We studied radiation and the decomposition of apples. We wanted to find out more about radiation, the type of radiation that is emitted by computers, and how it affects apples. So, for the experiment we bought ten apples of the same kind, in which five was tested by being placed next to a computer, and five was left in a environment with no radiation. The five apples next to the computer counted as five trials, and the five placed in an environment with no radiation was the control group. We continued this over a time period of three weeks, and observed the apples to see if there was any changes in the appearance for examples wrinkles. At first, for one and a half week, the apples next to the computer didn't show any sign of wrinkling. After that, the apples began to wrinkle, although there were bruises and blemishes on the apples we did not see before. The bruises and marks on the apples decomposed faster than the undamaged parts of the apples and quickly turned brown. From there the apples next to the computer gained more wrinkles as time passed. In the end, our hypothesis was correct; the apples next to the computer had more wrinkles than the control group, which had none.
Acknowledgement
In this portion of our essay we would like to take the time to acknowledge the people who helped make our project dream a reality. We would like to thank Angie's mom for supplying the apples and allowing us to conduct our experiments at her house hold. We would also like to commend her amazing photography skills. Also, we appreciate Veronica's mom for letting us stay at her house to do the lab report
Purpose
Graciela, Angie, and Veronica decided to do an entire project based on the idea of radiation. Together they choose this topic because neither one of them knew much about it. They then came up with a plan to place a fresh apple next to something they all considered to be deadly, and this triggered their imagination of endless possibilities. They also wanted to take into consideration the objects that are used daily. Furthermore, the group wanted to try to find out if the amount of radiation included in the devices are dangerous or harmful to humans and fruit.
HIstory(Who studied how radiation is related to fruit?) Marie Curie and her husband (Pierre) discovered the element radium in 1898 (Ronca 2008). Three years earlier in 1895 Willhelm Rontgen discovered x-rays and the phenomenon of radioactivity. Henri Becquerel tried to find where x-rays came from, but instead he found that uranium emitted powerful “rays”. Back in the day many people were anxious to find out about radiation. As a result, many people got injuries from the amount of radiation they were exposed to. Researchers decided to put the hazards in public. In 1903, animal studies proved that x-rays could cause cancer and kill living tissue (Meinhold, Taschner, and Inkret 1995)!
In September 1924, Arthur Mutscheller was the first person to suggest a “tolerance” dose rate for people who worked with radiation, a dose rate that in his sense could be tolerated endlessly (Meinhold, Taschner, and Inkret 1995). This new idea was supposed to help people from the effects radiation had on the human body; and it did. “In 1934, the U.S. Advisory Committee on X-ray and Radium Protection proposed the first formal standard for protecting people from radiation sources” (Meinhold, Taschner, and Inkret 1995). Nowadays, radiation precautions are only for cancer patients who take radiation! If you don't have radiation. but know someone who has cancer and is taking radiation then stay away from them. They have radiation inside their body and that can spread to other people around them.
The only radiation that is related to fruit is irradiation. "Low dose radiation effectively inactivates foodborne pathogens, and reduces patulin (a mycotoxin) and brownness." (Fan, Thayer, Niemira 2004).
Process
Radiation is the main cause of the apples wrinkling. But, what is radiation and how does it work? Radiation isn’t what some people think it is; and there’s more to it than others assume. Radiation ranges from high-frequency radiation to low-frequency radiation, which is called the electromagnetic spectrum (Radiation Exposure, 2013). There are two types of radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation (Howells, 2013). Ionizing radiation is high frequency radiation and is stronger than non-ionizing radiation. It can knock off electrons from an atom or molecule, which makes them unstable (Radiation Exposure, 2013). This is called ionization, and if ionizing radiation passes through a body, it can also cause mutations and damage a cell’s DNA, which therefore might result in cancer (Radiation Basics, 2013). Types of ionizing radiation include gamma rays, x-rays, and high-energy UV rays.
The second type of radiation is non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation is low-frequency radiation that is weaker than ionizing. Non-ionizing radiation does not have enough energy to knock off electrons, and it can only excite atoms, which in turn, can heat them up. It cannot damage cell DNA like ionizing radiation does. Non-ionizing radiation includes microwaves, infrared rays, low-energy UV rays, radio waves, EMFs or electromagnetic field, and visible light (Sanders, 2013). Cell phones, TV screens, and computers emit non-ionizing radiation (Radiation Exposure, 2013).
