Woodbury High School - Warrior Yearbook (Woodbury, CT)

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 MODERN PHYSICS Today research is the most effective tool that man can wield in his unceasing effort to master his physical environment. Nineteenth-century physics supposed, in a certain sense, that it had reached finality, that is, it had a set of laws in conformity with which all phenomena must everywhere take place and hence it was unlikely that many new phenomena remained to be discovered. The falsity of this assumption can readily be perceived in view of the many experimental facts and principles being revealed by modern research, which is opening up entirely new modes of thought and casting adverse lights on some established physical laws. The most outstanding work of this kind has been in a field, the importance of which is probably not recognized by the majority of people; that of atomic physics. It is apparent that the seeming impracticability of knowledge of something that cannot be detected with our ordained senses, has tended to suppress our enthusiasm to get at the bottom of the thing called matter. However, it must be taken into consideration that putting value on only those new discoveries which are of a practical nature is not practical in itself because usually, practical discoveries and inventions follow as a result of discoveries in the theoretical field. Atoms are thought to be the tiniest bits of matter capable of existing alone. The usual concept of their structure is a group of electrons (negatively charged particles) whirling around a central nucleus composed of protons (positively charged particles) or groups of protons, as planets wheel about a central sun. All the possible ninety-two elements are made up of different combinations of equal numbers of electrons and protons and each element has its own number and grouping. The number of electrons about the nucleus determines what element a substance is. In chemical action only these electrons are affected. The nucleus consists mainly of protons which attract the electrons and prevent them from wheeling off into space. If it were possible to change the nucleus there would be a change in the number of electrons attracted to the nucleus and hence a change from one element to another. Two years ago some British physicists discovered a particle about the nucleus of the atom which was charged neither positively nor negatively and to designate its neutrality named it neutron. Since then there has been much experimenting with this new particle and at present one of the best ways of obtaining one of them is as follows. If deutons, nuclei of a recently discovered double weight hydrogen, are shot at the metal lithium, a shower of neutrons issues both from broken deutons and shattered lithium atoms. Dr. E. O. Lawrence and Dr. M. S. Livingston of the University of California have produced a neutron ray and it is said to be the most penetrating ray created in the laboratory. This is partially due to the fact that the neutrons, carrying no charge themselves, are not affected by the electrical charges about the atoms and do not stop until they make a direct hit. Then their mass, 1800 times that of an electron, bursts the atomic nuclei apart. The neutron ray has the peculiar property of penetrating heavy substances more easily than light ones. Hydrogen is almost an impassable barricade while they go through lead with comparative ease. Another particle was recently discovered about the atom which seemed to act similarly to the electron, but bore a positive charge and so was named positron. This along with the neutron has added mystery to our conception of matter and some of our scientists are beginning to wonder if we have gotten down to the fundamental unit. There is some doubt as to whether we can form correct conceptions of these infinitely small particles with our present physical laws. Early in this year the Joliets; daughter and son-in-law of the famous Madame Curie, announced an experiment, the results of which stirred scientists all over the world. Alpha particles, which are helium nuclei stripped of their external electrons, were shot at the element boron, resulting in the formation of a neutron and an unstable nitrogen atom. This atom in turn changed to a carbon atom with the release of a positron. In other words there was transmutation of an element, that is, change from one element to another. The long desired achievement of the alchemist, had been accomplished. In this process the unstable nitrogen atom disintegrates spontaneously just as radium does, only much more rapidly, and emits those rays and emanations which characterize radioactive substances. Since this discovery there have been others to confirm it and several other radioactive substances have also been produced artifically. These substances give off the same penetrating rays as radium and it is probable that they will replace radium because they are much cheaper to produce. The uses for radi- Page Seventeen

