Friday, April 26, 2013

What makes clouds to pour down rain?

                                What makes clouds to pour down rain?

Yesterday night , it rained in our locality ! All these days , by seeing the souring temperature , I had assumed that even this year too , rain will not come .
But it rained. Not just rain , its thunder and lighting also. Now I started to wonder how the rain will come ? Here are my findings.
When warm , wet air rises up , it cools and water vapour condenses to form clouds. A cloud is made up of tiny water droplets.  For raining , it also depends on height and how much cool is the surrounding area.
Height and temperature also determines whether it just rains or is it accompanied with thunder storms.
To form rain , water vapour  needs tiny particles of dust which is swept high into the atmosphere. When the condensing droplets that form the cloud , get large and heavy enough to overcome the upward convection of pressure , they begin to fall. If the temperature of the surrounding area is above freezing point of water , then it rains. If it is below freezing point , then we get snow. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

22 X 7 power: Election gift

                              22 X 7 power: Election gift

We have 22 X 7 power nowadays ! I was hoping to get a 24 hours of power supply as it is the election time.
Election time is the best time for people of state. Everyone ask about the problems we are facing.
Last week , one morning door bell rang. I just peeped in the window.
Around 3 people standing on sit out area. All of them bowed their head and said "namaskara" to me !
One of them had seen me coming outside the room . I was walking holding crutches.
He was very upset ( as it was evident from his face ) by seeing me in that position.
He started inquiring.  He was the follower of a candidate of a national party. He handed over the pamphlet of that party .
He then assured me that he will arrange an auto rickshaw so that I can come and vote. That too, one phone call to his mobile is sufficient !
I wondered : He says that he will arrange the vehicle so that I can come and vote. But what about return journey ?!
His assurance is valid only to the first half . Not to second half.
Nowadays , we are also having power for 22 hours a day ! Its only till the elections. Once elections are over , again load shedding starts.
Only GOD has to help us till rain come and dams get filled. ! 

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Law of buoyancy

                                           Law of buoyancy

The law of buoyancy states that if the amount of water we displace , when we get immersed in water ,  weighs more than we weigh , then we will float.
Buoyancy is an upward force exerted by a fluid, that opposes the weight of an immersed object. An object whose density is greater than that of the fluid in which it is submerged , tends to sink. If the object is less denser than the liquid , or shaped appropriately as happens in a boat , the force can keep the object afloat.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Ohm's law

                                        Ohm's law

Ohm's law is a basic law that all of us have studied. In electrical engineering, there are subjects of circuit analysis which also depends on this law.

What ohm's law states?

Ohm's law states that current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference ( voltage ) across the two points.
We can write it as,
                   
                                   I directly proportional to V

where I = current through conductor
          V = voltage between two points

By introducing the constant of proportionality R = Resistance ,

we can arrive at the usual relationship as ,

                                                 V 
                                       I   =   -----
                                                  R
Or we can also write it as ,

                                   V = I R

where R = Resistance of conductor measured in ohms.


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Electricity generation by natural gas

                                 Electricity generation by natural gas

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power.
The fundamental principle that is used in electricity generation is discovered by Michael Faraday. Based on his invention, now we produce electricity in large scale.
In power stations , electricity is most often generated by electro mechanical generators ,. These generators are driven by heat engines or turbines which are fueled by chemical combustion or nuclear fission in order to generate steam.
Nowadays , electromagnetic induction principle is used.
Faraday's law states that if a conductor is rotated within the closed loops of a magnet electricity is produced. Even now , this principle is used in alternators ( a. c. generators ) ,dynamo , electrical generators etc.
Now , to rotate this conductor , force is required .
How to get this force? By steam . By boiling water . For this , various methods are used.
1. We can use coal to boil water in order to generate steam . This happens in thermal power plants.
2. We can also use nuclear fission reaction to generate steam . This happens in nuclear power plants.
3 . In hydro power station , not steam but kinetic energy i.e. running water is used to run the turbines . Similarly for wind energy also .
4. Nowadays , natural gas is used to generate steam instead of combustion of coal . Combustion of coal results in environmental pollution . But steam produced by natural gas is harmless as no dangerous gas is produced in this process.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Why do cats rub against our leg?

                             Why do cats rub against our leg?