Heat, humidity, and light affect how quickly an apple will wrinkle or rot and if an apple's skin is exposed, then oxidation will make it rot faster (Causes of Apple Rot, 2013). In normal conditions, apples can stay fresh for over a month. Since computers emit non-ionizing radiation, it makes sense that apples placed near a computer will wrinkle faster than those in normal conditions. Non-ionizing radiation only has enough energy to heat up atoms, and the heat from the computer is what is accelerating the apples’ decomposition. Over time, a wrinkled apple will become raw, decompose, and start to turn darker with a putrid odor. If anyone ever digests an apple that is undergoing these stages, they may have a bad stomachache. A decomposing apple also has the ability to attract bugs, mold, and any other organisms(some are too small to see) that feed off decayed matter. These things, such as mold and bugs, can make humans sick. However, one study involving papayas stated that irradiation was good for the papayas because irradiation slowed ripening, while exposing apples to a computer's non-ionizing radiation accelerated decomposition. (What does this mean for human?)
Applications
Understanding radiation and its harmful effects to humans can be useful with applications. The more knowledge people have about the two types of radiation, the better protected they will be. They will be able to cancel out unnecessary devices that can produce unneeded radiation and have a safer household. Of course there are the household products that emit radiation for example a microwave, but it is not harmful to humans because it only emits non ionizing radiation.
On a serious note, patients who have cancer and need the radiation treatment will understand exactly what they are about to endure and maybe trust the treatment completely and have faith for the light at the end of the tunnel. (interesting- explain this more)
Problem Will apples decay faster when placed next to a computer emitting non-ionizing radiation?
Hypothesis
If the apples are placed next to a computer emitting non-ionizing radiation then the apples will wrinkle or show signs of decay faster.
Variables (switch order)
Independent variable- Radiation (Placement of apples?)
Dependent Variable- Apples next to laptop
Control group (list at least 3)- Buy apples with no severe bruises, apples have to all be the same kind(granny smith), and apples have to come from same market.
Materials
10 Granny Smith apples
Computer(turned on)
Pencil
Notepad
Camera
Procedure
Buy 10 granny smith apples from the same market.
Turn on one computer(the old version)
Place five apples (Trials 1,2,3,4,5) near the computer. (did you label the apples?)
Place five apples(the control group) in a place with no radiation or electronics
Wait at least two weeks and keep careful observations/notes of the apples.
Record findings of the apples in both groups (the trial group and the control group)
amount of time the apples took to wrinkle
amount of wrinkling, ripening, or even decomposition.
Analysis
The apples were observed for a time span of two weeks. From Day 1-Day 11, the apples placed next to the computer did not show any sign of decay, or even one wrinkle. Then, on Day 12, those apples started to wrinkle. The most interesting part was that any bruises or blemishes on the wrinkling apples became noticeably darker than the rest of the apple. The apples placed in a room with no computers had no wrinkles.
Conclusion
Overall, we can conclude that apples do decompose faster when placed next to a computer. Computers produce non-ionizing radiation, which in turn produces heat, and heat accelerates the speed of an apple's decomposition. During this experiment, there might have been some errors. However, we think we can improve on this experiment. If we were to do this experiment next time, we would handle the apples more carefully, because bruises mysteriously appeared on apples in the control group. We would also start earlier with the experiment, because then everything would be easier.
Reflection
(1st person; 1st paragraph-explain what we researched; 2nd paragraph-talk about what happened in lab/experiment
When we started on our research, we focused mostly on radiation, because we knew little about it in the beginning. We learned that there were two types of radiation, called ionizing and non-ionizing. Our sources stated that ionizing was the stronger of the two, and could cause damage to living tissue and cause mutations. Forms of ionizing radiation include x-rays, gamma rays, etc. Non-ionizing radiation is weaker and can only excite atoms, and thus heat them up. Examples of non-ionizing radiation are infrared rays, microwaves, radio waves, etc. We also researched what type of radiation certain devices emitted, like computers, and found out that computers emitted non-ionizing radiation.
