plantstoplanets-blog

[plantstoplanets-blog]

How do plants make energy at night? We know that, when exposed to sunlight, the cells in the plant (particularly the tissue cells of the leaves) will undergo photosynthesis to make glucose, oxygen and energy. However! Plant cells can also make energy through the process of aerobic respiration. This occurs in the mitochondria (yes... the powerhouse of the cell -_-) which is an organelle present in both plant and animal cells. The purpose of photosynthesis is for the plant cell to make glucose molecules that can either be broken down straight away to make energy, or stored for later use as starch. During aerobic respiration, glucose molecules are broken down to ultimately form carbon dioxide, water and energy. This energy comes in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This molecule is composed of the sugar adenosine, bonded to three phosphate groups, all with the same charge 3-. This molecule has one highly unstable chemical bond between the last two phosphate groups that, when broken, releases a large amount of energy. This energy can be used within the cell to carry out any particular process. ATP is formed by the breakdown of glucose molecules. Glucose is a molecule with many chemical bonds. These bonds all store energy between the atoms within the bonds. When the bonds are broken, this energy is released. This energy is then used to force the third phosphate group onto the ATP molecule. Respiration occurs in animal cells as well, and it can take place with or without oxygen, however without oxygen forms less ATP (therefore less energy) for the cell. So, even when a plant is not exposed to light, it can still make energy for itself. Amazing!! It's times like this I wish I was a plant! #respiration #aerobicrespiration #anaerobicrespiration #plants #plantcell #energy #ATP #glucose #carbondioxide #water #bonds #chemicalbonds #sunlight #nighttime #night #dark #chemistry #physics #biology #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Took this photo sometime last year when I made soap for the first time and failed miserably. My yield was 0.35g of vegetable oil soap. Nonetheless, the concept behind making soap is fascinating, it's all about manipulating the equilibrium of the chemical reaction. When a chemical reaction is at equilibrium, the concentrations of both reactants and products is constant. The experimenter can use this to increase or decrease the amount of reactants or products. This is done on an industrial scale for the mass production of soap. For a more detailed explanation, check out one of my previous posts on equilibrium (post has a beaker with layers of orange liquid/solid in it) #soap #soapmaking #equilibrium #reactants #products #beaker #oil #vegetableoil #water #chemicalreaction #chemistry #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

I drew Newton's Three Laws of motion as little babies... something different! In the year 1687, "Philosphae Naturalis Principia Mathematica", or "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" was written by Sir Isaac Newton. In this book, Newton layed down the Three Laws of Motion, which are fundamental to our understanding of the universe to this day. The first law states that unless a body is acted upon by an unbalanced force, it's state of motion will be constant. This means that in the universe, all bodies travel with uniform motion when the forces acting on them are balanced. Makes sense, right? If a body is at rest, it is still in a state of motion. All the forces acting on it cancel each other out, so there is no change in the motion of the body. The second law states that a net force will cause a body of mass to accelerate. Acceleration is a change in speed over some time period, therefore a force changes the motion of a body with mass, it does not cause motion. We have established in the first law that all objects in the universe are always in a state of motion, even when they are at rest. The second law states that, when a body is traveling with uniform motion (ie all forces acting on it are balanced), only a net force can change its motion. The net force would have to be greater than the total sum of all forces keeping the body in uniform motion. The resulting magnitude of force the body experiences would be the net force minus the sum of all forces acting on the body when the motion of the body was constant. The direction in which the body would change its motion would be the direction of the net force. The third law states that for every force, the is a force that is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. If Object A exerts a force on Object B, Object B exerts an equal but opposite force on Object A. Objects can move because at any given time, there are more than just these equal and opposite forces acting on the body. The resulting net force allows objects to still change their motion. #SirIsaacNewton #threelawsofmotion #newtonslawsofmotion #thefirstlaw #thesecondlaw #principia #forces #motion #acceleration #physics #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Photosynthesis, one of nature's most beautiful and fascinating phenomena! It is the process a plant cell uses to make glucose, which is the "food" of the plant. Photosynthesis occurs in the mesophyll cells of the leaves of a plant. The mesophyll cells are the tissue cells, and leaves are specialised organs with the primary function to carry out photosynthesis. The cells take up water, which is absorbed through the roots of the plant, and carried throughout the organism via the xylem. The xylem transports water through the plant, acting as part of the plant's vascular system. Carbon dioxide diffuses into the mesophyll cells via pores in the leaf called "stomata". To make one molecule of glucose, the bonds within the carbon dioxide and water molecules must be broken. To break these bonds, an input of energy is required. There is an organelle in a plant cell called the "chlorolplast". This organelle contains discs called "thylakoids". In the membrane of each thylakoid is the molecule chlorophyll, which absorbs the energy from sunlight. Once this energy is absorbed, the bonds within the carbon dioxide and water molecules are broken. The carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms now undergo many more chemical reactions within the plant cell. At the end of the reaction, one molecule of glucose has been made. This glucose can be broken down to release energy in the form of ATP for the plant to use. However, as photosynthesis continues, the glucose molecules can bind to each other to become starch. This starch can be stored within the cell, and can be broken down when the plant is no longer exposed to light. This allows the plant to have energy even when it is night time. #photosynthesis #nature #leaves #trees #plants #green #cells #mesophyllcells #choloplasts #chlorophyll #reaction #energy #glucose #starch #light #physics #chemistry #biology #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation, otherwise known as light, propagates the entire universe, being absorbed and re-emitted, and transferring its energy to all objects.