Gunda , neighbor's tomcat always visits our house. Everytime , he sees me , he just rub himself against my leg . When Gunda is doing that , it is difficult for me to walk also .
But actually , he is depositing his scent on me ! A cat will rub its head against us or any furniture or any object. It has glands on its forehead , mouth and chin that produce pheromones and it transfers these onto objects.
But my doubt is everyday I take bath . If Gunda depositing his scent on me, it will get washed away when I bath. That's why everytime , he repeats the same action ! 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Aniruddha , grandson of Shri Krishna

                               Aniruddha , grandson of Shri Krishna

Aniruddha is grandson of Shri Krishna . He was the son of Pradyumna , son of Shri Krishna. Meaning of the name Aniruddha is uncontrolled or without obstacles. He was said to be very much like his grandfather .
Aniruddha is one among 4 extensions of God Vishnu . The 4 extensions of Vishnu are ---
1. Vaasudeva
2 . Sankarshrna
3 . Pradyumna
4 . Aniruddha
A demon princess named Usha who was the daughter of demon king Banasur, was in love with Aniruddha. She had brought him near her with her magical powers.
Shri Krishna went in search of his grandson and came to know that he was near daughter of demon king. To bring Aniruddha back, Krishna had to fight with Banasur.
Finally , Banasur came to know the truth and he married off his daughter to Aniruddha.

Monday, April 15, 2013

How did God Sri Ram get his name , Ramachandra?

                        How did God Sri Ram get his name , Ramachandra?
The name Ramachandra refer to Sri Ram. About the origin of name , there are 2 stories.

1st story :

Sri Ram was a baby . His mother Kousalya was trying to feed him. It was the time of night.  Baby Ram was not at all agreeing to eat food.
That time, Kousalya did a plan. She came outside with the baby. It was the full moon day. As all mothers do , even Kousalya showed moon ( chandra ) to baby . Seeing the moon glowing on sky , Ram smiled and started eating the food.
Since then , Ram got the name of Ramachandra .

2nd story :

When Ram was born , all the devas had come to see him as he is the part of Lord Vishnu himself. But moon or chandra could not come as it was the time of evening . It is his duty time. He was very upset because of this.
Ram had come to know about it and he consoled chandra saying that from that day onwards , moon will be always with him . Thus he got the name Ramachandra .



Saturday, April 13, 2013

The reason for refusal of marriage

                                   The reason for refusal of marriage

Once upon a time,  a kingdom had a king by the name Vikram. He was a good administrator . People in his kingdom were living with harmony.
After so many years of his marriage, King Vikram was blessed with a girl child. Happy he was , Vikram named his daughter as Malini.
Soon , Malini grew up to become a beautiful girl. She was a scholar in every subject and she was expert in chess too.
King Vikram had the plan of inviting alliances from grooms for marriage. But Malini firmly said that whoever will defeat her in the match of chess , she will marry that person.
King agreed and soon news spread. Many princes had come to check their luck. But Malini , expert she is , just defeated each and everyone .
Now, news had begun to emerge that Malini is invincible. Prince of neighbouring kingdom heard of Malini's beauty and also her condition.
He decided to take part in the competition. Everyday he was the spectator of Malini's match with other princes. He was noting down each and every move of Malini , her concentration etc. Though he was new to the game of chess, by seeing Malini's play , now he has gained command over it. Now he is ready to challenge Malini.
One day, fight was arranged. To everyone's surprise, prince had defeated Malini ! King Vikram was very happy that atlast someone had defeated his daughter .
He asked about whereabouts of prince and where he had his education of chess game. Prince politely said he was new to the game of chess and by seeing Malini's game plan , he had learnt the game. By listening to that, Malini refused to marry the prince !
Malini said prince learnt the game of chess by seeing her playing. That implies she is the teacher of game to prince. She cant marry the prince.
Even the prince agreed to Malini's words. Then King found a suitable groom to his daughter . Malini got married and lived happily ever after.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Why do we get a shock from electricity?

                                   Why do we get a shock from electricity?

