Thomas Alva Edison
Born in: February 11
Born where: Milan, Ohio, United States
Died on: October 18 1931(when he was 84 years old)
Married to: Mary Stilwell; Mina Miller
His contribution to mankind
Carbon telephone transmitter
In 1877–78, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work during 1920s.Although there were some dispute about whether Edison invented the carbon telephone, it was resolved in 1892 where a federal court declared that Edison invented the carbon microphone
Electric light
He experimented with many metal filaments until one day he experimented with a carbon filament and it was successful. The bulb with carbon filament managed to last for 40 hours on October 22,1879. He continued to improve this design and by November 4, 1879, he went to file a U.S patent for his electric lamp using a carbon filament. After several months, the patent was granted and by that time he discovered a carbonised bamboo filament tha could last for over 1 200 hours.Then, Edison continued to improve on the light bulb and formed the “Edison Electric Light Company”. He wanted to make light bulbs so common and cheap that only the rich would continue to use candles. This was how he invented the light bulb!
Fluoroscope
Edison also invented the fluoroscope ehich is a machine that uses X-rays to take radiographs. He discovered that calcium tungstate fluoroscopy screens produced brighter images than the barium platinocyanide screens which was originally used. Even till now we are still using his fundamental design.
What was his key to success?
Perseverance- Although he could not find the right material for the filament, he did not give up and strived on instead. Besides that, he decided to make a breakthrough for mankind. Without him, we might not have light bulbs and will still be depending on candles for light until today.
An interesting story that played a big part in his success
When Thomas Edison was young, he saved 3 years old Jimmy from being struck by a runaway train. His father was so grateful towards Edison that he decided to train Edison to be a telegraph operator. With knowledge gained from years of working as a telegraph operator, he learned the basics of electricity. That is how he was so good with electricity and physics. If not for the fact that he had been a tl\elegraph operator, Edison would not have been able to invent so many things!
After I made a HUGE mistake of not knowing what to do for Science Ace in term
2(resulting in my mere 2 points for Science Ace), I decided to start early and submit my Ace early so that i could make the necessary amendments and changes needed. I had already passed up my Science Ace during the June holidays although the dateline was in late August. I did a paper chromatography experiment as my Ace. Another reason why I did the experiment during the June holidays was because our Science teacher said before that if we did an experiment that we did during lab sessions before as Science Ace, he would give us lesser Ace points. Since paper chromatography experiment would be done in either week 3 or 4(based on pratical worksheets), I decided to do this experiment as soon as possible so that I would get more ace points for it. Below is MY Science Ace(Please do not copy!) Again, since I did my Ace in a form of powerpoint, I am unable to display my animations and designs. I am not sure if the video that I uploaded can be played by all web browser too(currently I am using google chrome).
How to carry out a simple paper chromotography experiment?
¡Do the experiment on colours as it would be easier to obtain the materials and do the experiment with equipments that can be found easily (eg. Coffee filter paper, food colourings, cotton buds etc.)
Uses of paper chromotography
¡Investigating crimes-DNA sequencing
¡Scientific studies- Find out certain types of compunds
Scientific studies- Separate any solutionsMaterials
¡4 different coloured food colouring
¡10 pieces of cotton bud
¡4 pieces of filter paper(of equal size)
¡A dish of water that is one quarter full(depends on dish)
¡A dish of water that is one quarter full(depends on dish)
Steps for the experimment
•1)Dip the cotton bud into one bottle of food colouring
•2)With the same cotton bud, put a drop of the food colouring onto the piece of filter paper
•3)Hold the same piece of filter paper right above the dish of water, making sure that thedrop of colouring on the paper does not enter the water but the paper below it does
•4)Wait for a few minutes and notice the changes
•5)Remove the filter paper and leave it to dry
•6)Repeat steps 1 to 5 for each colour
Why does this happen?
¡Because of capillary action(where a liquid rises in a narrow space),the water carried with it the colouring and then on the way up, the colouring gets seperated and we can see the different colours that make up the colouring(this only works for secondary colours and tertiary colours;not primary colours)
Pictures
Red colour
Green colour
Blue colour
Orange colour
Reflection
¡This was the first time I did an experiment on my own without any help. Although my experiment was quite a success, I felt that it could be improved.
¡1) I could have used more secondary colours as the effect woukd have been better as I would be able to see distinctly what colours make up that colour.
¡2) I could have standardize the ink drop so that the experiment would have been more fair.
References and acknowledgements