An electromagnetic wave consists of a changing electric field and a changing magnetic field oscillating perpendicular to each other. The changing electric field produces the changing magnetic field, and the changing magnetic field produces the changing electric field. Because of this, an electromagnetic wave recreates itself as it propagates in its direction of travel.

There are seven “types” of EM radiation, and they all differ based on their frequencies. The frequency of a wave is the number of times it takes for one wavelength to pass a certain point in a given time. The wavelength is the distance between two identical points on the wave. The shorter the wavelegth, the higher the frequency. The higher the frequency of a wave, the more energy it has. 

The types of EM radiation, from highest to lowest energy are:

Gamma radiation 

X-Rays

Ultraviolet radiation

Visible light radiation 

Infrared radiation

Microwaves

Radio waves

The light we see is composed of EM waves that lie in the visible light spectrum, the heat we feel is composed of EM waves in the infrared spectrum, we use microwaves to heat food and communicate, we use radio waves for communication, we use X-rays and gamma rays for security and medical purposes, and these are just a few examples.

Electromagnetic waves carry energy, and when they are absorbed, they give their energy to that object. When they are re-emitted, that object loses that energy. They interact with matter as packets of energy called “photons”, and these photons are exchanged throughout the universe as energy.

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Makin' dat soap! We had to use canola oil, and FYI it smelled disgusting. However the concept behind making soap is fascinating! When you're making soap, the aim is to yield as much product as you possibly can out of the amount of reactants you have. This can be put into action with the idea of equilibrium. When you have a chemical reaction, there will be a point where the reactants are turning into products, but at the same rate, the products are turning back into reactants. This is when the reaction is said to be at equilibrium. At this point, the concentration of reactants and products must be constant, and you can use this idea to manipulate the reaction. I won't go into specifics of this experiment (I'll run out of words!) However, if you increase the concentration of a reactant (for example), the reaction now needs to work to bring that concentration back down, so it will turn that excess reactant into product! The same thing can happen the other way around, and this can be applied in so many ways! It's fascinating! Our experiment wasn't the best to demonstrate this concept because we had open vessels, so water was constantly evaporating and changing the concentrations of some of our reactants, but nonetheless equilibrium is awesome! Hope you learned something! Ask any questions :) #equilibrium #soap #canolaoil #chemistry #experiment #science #learnforfun

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Visited the museum today to feast my eyes upon these beauties! No matter what your beliefs are, be grateful every single day to be a part of the universe. We really are surrounded by wonders. #minerals #universe #beauty #science #geology #chemistry #sciences #wonders

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Inside a glow stick, there are two parts. At the centre there is a brittle tube that contains a fluorescent dye and a chemical called phenyl oxalate. Surrounding this tube is the chemical hydrogen peroxide. When you "snap" the glow stick, you break the brittle tube, which allows the phenyl oxalate and hydrogen peroxide to react. The reaction is luminous, giving off light, and the dye is there to determine what colour light the reaction emits. My teacher and I simultaneously broke these glow sticks and placed them immediately into our respective beakers. The one on the left contained hot water (boiled right before the experiment) and the one on the right contained ice. You can clearly see the glow stick on the left is much brighter because it is absorbing the heat from the water, allowing the reaction inside to occur at a much faster rate. In the beaker on the right, the glow stick is losing heat to the surrounding ice, therefore the reaction is taking place at a slower rate, meaning it will not glow as brightly. Hope you learned something! #glowsticks #luminous #iceicebaby

[plantstoplanets-blog]