Electricity shocks us , because it is an outside force which interferes with the internal electricity that our bodies' nervous system generate.
Electricity comprises of positive and negative charges , opposite charges attract each other and similar ones repel each other.
Those charges attracted to each other can be separated, the end result being potential energy. This energy will  be released as voltage.
In order for the charges to reunite , a conductor through which they can flow through is needed . Since the human body mainly consists of water , it serves as a superb conductor for electrical energy or voltage.
If , by chance, outside electrical energy enters our body which is now a conductor , we will be shocked when this voltage encounters with the internal electrical energy our nervous system generates. The shock also depends upon how much voltage our body is subjected to and also upon how much our body resist the flow of electrical energy.
When we are shocked, our muscles may twitch , and the worst case of getting a shock is DEATH.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

India's first lady pilot

                                         India's first lady pilot

I always see men sitting in the cockpit of a plane. But air hostess jobs are only for ladies. But I was wondering if there are lady pilots too?
Now there are. But I wanted to know about the first Indian lady pilot.
It was in the year 1936 , one lady entered the cockpit of plane and made history as India's first lady pilot.
She was Sarla Thakral .
She was only 21 year old , when she achieved that feat.
Her husband P . D. Sharma was the initiator behind that  . But she widowed at the age 24. Then she abandoned her plans to become a commercial pilot.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Why does radio reception improve when touching an antenna ?

        Why does radio reception improve when touching an antenna ?

Today ,  I was listening to radio. Suddenly there was a sound. I tried to correct it by adjusting the frequency of radio station. But to my amusement , when I touched the radio set for adjusting , the sound disappeared. When I removed my hand , again the sound.
It made me to think . The radio signals must be flowing through me as a conductor.
I felt proud.  I am such a person that even the radio signals are flowing through me ! It always happens if we just get close to radio set.
This phenomenon happens because of the electromagnetic field around our body originating from brain and heart activities. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Value of friendship

                                     Value of friendship

A ship was caught with toofan on the mid sea. There was no one also nearby to seek help. Ship was having 2 sailors. They were friends.
Finally after toofan was lessened its intensity , sailors found themselves caught between the wreckage of ship. Both swam to their full strength  and finally reached an island .
Since island was wide enough , they decided to go to different directions . They were waiting for help to come. But days passed , they didnt find any help.
Finally both of them started offering prayers to God. As they like the place , now they didnt ask for help. Instead they asked for food and drink.
Soon whatever they prayed were infront of them. He looked what is his friend doing? He cold not see . Finally thinking that his friend must had prayed and got boon , the former one though he was surprised to see that his wish was granted , he continued his prayers.
Now he wished for a nice house with luxury . That also has been granted ! He continued wishing and this time for a beautiful wife . That also has been granted.
Now he had got all his wishes and now he wants to go to his place with his bride. At that time , a voice was heard " Dont you want to see your friend ?"
This one got annoyed by the question , asked  " why should he ?"
Voice replied " Its not only your wish . Your friend also wished that your all wishes must be granted . He didnt wish anything for himself , but only wished that your wish must be granted " . Then this man understood what a friend mean.
A friend in need is always a friend indeed.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Why is it not good to cook in copper and brass utensils ?

                Why is it not good to cook in copper and brass utensils ?

Cooking utensils can have an effect on nutrition. The utensils we use to cook food , often work more than just holding the food .
Molecules of substances of utensils can leach into the food that is being prepared in the utensils. Now , we widely use aluminium cookwares.
But studies show that if the food is prepared in uncoated aluminium utensils, chances of getting Alzheimer disease is more. Still, researches show that the amount of material that leaches out to the food is very small in case of aluminium utensils.
Health problem from stainless steel utensils are rare.
Using copper or brass utensils invite danger. Large amounts of copper unlined cookware can cause vomiting , nausea and diarrhea.
Some copper and brass metals are coated with another metal to prevent food coming into contact with copper . But overtime , these coatings can break down and allow copper to dissolve in food. Hence , these cookwares must not be used for cooking.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

My day with Gunda

                          My day  with Gunda

In our place , power is gone for every 1 1/2 hours. All thanks to MESCOM . Now examination period is also over and now no one complains if he do load shedding.
Early in morning , there was no power. I was sitting outside . We cant sit inside house without fan . Fan can be run on inverter but if we empty the charge of inverter during this early morning , what about rest of day ?!
As I was sitting outside , Gunda slowly stepped inside our compound . Gunda stays in neighbour's house. Gunda likes me .
Daily his day starts with a visit to our house. As I was sitting outside , he was very happy by seeing me. But I was unaware of his presence.
He called out my name. I was surprised by seeing him. I showed him a chair to sit. He sat besides me and soon fell asleep .
That time, I touched his hand . He didnt say anything . I touched his ear . Now he opened his one eye. Soon that also shut down.
Now I knew that he will not say anything . Then I bent and touched his nose . Now came the  voice " Meow " ! He was awake and started cleaning the areas wherever I had touched !

Friday, April 5, 2013

Why does ice floats in water even though most solids sink in water?

