the desired temperature by heating up and then shutting off, which causes them to often overshoot and then undershoot the temperature you want. This means it takes a while for them to settle on a temperature. Daniele and I set the furnace to a measly 700 degrees Celsius and then headed back to the lab to finish making the capsule. I sealed the end of the silicon tube like a pro and then placed the tube in a drying oven to remove some of the moisture from the tube. If there is moisture within the tube when you are sealing the other end, the heat from the flame combined with the evaporated liquid can cause an explosion, bursting the capsule and causing an overall unpleasant experience. After the tube dried out, I hooked it up to the vacuum. While we were waiting on the vacuum, Daniele and I walked back over to check on the furnace which was feeling rather fickle and refusing to settle on a temperature. We headed back to the lab to finish the capsule. I turned on the Bunsen burner and was feeling a little overconfident apparently because to my horror, as I tried to pull the end of the tube away to create a sealed vacuum, a discouraging pop echoed through out the lab as I compromised the vacuum. Not only did I pop the vacuum, but the capsule of hot molten glass sprung out of my tongs and went flying across the table. Luckily, I did not burn RPI to the ground and Daniele was more than forgiving. We agreed to finish the capsule next week when the furnace might be feeling more agreeable and my capsule abilities would hopefully improve
Heather wasn't here today, so I spent the day with Daniele as we began our first experiment. Daniele had made a power point for me explaining our experiment which would be taking a closer look at the diffusion of different isotopes of sulfer through pyrite. Instead of pyrite, we are going to be using a mineral associated with pyrite called sphalerite. Since geological processes take so long, the movement of the molecules have to be measured on the molecular scale in nanometers. Daniele mentioned a machine at SUNY Albany that uses an ion beam that can make very specific measurements and give us results for our data. Daniele has used the machine several times and even suggested that we could take a trip down there one week to analyze our data.
After Daniele went over the power point with me, we went to the lab to make another capsule, this time containing the sulfer and sphalerite we would be using in our experiment. After I cut the silicon tube into an appropriate length, Daniele and I walked over to the furnaces to get one heated up to the appropriate temperature for our experiment. The furnaces reach the desired temperature by heating up and then shutting off, which causes them to often overshoot and then undershoot the temperature you want. This means it takes a while for them to settle on a temperature. Daniele and I set the furnace to a measly 700 degrees Celsius and then headed back to the lab to finish making the capsule. I sealed the end of the silicon tube like a pro and then placed the tube in a drying oven to remove some of the moisture from the tube. If there is moisture within the tube when you are sealing the other end, the heat from the flame combined with the evaporated liquid can cause an explosion, bursting the capsule and causing an overall unpleasant experience. After the tube dried out, I hooked it up to the vacuum. While we were waiting on the vacuum, Daniele and I walked back over to check on the furnace which was feeling rather fickle and refusing to settle on a temperature. We headed back to the lab to finish the capsule. I turned on the Bunsen burner and was feeling a little overconfident apparently because to my horror, as I tried to pull the end of the tube away to create a sealed vacuum, a discouraging pop echoed through out the lab as I compromised the vacuum. Not only did I pop the vacuum, but the capsule of hot molten glass sprung out of my tongs and went flying across the table. Luckily, I did not burn RPI to the ground and Daniele was more than forgiving. We agreed to finish the capsule next week when the furnace might be feeling more agreeable and my capsule abilities would hopefully improve
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Fun with Flames
11/9/12
Today was my first meeting with Heather and Daniele! After surviving my short journey through the RPI campus to the lab, I talked with Heather, Daniele, Veronica and Megan about my interests in Earth science. Heather showed me calcite, a crystal that makes up rocks such as limestone. Calcite has optical properties, so Heather wrote my name on a piece of paper. When Heather held up the calcite to the paper, it looked like my name had been written twice! After looking at the calcite, Daniele showed me how to make sealed tubes in which small reactions could take place for an experiment. First, we took hollow tubes of silicon glass. Other types of glass can be used, but according to Daniele, they get a little bubbly and harder to work with since they heat up more quickly than silicon. It took a few tries, but I was finally able to get the right ratio of oxygen and gas to get an extra hot blue flame from the Bunsen burner. To create my reaction chamber, first I had to seal one end of the hollow tube. I donned a pair of stylish clunky glasses to protect my eyes from the flame and slowly rotated the tube around the flame until the glass from the edges eventually came together to form a dome. Then, I attached the other end of the tube to a machine that would make the inside of the tube a vacuum, because if this was to be used in an experiment, we wouldn't want our reactants interacting with the air within the tube. After waiting for the machine to create the right conditions in the tube, I turned on the Bunsen burner and after a few more tries, got that blue flame of success. I then held the middle of the tube up to the flame while the top of the tube was still attached to the machine, thereby preserving the vacuum. As the tube heated up, I slowly pulled it downward until I pulled the melty glass away from the top of the tube. My work was done and I had to run back to school in order to make it to the open house on time. Daniele and Heather were nice enough to offer to let me keep my tube (much to the delight of my English class which I lectured later on the steps to creating such a tube) as a testament to my hour of determined work. Even though I had a shorter session, I still had a lot of fun (how could I not playing with fire?) and can't wait for my next meeting on Friday.