This beauty here is a chemical garden, composed of the salts ferric (iron) nitrate, cobalt (ll) nitrate and manganese sulfate, all in a aqueous solution of sodium silicate. Just for anyone who doesn't know, "aqueous solution" just means that water has been used as a solvent, which is the substance that dissolves a reactant/s, otherwise known as solutes. In each of these cases, the salts partially dissolve in water, leaving the ions to react with the silicate in the sodium silicate solution. This creates an insoluble layer of silicate. In the example of the ferric nitrate, an iron silicate would form. This layer is semi-permeable, meaning it can selectively allow substances to pass through. It should be noted that underneath this layer of silicate, there is a very concentrated salt solution. Through the magic process of diffusion, which the movement of a substance down its concentration gradient (from high to low), the highly concentrated salt solution underneath the silicate layer passes through. This is because there is a low concentration of salt surrounding the crystal, and this bursts the layer of silicate. This allows more salt solution to react with the silicate solution. This process keeps repeating itself, allowing the crystal to grow. This is how crystals form in the Earth's mantle, however extreme temperatures produce different looking crystals. Along with this, the colour of the crystal is characteristic of the metal ion. That's why the iron nitrate forms an orange/brown crystal. Groovy stuff! #crystals #chemicalgarden #chemistry #science #sciences #diffusion #diffusion #iron #cobalt #manganese #silicate #solution

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Onion cells! I've pointed out the nucleus of the cell because it is easy to see. You can see the cell membrane and cell wall surrounding each cell, but the two are very close together. The nucleus is responsible for controlling the cell's activities, and for the safe storage of DNA. Within the cell, there are microorganisms that are capable of digesting DNA, thus the cell stores it in the nucleus. The nucleus has a double lipid bilayer membrane, and this consists of an inner and outer membrane. The membrane manages what substances are exchanged in and out of the nucleus. If you have terrific eyes, try and see if you can spot a dark spot withing a nucleus in the picture above. This is the nucleolus, and this is another microorganism in the nucleus. The nucleolus manufactures ribosomes, which produce proteins. Without these little babies we would not be alive! #onioncells #onion #nucleus #nucleolus #ribosomes #DNA #biology #science #sciences #microscope #nuclearmembrane #cellwall #cellmembrane

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Above is an example of incomplete combustion, which is the rapid reaction of a fuel with oxygen. Hydrocarbons, containing only hydrogen and carbon, are used as fuel. There are two types of combustion reactions, complete and incomplete. For complete combustion to occur, there must be a plentiful supply of oxygen, and the products formed will be water and carbon dioxide. When the supply of oxygen is poor, incomplete combustion occurs. In this case, the products will be water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and elemental carbon (soot). In the evaporating dish shown above, the hydrocarbon cyclohexene reacted with oxygen, and in this case it incompletely combusted. Unfortunately this was done on a black table, but if you look closely you might see the smoke, which is composed of elemental carbon. Hope you learned something! #combustion #incompletecombustion #completecombustion #carbondioxide #water #carbonmonoxide #carbon #hydrocarbon #cyclohexene #fuel #oxygen #flame #chemistry #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Above you can see an example of primary and secondary growth within a "woody" plant (in this case, my apple tree). Primary growth is the increase in length, whereas secondary growth is the increase in girth. Plants are capable of of growth because they have embryonic tissue in regions of growth called "meristems". Meristematic cells divide to produce additional cells, which will either remain in the meristematic region to produce more cells, or they will become specialized and become incorporated with various tissues and organs of the plant. There are two types of meristems, apical and lateral. Apical meristems are in charge of primary growth, and they are located at the tips of roots and shoots. Lateral meristems are in charge of secondary growth, and are located in cylinders around the lengths of the roots and shoots. Apical meristems achieve primary growth by producing the primary plant body, which consists of dermal (outermost), vascular (transport of food and water) and ground (specialized cells) tissue. The lateral meristems are able to for secondary layers of these tissues as the plant continues to grow, including secondary dermal tissue such as bark. #trees #plants #leaves #biology #botany #physiology #green #beautiful #environment #garden #primarygrowth #secondarygrowth #meristems #apical #lateral

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Iron disulfide, otherwise known as pyrite, otherwise known as "Fool's Gold". It has the formula FeS2, is the most common of the sulfide minerals, in which sulfide (S^2-) acts as the anion. Pyrite can be distinguished from gold by its brittleness, hardness and crystal form. Whilst pyrite forms either cubed or multifaceted crystals, gold is irregularly shaped. Still looks beautiful though! #pyrite #irondisulfide #foolsgold #gold #minerals #sulfides #geology #chemistry #beauty #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Pressure (P) is defined as the force (F) applied over an area (A), and as an equation this can be shown as P=F/A. By looking at the equation, it can be shown that P and A are inversely proportional when F remains constant. This means if one variable increases, the other decreases, given the rest of the variables are constant. Think about this: a woman wears a pair of flat shoes, and the force of gravity pulling her body to the earth can be distributed throughout the area that is the sole of her shoe. Now this same woman, with the same body mass, puts on a pair of high heels, where the area of the sole is much smaller, especially if we are talking about stilettos! The force of gravity on her body is still the same, however she has decreased the surface area across which this force can be distributed. By doing so, she has increased the pressure on the floor underneath her. Now, let's imagine that the woman keeps these heels on, however in some weird hypothetical situation she gains weight, therefore increasing her body mass. This time, the area (A) has remained constant, but the force (F) has increased. This would also increase the pressure on the surface beneath her. Going back to the equation, we can see that if we increase F, we also increase P, given that A remains constant. This type of relationship is directly proportional, where increasing one variable means another will also increase, given the rest of the variables remain constant. #pressure #highheels #proportionality #inverselyproportional #directlyproportional #physics #stilettos #area #force #mass #gravity #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