         Why does ice floats in water even though most solids sink in water?

Ice floats in water because ice is less denser than water. It is mostly due to the hydrogen bond in H2O molecule ( water molecule ) .
As the freezing point is reached , water molecules start to form hexagonal crystals of ice. These molecules are unable to pack together as tightly in the solid as in the liquid.
This property is important because otherwise large bodies of water would freeze from bottom to up . This would totally disrupt the ecosystem that live in very cold water. We know that , even though the water in polar areas or in very cold areas are freezed on the upper surface , below to that , water remains in liquid state thus making it useful for animals to live in.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Fear of death kills more people

                                     Fear of death kills more people

It is true. The estimated number of people who die of a disease is far less than the number of people who die fearing that they are having the disease !
Once a disease is spotted in nation . It is a new type of disease . It can be spread by whichever means known to man !
Government had taken action to control the growth of disease . But it is of no avail. The reports of death of people are pouring in .
Officials are confused now. They had taken each and every pre-cautions , but also the reports of death are coming . So they decided to contact the hospitals.
The data they have got from hospital are not matching with the toll of death which have been reported across the country. Finally , a commission has been formed to know the truth.
The facts are really surprising. Only half of the death are caused because of serious illness. The rest ? The other deaths have been occurred just imagining that they have got the disease and they are going to die because of disease like others !

MORAL : All the good and bad are in our mind. If we start thinking we are normal , we ought to be normal ..and vice versa  is also true.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

What type of forces cause teeth to crack?

                                 What type of forces cause teeth to crack?

Front teeth usually break due to a knock or an accident or when biting something.
Other forces occur during sleep because people grind their teeth with a much greater force than they ever do while awake. This may give rise to sensitive tooth.
But dentists will do replacements . 

Our house , a mini zoo

                                         Our house , a mini zoo

Our house is in rural area. Just cant understand how they classify city and rural areas ! Being considered as a rural area , we get here cable connection , internet , mobile service etc that is available to city people . Here it is calm and quiet .
Our house and surrounding area is often visited by animals and birds .
Important animal is MONKEY (Langoors ).
Important bird is PEACOCK
That's not all . Yesterday we had kept a jack fruit outside as it was not ripe fully . Morning it had the marks of some one had bitten it .
It is none other than SQUIRRELS !. I wonder whether these animals and birds are just visiting our house or of others too ? Why do only we  suffer ?
Equal justice must be done to all !.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Can there be 2 rainbows at the same time?

                                          Can there be 2 rainbows at the same time?

It can be. It is an interesting thing about rainbows.
The double rainbows will always be on the top of the other ! First we see how does a rainbow gets formed?
When light passes through the rain drops trapped in the air , it is reflected and refracted out in different directions.
In most simple terms , I can say that a rain drop at that time acts like a prism. This experiment we have studied in our 2nd PUC.
The different colours of visible light exit the drop at different angles. If enough drops reflect enough amount of light at once , one rainbow is formed.
Sometimes , though , the process that causes a rainbow will reflect twice instead of once ; in this case , the rainbow forms a mirror image of itself that is higher up and thus much fainter to human eye . Double rainbows are actually just mirror image of same rainbow .

Monday, April 1, 2013

My journey through Agumbe ghat

                                       My journey through Agumbe ghat

Today , I had a journey through Agumbe ghat. When my parents went on this journey , 4 months back , the ghat was at its worst possible condition.
The road was full of pot holes and it was a great punishment to travel . These information I heard. But today , I actually had a journey.
As I am quite smart , I didnt go when my parents had arranged the journey.
But today , I had the journey. I had lots of pre assumptions about the ghat in my mind. But it was a lovely experience.
When I was going in the car , I observed the monkey with a black face and also black body. Driver said that is the particular species of monkey which is  in the verge of extinction and it can be seen only in Agumbe nowadays.
The side way picture is awesome. The ghat is having hair pin curves and little distraction may result in our death ! That's why big vehicles like large buses and lorries are prohibited from using the ghat. Only mini bus , cars , jeeps etc.
Now , my journey through ghat was lovely . No pot holes on the road . It looks like I am travelling on the roads of a foreign country !
Its all because of assembly elections that have been declared in Karnataka. The leaders must say their achievements ( if there any ) to people .
Thats why all this circus . But I had a nice experience..

Moral : Plan your tour when the elections are nearing . At least at that time , roads will be in a fine condition to travel !