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Newsletter No 30 26 September 2000
Edited by: Terri M Palmer
Index
Messages
from the Acting Head of Institute
Obituary
Mathematics
Week at Massey University
Never
Heat Water in a Microwave Oven
Physics
Winter School
Congratulations
to MSc chemists
This
Month's Puzzle
Answers
to Last Month’s Puzzle
MESSAGES FROM THE ACTING HEAD OF INSTITUTE
Promotions
Congratulations to Robert McLachlan on his promotion to Associate Professor,
and to Igor Boglaev, Simon Hall, Charles Little and Tony Wright on their advancement
within the Senior Lecturer grade in the recent academic staff promotion round.
This is excellent news. These promotions deservedly acknowledge their meritorious
achievements and reflect the considerable talents among IFS staff. Well done!
Marsden Fund Grants
Congratulations to the following
staff who are involved in projects that were successful in gaining Marsden Fund
grants, announced recently: Tony Burrell, Paul Callaghan, Simon Hall, Mike Hendy,
Geoff Jameson, David Officer, Emily Parker, Tony Signal, Carol Taylor. The award
of these Marsden grants makes the point very emphatically that science at Massey,
and fundamental science in particular, is of the highest quality and is outstandingly
strong. There are world-leading projects being undertaken here. Of the 12 grants
awarded to Massey-led projects, IFS staff are involved in eight. A great result.
It is especially pleasing that staff who are in the early stages of their careers
are being encouraged this way. These awards also make the point, in the best possible
way, that students can feel extremely confident they will receive top quality
science education in the Institute of Fundamental Sciences. I know that David
Parry is extremely delighted at the outcome - a nice present for him while he
is on sick leave.
Manawatu Science and Technology Fair
Once again IFS staff have been actively involved in the Science and Technology
Fair which concluded recently. Congratulations to Simon Hall, Chief Judge, for
leading a panel which must have had a hard time deciding amongst the many fine
exhibits. Your skills and the enormous effort which went into this event is much
appreciated. Science has to work hard to be recognised appropriately in the community,
but events like this provide the opportunity for families to become involved in
understanding science as well as encouraging students to develop their interests.
The importance of such events for the future of science is considerable. Many
thanks to all staff who contributed to the Fair. Your efforts also bring the Institute
to the attention of the community and potential Massey students.
Congratulations, too, to Paul Callaghan and Carol Taylor who were invited to give talks at the Science Centre & Manawatu Museum during Science & Technology Fair Week on perspectives on the future, with special emphasis on the relevance of their research. An important contribution to the community.
Summer Jobs for Millennium
List Students
Last year jobs were found over the summer for a number of
IFS Millennium List students. We need again to do our best in finding scientific
or technological work experience for these, our brightest undergraduate students.
If staff have suitable funded projects which could provide such opportunities,
or if you can suggest other possibilities which can be explored, please let Terri
Palmer know as soon as possible. Thank you for any help you can give.
Extramural
Courses
A big thank you to staff who were involved in the recent extramural
on-campus courses. Your contributions, which take up the mid-semester break, are
appreciated, especially by the students who come. The luncheon held for them went
off well.
Social Activities
Thanks to the Social
Committee for organising the "Happy Hour" held recently. The turn-out wasn't as
great as it could have been, but those there enjoyed the occasion. The Committee
have planned a Christmas "do" in the form of an evening dinner, about which more
information will be supplied in due course. Please make room in your diary for
this event. Let's finish off the year by enjoying each other's company in fine
fare.
Dean Halford
A former staff member from pre Institute days Ron Aldridge died recently age 62 after a short illness. Ron was employed in the Mechanical Workshop during the Eighties.
Bob Parsons
(14-18 August 2000)
Mathematics Week in New Zealand is part of an International Event, recognising and celebrating mathematics. Massey participated in the national public awareness programme with a mathematics competition expressly aimed at students currently enrolled in any mathematics paper at Massey. Three cash prizes and certificates were offered to the students who provided the best solutions to six mathematical problems. The judges defined "best" not in the orthodox terms of being "identical to the judges' answers" but as displaying an innovative approach to the comprehension and solution of problems, together with a demonstration of reasonable and convincing explanations.
Judges Gillian Thornley and Robert McLachlan from the Institute of Fundamental Sciences were highly impressed with the contestants' creative solutions. They would like to join with the organiser Kee Teo and all the mathematics staff in expressing their congratulations to the three eventual winners:
- Top prize was awarded to first year student Timothy Bedford.
- Runner-up prize went to Stuart Bartrum
- First year runner-up prize was given to James Simpson.
Here is one of the six problems: You are in a boat 1 km off a straight coastline when a heavy fog descends - it is impossible to tell the direction of land. What is the shortest path you can take which will guarantee a return to land?
(Hint: Less than 6.4 km is possible.)
Robert
McLachlan NEVER
HEAT WATER IN A MICROWAVE OVEN A
Safety Tip on Heating Water in a Microwave Oven. A DuPont employee shares information
about his son's injury. This is a real story, conveyed by a DuPont employee. We
thank J C Carpenter (Petersburg, VA) for passing this along to The Daily STEWARD.
In the words of the father.... I feel that the following
is information that any one who uses a microwave oven to heat water should know.
About five days ago my 26-year old son decided to have a cup of instant coffee.
He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that
he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for
but he told me he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut the
oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup he noted
that the water was not boiling and instantly the water in the cup "blew up" into
his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand but all the
water had gone out into his face due to the build-up of energy. His whole face
is blistered and he has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face which may leave scarring.
He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While
at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly
common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven.