During the experiment, we learned that non-ionizing radiation from a computer makes apples rot faster. Like we thought, apples placed next to a computer wrinkled at a faster rate. The control group was left in an environment with no radiation and had accumulated no wrinkles. As the experiment progressed, we noticed that apples from the control group had bruises that could possibly have occured from a few bumps they recieved when being moved.
Glossary
Decomposition- the process of gradually breaking down into it's individual elements.
Electromagnetic spectrum- the range of wavelengths or frequencies over which electromagnetic radiation extends.
Electromagnetic field- EMF, a type of ionizing radiation.
EMF- electromagnetic field, which is a type of ionizing radiation.
Humidity- the amount of water vapor in the air.
Ionizing- a type of high-frequency radiation that unstables atoms and can possibly cause mutations.
Irradiation- exposure to penetrating radiation.
Non-ionizing- a type of low-frequency radiation that has enough energy to excite and heat up atoms.
Oxidation- the chemical combination of a substance with oxygen.
10. Radiation- the emission of energy from a source.
Sanders, E. “Harmful Effects of Radiation From Computers” 1999-2013 Demand
Media, Inc. http://www.ehow.com///
Comments: Need to add intext citations
Rubric for 2e.
Your Points
Total Points
Purpose
4
5
History
4
5
Process
4
5
Future (Current Applications)
4
5
Glossary (10, abc)
5
5
Works Cited
5
5
Total
26
30
Rubric for 2f- deadline extended to 4/30
You will get Tuesday class time (4/30) to make any additional revisions.
Must use 3rd person AND in-text citations for Purpose, History, Process, & Applications paragraphs.
Pts. Earned
Pts. Possible
Abstract (Q1-2)
5
5
Purpose
3
5
History
3.5
5
Process
5
5
Applications (Formerly Future)
4
5
Reflection (about research AND lab)
0
5
Glossary
4
5
Works Cited
4
5
Total
28.5
40
Glad buck from Angie: +10 = 38.5
Rubric for 5-6ab- deadline 5/3
You will get class time (4/30 & 5/2) to make additional revisions to your wikispace page.
Abstract
We studied radiation and the decomposition of apples. We wanted to find out more about radiation, the type of radiation that is emitted by computers, and how it affects apples. So, for the experiment we bought ten apples of the same kind, in which five was tested by being placed next to a computer, and five was left in a environment with no radiation. The five apples next to the computer counted as five trials, and the five placed in an environment with no radiation was the control group. We continued this over a time period of three weeks, and observed the apples to see if there was any changes in the appearance for examples wrinkles. At first, for one and a half week, the apples next to the computer didn't show any sign of wrinkling. After that, the apples began to wrinkle, although there were bruises and blemishes on the apples we did not see before. The bruises and marks on the apples decomposed faster than the undamaged parts of the apples and quickly turned brown. From there the apples next to the computer gained more wrinkles as time passed. In the end, our hypothesis was correct; the apples next to the computer had more wrinkles than the control group, which had none.Acknowledgement
In this portion of our essay we would like to take the time to acknowledge the people who helped make our project dream a reality. We would like to thank Angie's mom for supplying the apples and allowing us to conduct our experiments at her house hold. We would also like to commend her amazing photography skills. Also, we appreciate Veronica's mom for letting us stay at her house to do the lab reportPurpose
Graciela, Angie, and Veronica decided to do an entire project based on the idea of radiation. Together they choose this topic because neither one of them knew much about it. They then came up with a plan to place a fresh apple next to something they all considered to be deadly, and this triggered their imagination of endless possibilities. They also wanted to take into consideration the objects that are used daily. Furthermore, the group wanted to try to find out if the amount of radiation included in the devices are dangerous or harmful to humans and fruit.HIstory (Who studied how radiation is related to fruit?)
Marie Curie and her husband (Pierre) discovered the element radium in 1898 (Ronca 2008). Three years earlier in 1895 Willhelm Rontgen discovered x-rays and the phenomenon of radioactivity. Henri Becquerel tried to find where x-rays came from, but instead he found that uranium emitted powerful “rays”. Back in the day many people were anxious to find out about radiation. As a result, many people got injuries from the amount of radiation they were exposed to. Researchers decided to put the hazards in public. In 1903, animal studies proved that x-rays could cause cancer and kill living tissue (Meinhold, Taschner, and Inkret 1995)!