Today was my first meeting with Heather and Daniele! After surviving my short journey through the RPI campus to the lab, I talked with Heather, Daniele, Veronica and Megan about my interests in Earth science. Heather showed me calcite, a crystal that makes up rocks such as limestone. Calcite has optical properties, so Heather wrote my name on a piece of paper. When Heather held up the calcite to the paper, it looked like my name had been written twice! After looking at the calcite, Daniele showed me how to make sealed tubes in which small reactions could take place for an experiment. First, we took hollow tubes of silicon glass. Other types of glass can be used, but according to Daniele, they get a little bubbly and harder to work with since they heat up more quickly than silicon. It took a few tries, but I was finally able to get the right ratio of oxygen and gas to get an extra hot blue flame from the Bunsen burner. To create my reaction chamber, first I had to seal one end of the hollow tube. I donned a pair of stylish clunky glasses to protect my eyes from the flame and slowly rotated the tube around the flame until the glass from the edges eventually came together to form a dome. Then, I attached the other end of the tube to a machine that would make the inside of the tube a vacuum, because if this was to be used in an experiment, we wouldn't want our reactants interacting with the air within the tube. After waiting for the machine to create the right conditions in the tube, I turned on the Bunsen burner and after a few more tries, got that blue flame of success. I then held the middle of the tube up to the flame while the top of the tube was still attached to the machine, thereby preserving the vacuum. As the tube heated up, I slowly pulled it downward until I pulled the melty glass away from the top of the tube. My work was done and I had to run back to school in order to make it to the open house on time. Daniele and Heather were nice enough to offer to let me keep my tube (much to the delight of my English class which I lectured later on the steps to creating such a tube) as a testament to my hour of determined work. Even though I had a shorter session, I still had a lot of fun (how could I not playing with fire?) and can't wait for my next meeting on Friday.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Early Encounters
11/22/12
Today, Mr. Evans picked Sherry and I up from Emma and took us to RPI to meet our mentors for the first time. Once we finally made it passed the roadwork, we were at RPI in no time and ready to meet the team. Dr. Watson is the head scientist we will be working under in collaboration with the rest of his team, consisting of Heather (a research scientist), a research professor and two undergraduate students. After quick introductions, Dr. Watson proceeded to show us around the lab where the research team had access to a myriad of "cool" science tools. Since the research team deals with different fields of Earth science, Sherry and I oohed and ahhed at machines that put tremendous amounts of pressure on substances and cookers that could heat substances more than hot enough to roast you alive. These machines strive to simulate conditions within the Earth's crust and as Heather explained: there is more known about materials found on different planets than the substances beneath the Earth's crust. Sherry and I also bore witness to an extra fancy microscope that would send out a beam of electrons on a substance. This microscope could then both create a picture of the substance and even identify atoms that made up that substance. The microscope was very accurate and could identify even a substance that was only one part of five million. We were impressed to say the least.
Hopefully I will be able to start my internship next week and get to try some of these machines out for my own!
Today, Mr. Evans picked Sherry and I up from Emma and took us to RPI to meet our mentors for the first time. Once we finally made it passed the roadwork, we were at RPI in no time and ready to meet the team. Dr. Watson is the head scientist we will be working under in collaboration with the rest of his team, consisting of Heather (a research scientist), a research professor and two undergraduate students. After quick introductions, Dr. Watson proceeded to show us around the lab where the research team had access to a myriad of "cool" science tools. Since the research team deals with different fields of Earth science, Sherry and I oohed and ahhed at machines that put tremendous amounts of pressure on substances and cookers that could heat substances more than hot enough to roast you alive. These machines strive to simulate conditions within the Earth's crust and as Heather explained: there is more known about materials found on different planets than the substances beneath the Earth's crust. Sherry and I also bore witness to an extra fancy microscope that would send out a beam of electrons on a substance. This microscope could then both create a picture of the substance and even identify atoms that made up that substance. The microscope was very accurate and could identify even a substance that was only one part of five million. We were impressed to say the least.
Hopefully I will be able to start my internship next week and get to try some of these machines out for my own!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
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