Hello readers. It is with great pride that I am celebrating one year of my blog pcbpedia. This blog was started on 26th April, 2019, with an intention of spreading the vast amount of knowledge in the world, and relating them with some of the more common things we see but fail to analyse further. I have tried my level best to present each of my articles with the simplest of language so that many can understand.
On this ocassion, I would like to thank everyone who viewed my blog over this year, those who liked my posts, those who commented and those who followed my blog for more content.
Let me talk about 2019, where I had 431 views from over 10 different countries. Thank you all for making my first year such a great one.
Now, coming to this year, I’ve had quite a good start with 106 views from over 20 countries (As of 23rd April). I thank you for supporting me and my blog and I hope to garner even more views and visitors (And potentially some likes too).
So, another article will be up later today. This will be about a very prominent topic. And I guess it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand what that ‘prominent topic’ is. I’ll leave you there for now, until my next article.
Hello readers. My next post will be up on the 26th of this month (Quite early, don’t you think?). This will be featuring a very prominent topic and I will share my views about it, keeping in mind the current situation and statistics.
Now, 26th of April is quite a special day for me. Why? You’ll get to know, sooner or later.
Almost everyone must have seen the periodic table of elements at least once in their life. For some, it is very appealing and for some, a massive headache. However, a question not many of us get is why the periodic table is shaped in this way. Instead of making it so absurdly irregular in shape, why not make it like this?
Don’t mind my editing skills. They are quite bad.
Now, the above edited one looks more properly shaped. However, this does pose a challenge for chemists who refer this table almost every day. We shall now discuss the reasons for the irregular shape of the periodic table.
First, let us consider hydrogen and helium. They are quite out of place, above the rest of the table. The reason being that these two elements show anomalous behaviour. Going in detail, we see that hydrogen has only one electron with it. In that sense, it should belong to the first group of the table (first column). However, hydrogen can combine with itself to form a H2 molecule. This is a characteristic feature of the group 17 elements (from fluorine to tennessine). So, due to this, hydrogen was given a special spot in the table.
Coming to helium, we see it has two electrons with it. Now, it should technically be in group 2 (beryllium to radium). However, it is very unreactive, as opposed to the group 2 elements which are quite reactive. So, it is placed under group 18 (noble gases).
Now, let us focus our attention to the BIG wide gap in the middle of the periodic table. Specifically, the gap from group 3 to 12. Now, these elements are called transition elements. They exhibit properties which don’t really match with the other two sides of the periodic table (sides referring to group 1-2 and group 13-18). Thus, they have their own special area.
Now, the last point of our discussion will be the last two rows at the bottom of the periodic table. The first row is called the ‘lanthanides’ and the second row is called the ‘actinides’. These are, by far, the most complex elements to study as they follow no particular trend. Their properties can not be estimated and must be found out experimentally. Moreover, they are highly radioactive and only some particles remain after the element’s synthesis. Their electronic configurations (the way the electrons in an atom are arranged) are different with each element. Thus, after element number 56 and element number 88, the lanthanoids and actinoids start respectively below the whole table.
Another extra thing I would like to talk about is the potential discovery of new elements. Suppose, we find an element which comes after element number 118. Where would we place it? Now, the most appropriate place for now would be below francium in group 1. However, it highly depends on the element’s properties, as all elements after uranium are radioactive and may differ in characters.
So, how was it? Did it make you reach out for the periodic table? Feel free to comment in the Comments section.
When was the last time you played cricket? And got hurt badly after you tried to catch a fast moving leather ball (Ouch!)? Well, some might have wondered about why it pains and how to avoid it. Let’s see.
First, we should be acquainted with the term “Impulse”. In terms of Physics, impulse is defined as “the force (say F) which is applied for a certain time interval (say T).” Mathematically, it can be written as follows:
Impulse (I) = Force (F) x Time (T)
An impulse creates a change in the speed of a body. To make it more simple, let us consider a situation.
Consider a ball placed in front of you. Obviously, it wouldn’t start moving by itself (unless you know witchcraft). Now, if you push the ball, it will move. Continue pushing it and it’s speed will increase. Voila! You just created an impulse.
Now, if we rearrange the above equation, we get:
Force = Impulse/Time
Now, we see that force is inversely proportional to time. In simpler words, we can say that if the time of contact is increased, the force is decreased and vice versa.
Now, to the main topic. Applying the same concept, it is easy to see that if we grab a fast moving ball all of a sudden, the time interval the ball takes to stop is very small, which inturn increases the force and makes us regret we did that!
How to avoid it? Well, to minimise the force, we need to increase the time interval as much as possible. So, cricketers usually swing their hand back after catching a flying ball. This increases the time interval and reduces the force on their hand.
So, how was it? Did it make you get up and go play cricket? Feel free to like the post and comment in the Comments section below. I shall be open to your ideas for my future posts.
Numbness (scientifically called parasthesia) is something each one of us has experienced. It is that tingling sensation which generally occurs when we sit in a particular posture for too long. It eventually renders us incapable of locomotion for some time. But, what causes numbness?
There are, in fact, many reasons which might cause this certain sensation. However, we shall only focus our attention on three main reasons.
Firstly, the restriction of blood. Blood generally flows freely through blood vessels. However, if we put too much pressure on our limbs for a long time, blood tends to be confined to that area. Thus, blood is unable to reach our cells and it makes our limb temporarily ‘fall asleep’.
Secondly, chronic (lasting for a long time) numbness may be caused due to a disease called diabetes. It is when the pancreas is not able to secrete enough insulin to break down the sugars in our body. Such people develop a certain type of nerve damage referred to as diabetic neuropathy. Due to low insulin secretion, the level of sugar increases, which can damage the nerve cells and cause numbness.
Finally, a more serious reason for numbness is multiple sclerosis (MS). It is a condition wherein the immune system of our body attacks and eats up the insulated covering of the nerve cells, called the myelin sheath. This results in communication problems, which leads to many problems including chronic numbness.
So, how was it? Did the text make your brain go numb? Feel free to comment in the Comments section.
When something is lit up, it almost immediately catches fire. Some substances like sodium catch fire without the help of any external source while substances like wood take a lot of heat to catch fire. However, some substances do not burn with a flame, a popular example being coal. But, why does it burn without a flame?
Before we dive deeper, two concepts should be clear- Volatile and Non-Volatile Substances.
Volatile substances are the substances which convert to vapours at the current surrounding temperature and pressure conditions. A popular example is petrol.
On the other hand, non-volatile substances are those which do not convert to vapours at the prevailing temperature and pressure conditions in the surrounding.
A substance will only produce a flame when the substances present in it are volatile. This statement is explained in detail below.
When we burn something, it gets heated up. The substances trapped inside the combustible thing also get heated and, if they are highly volatile, they vaporize and catch fire with the help of the atmospheric oxygen. Thus a flame is produced.
On the other hand, if the substances are non-volatile, the combustible thing will only get heated but will not produce any flame.
So, how was it? Did it heat you up so much that you caught fire? Feel free to comment in the Comments section.
It’s been one and a half month (approximately) since I posted something. Hence, my next post will be up by the end of this month. Stay tuned for the date.
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