If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse
the energy such as a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc. It is however a such safer
choice to boil the water in a tea kettle. Technical Explanation The
reason for this phenomenon is that the microwave energy built up in the superheated
liquid and did not release normally through vapour (steam) bubbles. In order to
form the normal bubbles that release this energy you see when boiling liquids
are vaporising, you must have nucleation sites in the container for the bubbles
to form and escape through the surface. A perfectly smooth container such as a
new glass cup with no imperfections or use scratches may not have the nucleation
sites required. The agitation of the container as he looked at the cup caused
the energy to release, spraying the boiling water on to his face. Many times this
occurs in the microwave as the person reaches in to get the cup or pot. In that
case it will burn the hand and make a mess in the oven. This
has and will occur in a kettle on a conventional cook top. If the kettle does
not have nucleation sites because of the smoothness of the interior surface you
have the same situation. It may spray the liquid out the spout or pop the kettle
top but there is a similar potential incident. If you can remember back to chemistry
class, you were told to put boiling chips in the beaker or flask to provide the
nucleation sites. A wooden or microwave safe plastic utensil in the cup will serve
the purpose. A tea bag, sugar, salt or instant coffee granules should provide
the same boiling chip effect. Provided by Kee Teo
"A very good event. Not just a purely 'teach them till it hurts' theory session, but a well balanced social and education event. … a really great time was had by all."
"Thank you very much for such a wonderful few days at Massey. It was certainly a great insight into 'university' life, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thanks so much."
These are some of the comments received by Geoff Barnes, Director of the 2000 Institute of Fundamental Sciences Physics Winter School held in mid July. The formal activities commenced on Thursday morning with research presentations from Craig Eccles (Scanning Probe Microscopy), Tony Signal (Particle Physics) and Rod Lambert (A Little Physics goes a Lung Way!).
Paul
Andrewartha (Viard College, Wellington) and Michelle Ayling (Sacred Heart College
Napier)
The laboratory sessions were the main on-campus activities. Craig Eccles' popular opto-electronics gave participants the satisfaction of assembling electronic components and getting the system to function correctly. Jim Lewis gave our guests a taste of the real thing with his First Year Laboratory experience. Donna Giltrap and Tony Signal caused Chaos to be explored in their contribution, and Udo von Mulert and Keith Whitehead were Analytical Instruments tutors. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance struck a chord with most students, thanks to Ryan Cormier and Sash Khrapitchev.
The dozen students from the Napier-Wanganui-Wellington triangle got to know each other on the Thursday evening through the 'Homespun Dance Party' which included square dancing and line dancing. They liked the cohesive size of the group.
Friday night was an opportunity to go down town, firstly to visit the Science Centre and Manawatu Museum, then the Regent on Broadway on the way to the other big M for dinner. Following some fun and games it was home to the hostel.
Saturday morning saw us off to the Hospital to see how physics can help in the health sector. We appreciate all those people, both on and off campus, who made the 2000 Physics Winter School so enjoyable. A special thank you must go to Tracey Royds for all her hard work with the administration side of the course.
Finally, we thank our sponsors, Dick Smith Electronics, without whose assistance the school would not have eventuated.
Geoff Barnes
The following students were successful in completing their MSc's in chemistry recently:
- David Lun (Supervisors: Tony Burrell and David Officer)
- Adrian Jull (Supervisor: David Harding)
- Giovanna Moretto (Supervisor: Simon Hall)
Andrew Brodie
Give and Take
The right-hand digit of a positive integer N is taken away and put onto the left-hand end. If this process increases the number by 50%, find a value for N.
Robert McKibbin
What
does the sign say? Are you sure?
Bob Parsons
Answers
to Last Month’s Puzzle
For reasons best known to themselves, 10 students are desperate to go to a party in Ashhurst, 10km away. They can walk at 5km/hr but also have a 2-seater car. Naturally, they do not want to exceed 100km/hr in the car or put more than 2 people in it, which would be dangerous. What is the shortest time in which they can all get to the party?
The key is to realise that the minimum time will be achieved if all 10 students arrive at Ashhurst at exactly the same time; ie no time is wasted whilst some students are stationary.
Therefore:
Student 1 (the driver) takes student 2 a distance of x km towards Ashhurst and drops him off to start walking. Assuming this is a magic mathematical car that can turn round instantaneously without losing speed, the driver returns towards Palmerston North a distance of y km to meet students 3 to 10 (who have meanwhile walked x - y km). So far the car has driven x + y km at 100 kph, the others have walked x - y km at 5 kph. Therefore (x + y)/100 = (x - y)/5, giving y = 0.9048x.
This procedure is repeated several more times; each time the driver going x km towards Ashhurst and returning y km towards the diminishing bunch of walkers. On the final trip the driver picks up student 10 and drives the remaining x km to Ashhurst, arriving there at exactly the same time as students 2 to 9 arrive on foot. (Apart from the driver, the students all walk and ride the same distances).
Thus the diminishing group of students walk a total of eight lots of (x - y) km and finally student 10 is driven the remaining x km into Ashhurst. Thus the distance between Palmerston North and Ashhurst (which is 10 km) is 8(x - y) + x. Therefore:
9x
- 8y = 10
9x - 8(0.9048x) = 10
x = 5.675 km
Now in total the car drives nine legs of x km towards Asshurst and eight legs of y km back towards Palmerston North. Its total journey is therefore:
9x + 8y km = 9x + 8(0.9048)x km = 16.238x km = 16.238 x 5.675 km = 92.153 km
And at 100 kph, the time taken is therefore 0.92153 hours or 55.29 minutes. (And I hope the party was worth the petrol money).
Trevor Kitson