As the gyms are packed out with people who's New Year resolution was to get fit... let's talk a bit about what happens inside our bodies when we exercise (whether it's a full on workout or even grooving to your favourite song in your room)! There are two systems that work together to make sure that as you work out, you do not die, and these are the respiratory and circulatory systems. First of all, every cell in our body needs to produce ATP, the molecule that will give the cell the energy it needs to get through its daily grind. This process is called "cellular respiration", and it requires oxygen (can happen without oxygen but you would pass out very quickly). We inhale oxygen from the air, where in diffuses across the alveoli in our lungs. It is binded to the hemoglobin complex in a red blood cell, where it is carried to the cells that require more ATP. A product of cellular respiration is carbon dioxide, which is toxic to us. The hemoglobin "picks up" the carbon dioxide, which reacts with a water molecule. This produces a hydrogen ion and a bicarbonate ion. The presence of hydrogen ions increase the acidity level of the blood. Increasing the acidity of your blood will denature the enzymes in your cells, and thus, you need to freaking exhale! A signal is sent to the medulla oblongata, the region in your brain responsible for involuntary actions such as breathing, heart rate and yes, vomiting. Your blood, containing a high concentration of carbon dioxide, is pumped via your heart to the lungs, where the carbon dioxide diffuses through the alveoli and back into your lungs, where you will exhale. You now inhale some delicious oxygen, and your now lovely oxygenated blood flows to the heart, where it is pumped around to the rest of the body! Our bodies are pretty freaking cool! #humanbody #respiration #cellularrespiration #ATP #exercise #workouts #biology #chemistry #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Above is a photo of a halogen light bulb, a variation of the classic incandescent light bulb that many know to be invented by Thomas Edison. What makes Edison stand out as the inventor of the light bulb is not necessarily the actual thing itself, but the factors he combined to produce a successful bulb. For the incandescent bulb, there is a long-lasting filament, which now is made of tungsten. The casing, made of glass, prevents oxygen in the air from reacting with the tungsten, and it should be noted that the inside of the bulb is a vacuum that is then filled with an inert gas such as argon to reduce the rate of evaporation of the filament, as in an incandescent bulb, tungsten atoms can "evaporate" off the filament and blacken the bulb. A halogen light bulb is an improvement on the incandescent bulb. The filament is still made of tungsten, however inside the bulb, either iodine or bromine gas is present at a much higher pressure (7-8atm). To withstand these pressures, normal glass is replaced with fused quartz. The presence of the halogen gas (either iodine or bromine) prevents the tungsten from thinning. As the tungsten filament is heated and it loses atoms, the iodine/bromine will bind to these atoms on the run. When the light is switched off and the halogen can cool down, the tungsten atoms will once again bond with the filament. This process is called the "Halogen Cycle". The tungsten itself emits light as its electrons gain energy and then re-emit it as wavelengths of light that, luckily for us, are in the visible light spectrum. #light #lightbulbs #incandescentbulb #halogenbulb #halogens #iodine #bromine #tungsten #quartz #glass #physics #science #sciences

[plantstoplanets-blog]

Take a moment to appreciate plants, which cannot move around like we do in order to find and use what they need to survive. From its territory, no matter how big or small, on this amazing planet, a plant must be able to: 1. Intercept sunlight 2. Withstand external forces such as gravity and the movement of air and water 3. Transport materials within the plant body 4. Exchange mass and energy with the surrounding environment 5. Sexually reproduce The more tasks the plant has to perform, the less efficient it will do each. However a plant can do a "trade-off" in order to perform one task more efficiently. A great example of this is mechanical stability vs. photosynthetic efficiency. A plant would achieve most mechanical stability if all shoots were either perfectly parallel or vertical to the ground, however this would decrease the surface area across which the leaves could intercept sunlight and carry out photosynthesis. So in order for photosynthetic efficiency to increase, mechanical stability must decrease. And this is just one of many examples of plant amazingness! #plants #amazing #physics #biology #plantphysics #biophysics #science #sciences