4,614 research outputs found
Automation of preparation of nonmetallic samples for analysis by atomic absorption and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry
For a rapid preparation of solutions intended for analysis by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry or atomic absorption spectrometry, an automatic device called Plasmasol was developed. This apparatus used the property of nonwettability of glassy C to fuse the sample in an appropriate flux. The sample-flux mixture is placed in a composite crucible, then heated at high temperature, swirled until full dissolution is achieved, and then poured into a water-filled beaker. After acid addition, dissolution of the melt, and filling to the mark, the solution is ready for analysis. The analytical results obtained, either for oxide samples or for prereduced iron ores show that the solutions prepared with this device are undistinguished from those obtained by manual dissolutions done by acid digestion or by high temperature fusion. Preparation reproducibility and analytical tests illustrate the performance of Plasmasol
Casimir Energy and Entropy between perfect metal Spheres
We calculate the Casimir energy and entropy for two perfect metal spheres in
the large and short separation limit. We obtain nonmonotonic behavior of the
Helmholtz free energy with separation and temperature, leading to parameter
ranges with negative entropy, and also nonmonotonic behavior of the entropy
with temperature and with the separation between the spheres. The appearance of
this anomalous behavior of the entropy is discussed as well as its
thermodynamic consequences.Comment: 10 pages and 8 figures. Accepted for publication in the Proceedings
of the tenth conference on Quantum Field Theory under the influence of
external conditions - QFEXT'1
Low-temperature behavior of the statistics of the overlap distribution in Ising spin-glass models
Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study in detail the overlap distribution
for individual samples for several spin-glass models including the
infinite-range Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, short-range Edwards-Anderson
models in three and four space dimensions, and one-dimensional long-range
models with diluted power-law interactions. We study three long-range models
with different powers as follows: the first is approximately equivalent to a
short-range model in three dimensions, the second to a short-range model in
four dimensions, and the third to a short-range model in the mean-field regime.
We study an observable proposed earlier by some of us which aims to distinguish
the "replica symmetry breaking" picture of the spin-glass phase from the
"droplet picture," finding that larger system sizes would be needed to
unambiguously determine which of these pictures describes the low-temperature
state of spin glasses best, except for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model which
is unambiguously described by replica symmetry breaking. Finally, we also study
the median integrated overlap probability distribution and a typical overlap
distribution, finding that these observables are not particularly helpful in
distinguishing the replica symmetry breaking and the droplet pictures.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Finite-size critical scaling in Ising spin glasses in the mean-field regime
We study in Ising spin glasses the finite-size effects near the spin-glass
transition in zero field and at the de Almeida-Thouless transition in a field
by Monte Carlo methods and by analytical approximations. In zero field, the
finite-size scaling function associated with the spin-glass susceptibility of
the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick mean-field spin-glass model is of the same form as
that of one-dimensional spin-glass models with power-law long-range
interactions in the regime where they can be a proxy for the Edwards-Anderson
short-range spin-glass model above the upper critical dimension. We also
calculate a simple analytical approximation for the spin-glass susceptibility
crossover function. The behavior of the spin-glass susceptibility near the de
Almeida-Thouless transition line has also been studied, but here we have only
been able to obtain analytically its behavior in the asymptotic limit above and
below the transition. We have also simulated the one-dimensional system in a
field in the non-mean-field regime to illustrate that when the Imry-Ma droplet
length scale exceeds the system size one can then be erroneously lead to
conclude that there is a de Almeida-Thouless transition even though it is
absent.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Elements of Proximal Formative Assessment in Learners’ Discourse about Energy
Proximal formative assessment, the just-in-time elicitation of students\u27 ideas that informs ongoing instruction, is usually associated with the instructor in a formal classroom setting. However, the elicitation, assessment, and subsequent instruction that characterize proximal formative assessment are also seen in discourse among peers. We present a case in which secondary teachers in a professional development course at SPU are discussing energy flow in refrigerators. In this episode, a peer is invited to share her thinking (elicitation). Her idea that refrigerators move heat from a relatively cold compartment to a hotter environment is inappropriately judged as incorrect (assessment). The instruction (peer explanation) that follows is based on the second law of thermodynamics, and acts as corrective rather than collaborative
Using resource graphs to represent conceptual change
We introduce resource graphs, a representation of linked ideas used when
reasoning about specific contexts in physics. Our model is consistent with
previous descriptions of resources and coordination classes. It can represent
mesoscopic scales that are neither knowledge-in-pieces or large-scale concepts.
We use resource graphs to describe several forms of conceptual change:
incremental, cascade, wholesale, and dual construction. For each, we give
evidence from the physics education research literature to show examples of
each form of conceptual change. Where possible, we compare our representation
to models used by other researchers. Building on our representation, we
introduce a new form of conceptual change, differentiation, and suggest several
experimental studies that would help understand the differences between
reform-based curricula.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, no tables. Submitted for publication to the
Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Research on March 8, 200
Atmospheric fluctuations below 0.1 Hz during drift-scan solar diameter measurements
Measurements of the power spectrum of the seeing in the range 0.001-1 Hz have
been performed in order to understand the criticity of the transits' method for
solar diameter monitoring.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, proc. of the Fourth French-Chinese meeting on
Solar Physics Understanding Solar Activity: Advances and Challenges, 15 - 18
November, 2011 Nice, Franc
Analytical method for the determination of trichlorobenzenes in marine biota (poster)
Trichlorobenzenes (TCBs) were intensively used in the last decades as essential components of dielectric fluids, intermediates in chemical synthesis, solvents, coolants, lubricants, heat-transfer medium; insecticide, additive in polyester dyeing and components of termite-control preparations (1, 2). Due to their widespread occurrence in the various environmental compartments they have been classified by OSPARCOM (Oslo and Paris Commissions) (3) as chemicals for priority action and have been proposed by the Marine Chemistry Working Group (MCWG) as chemical parameters in the Water Framework Directive (4). Based on their octanol-water partitioning coefficients (log Kow = 4.02-4.49) (5) and bioconcentration factors in fish (ranging from 182 to 3200, depending on the lipid content) (6), these chemicals are expected to bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms.Against their potential significance in the marine environment there is relatively little information available concerning the actual concentration levels and distribution of trichlorobenzenes in marine organisms (7, 8).The aim of this work was to develop an analytical method appropriate for the determination of TCBs in marine biota.The analytical method consists of saponification of the fish tissue with methanolic potassium hydroxide, liquid-liquid extraction of the solution with pentane, clean up of the concentrated extract on alumina column and analysis of the extract with gas chromatograph equipped with electron capture detector (ECD). The method proved to be appropriate for the detection of concentration levels typical of the organic contaminants in biota (7) (~1 ng /g wet weight of tissue). The relative standard deviation of the analysis of 1,3,5-, 1,2,4- and 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene was 8, 6 and 18% (n=4) respectively. Higher recoveries of the analytes were obtained with spiked fish samples than with standard solutions (88, 96 and 78 instead of 53, 50 and 32% of 1,3,5-, 1,2,4- and 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene respectively). One plausible explanation of the difference is that the proteins and glycerides of the fish tissue compete effectively with trichlorobenzenes for the base and their presence decrease their decomposition rate
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