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Money provides something universally accepted. The English Pound Sterling or the United States dollar is accepted in almost every nation in the world. There is no other commodity that would be so accepted. Pork would have little value in a Jewish colony, furs would have little value in the tropics. In fact the money of Great Britain and the United States is about the only thing which will be accepted the world over. The characteristics of good money are; general desirability, high specific value, durability, uniform quality, divisibility, ease of transportation, ease of recognition, and stability of value. For money to be good, everybody must want it. The general desirability of a good determines its value as a permanent medium of exchange. It is self evident that as soon as no one wanted money its value would cease to exist. Money must have a high specific value; that is it must have a high value in small bulk. The Spartans used iron money. They thought it best that none of their money should leave Sparta and to insure this they made their money so cumber-son that few people wanted to go abroad and take their money with them. The Spartans had little to do with other people and that is the chief reason why they never became one of the prominent peoples of the world. The early Hebrews used cattle for money and the Egyptians used wheat. A fortune in either of these commodities would be hard to handle. Even a shopping trip with either cattle or wheat as money would be a problem. Good money must be durable. Cattle and sheep were perishable, grain was apt to spoil, except in Egypt the country of practically no rainfall, and even the iron money would rust. Gold and Silver coins seem to be the most satisfactory in this respect. Good money must be uniform in quality. Every last atom must be like every other one. Furs, live stock, and even grain varied in quality. Tobacco was used as money in Virginia in early colonial days. There were however several grades of tobacco and one could not be certain which grade was being offered as money. Only the metals seem to possess this very necessary characteristics of good money. Good money must be divisible. The value of a fur coat would be ruined if cut in small pieces. The value of an ox, as a beast of burden, would likewise be destroyed by dividing the ox in parts. It it true that grain could be divided easily, but it would not be as satisfactory as metal even in this respect. Good money must be easily recognized. That is one of the reasons why gold is so suitable. Gold is recognized by its weight as well as its other qualities. There are few elements that weigh as much as gold and they are scarce and even more valuable than gold. If lead were covered with gold to make it appear as a brick of gold one could easily detect the fallacy by weighing the brick. The gold brick filled with lead would be much too light. One of the most necessary characteristics which good money must possess is portability. It must be easy to carry. You would all admit that it would be difficult to carry a pig and a cow besides several chickens and ducks as small change when you went shopping. The trouble with iron money in this respect has already been pointed out. Good money must be stable in value. All commodities fluctuate in value but gold probably fluctuates less than any other. The reason is that there is a fairly limited supply of it. When tobacco was used as money, people who loaned money or extended credit would be glad to loan when tobacco was plentiful, that is when prices were low, but were eager to collect their debts when tobacco was scarce and prices were high in terms of other goods. On the other hand the debtors wanted to borrow when the price of tobacco was high and a unit of tobacco bought a lot of goods, but when tobacco was plentiful it is said that they frequently pursued their creditors and paid them without mercy . If we were in financial troubles when on a gold standard, what would happen if we had been on a standard of which the supply was not limited. Gold has been the most satisfactory of the things used as money, because it is something which is universally desired for itself aside from its value as money. People have taken it because they knew it would have value at the goldsmith’s even if their neighbors refused it. Gold has a high value per unit of weight. Gold is durable. It resists chemical action better than the other metals. It is uniform in quality, it can be divided into units of various sizes and each of these units will be uniform in quality. It can be carried from place to place when necessary, and can be easily recognized. Most important of all, because of the limited supply its value is more stable than the value of any other commodity. Gold illustrates all the desirable qualities of money which I have enumerated. Money is that which makes possible the exchange of goods. I have used gold as an illustration because it seemed to be easier to understand. Gold is no longer used as money in the United States. We really are on a paper standard. I wish to quote again that that which does the work of money is the money thing . If paper can do the work which gold formerly did, there is no reason why it should not become our money standard. EMILY KLATKA. Page Sixteen

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um are ever widening and any new substance cheaper to produce and with the same amount of radiation should certainly be welcomed. In attempts to transmute elements, various things have been used to bombard the nucleus, including alpha particles, protons, deutons, neutrons and electrons of the electric current. To get the maximum amount of destruction by use of electrons, immense static machines have been perfected, which are capable of producing enormous voltage. Deutons are the heaviest and most efficient so far employed. The attraction which holds the atom together is great and when it is shattered by bombardment much energy is released. Along with transmutation there is a possibility of finding a way to tap the atom for its energy. At present there arc attempts being made to transmute elements on a profitable basis. It would be very important if a way was perfected to change cheap and plentiful elements to rare and more useful ones. In 1932 Drs. Urey, Murphy, and Brickwedde of this country showed that there was a second type of hydrogen twice as heavy as the familiar type. Professor Urey named this new type deuterium, indicated by the symbol D”. Deuterium combined with oxygen yields deuterium oxide, otherwise known as heavy water. The effects of this i---■ water on all forms of animal and plant life, and in combination with various chemical elements and compounds, are being tested at present. A short while ago Lord Rutherford and his colleagues of Cambridge, England, performed an experiment which amounted to bombarding deutons with deutons. From his results he predicted either a very heavy hydrogen atom or a new type of helium. Recent experiments by American experts point toward the existance of this third type of hydrogen. There is also reason to believe that when deutons collide head-on a new type of helium is formed. These two new forms of hydrogen open up a vast unexplored field to the organic chemist. There arc a limitless number of undreamed of possibilities which are likely to result from these aforementioned experiments and from ones being conducted now along similiar lines. Slowly but surely mankind will surmount the difficulties which arise and eventually a foundation will be founded on which he can build. Who knows what further insight into the structure of matter may reveal? Probably things which would seem absolutely astounding to us now. So was it in the past and so will it be in the future. Science seeks the facts regardless of how mysterious they may seem or how far they may lead us. CLASS PHOPHECY” Extracts from a Diary read at some future date. Esther Lundin—Polly Overton Well now she’s done it. Nettie has the opera world raving over her, and radio is clamouring for her Betty Boop programs. However, Nettie confidently told me that she would rather strain for high C than to be put back in the ink bottle at the end of every program. Today an auction took up my time. The first thing to attract my attention was the auctioneer, or rather the woman who took the part of the aucioneer. Even Mr. Judson takes a back seat when Catherine Minor appears. She learned a great deal about the art of voice to be heard in W. H. S.—by observation. A very interesting news real that I saw today showed Anne Plungis picking up a whip and gun and dauntlessly entering the cage of an untrained tiger. The fight that followed would even be too much for Floyd Gibbons. Of course, the tiger lost because he was at a disadvantage for he had never had the opportunity to improve his agility by practiciag on the W. H. S. girls’ basketball team as Anne did. Met Louise Smith today. She confided in me that she has bought a sugar plantation down South and intends to devote her time to learning to raise cain. Sounds as if one of us has forgotten just about all we learned in high school. Only ten cents to go up in the aeroplane, Kiddies!” is what I heard at the amusement park this afternoon. Wishing I was a child again, I watched the kiddies pile into little planes on the end of the cables Imagine my suprise to find that Mike Coad was the engineer of the device. He always was interested in planes, but I guess one at a time wasn’t enough for him. Some Fun! The circus is in town again! Was being pushed along with the crowd when I heard the usual cry of Peanuts and Popcorn”. I made my way over to the stand and found my old class mate Adam Wittek busily engaged in shoveling Page Eighteen