In September 1924, Arthur Mutscheller was the first person to suggest a “tolerance” dose rate for people who worked with radiation, a dose rate that in his sense could be tolerated endlessly (Meinhold, Taschner, and Inkret 1995). This new idea was supposed to help people from the effects radiation had on the human body; and it did. “In 1934, the U.S. Advisory Committee on X-ray and Radium Protection proposed the first formal standard for protecting people from radiation sources” (Meinhold, Taschner, and Inkret 1995). Nowadays, radiation precautions are only for cancer patients who take radiation! If you don't have radiation. but know someone who has cancer and is taking radiation then stay away from them. They have radiation inside their body and that can spread to other people around them.
The only radiation that is related to fruit is irradiation. "Low dose radiation effectively inactivates foodborne pathogens, and reduces patulin (a mycotoxin) and brownness." (Fan, Thayer, Niemira 2004).
Process
Radiation is the main cause of the apples wrinkling. But, what is radiation and how does it work? Radiation isn’t what some people think it is; and there’s more to it than others assume. Radiation ranges from high-frequency radiation to low-frequency radiation, which is called the electromagnetic spectrum (Radiation Exposure, 2013). There are two types of radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation (Howells, 2013). Ionizing radiation is high frequency radiation and is stronger than non-ionizing radiation. It can knock off electrons from an atom or molecule, which makes them unstable (Radiation Exposure, 2013). This is called ionization, and if ionizing radiation passes through a body, it can also cause mutations and damage a cell’s DNA, which therefore might result in cancer (Radiation Basics, 2013). Types of ionizing radiation include gamma rays, x-rays, and high-energy UV rays.The second type of radiation is non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation is low-frequency radiation that is weaker than ionizing. Non-ionizing radiation does not have enough energy to knock off electrons, and it can only excite atoms, which in turn, can heat them up. It cannot damage cell DNA like ionizing radiation does. Non-ionizing radiation includes microwaves, infrared rays, low-energy UV rays, radio waves, EMFs or electromagnetic field, and visible light (Sanders, 2013). Cell phones, TV screens, and computers emit non-ionizing radiation (Radiation Exposure, 2013).
Heat, humidity, and light affect how quickly an apple will wrinkle or rot and if an apple's skin is exposed, then oxidation will make it rot faster (Causes of Apple Rot, 2013). In normal conditions, apples can stay fresh for over a month. Since computers emit non-ionizing radiation, it makes sense that apples placed near a computer will wrinkle faster than those in normal conditions. Non-ionizing radiation only has enough energy to heat up atoms, and the heat from the computer is what is accelerating the apples’ decomposition. Over time, a wrinkled apple will become raw, decompose, and start to turn darker with a putrid odor. If anyone ever digests an apple that is undergoing these stages, they may have a bad stomachache. A decomposing apple also has the ability to attract bugs, mold, and any other organisms(some are too small to see) that feed off decayed matter. These things, such as mold and bugs, can make humans sick. However, one study involving papayas stated that irradiation was good for the papayas because irradiation slowed ripening, while exposing apples to a computer's non-ionizing radiation accelerated decomposition. (What does this mean for human?)
Applications
Understanding radiation and its harmful effects to humans can be useful with applications. The more knowledge people have about the two types of radiation, the better protected they will be. They will be able to cancel out unnecessary devices that can produce unneeded radiation and have a safer household. Of course there are the household products that emit radiation for example a microwave, but it is not harmful to humans because it only emits non ionizing radiation.
On a serious note, patients who have cancer and need the radiation treatment will understand exactly what they are about to endure and maybe trust the treatment completely and have faith for the light at the end of the tunnel. (interesting- explain this more)
Problem
Will apples decay faster when placed next to a computer emitting non-ionizing radiation?
Hypothesis
If the apples are placed next to a computer emitting non-ionizing radiation then the apples will wrinkle or show signs of decay faster.
Variables (switch order)
Independent variable- Radiation (Placement of apples?)
Dependent Variable- Apples next to laptop
Control group (list at least 3)- Buy apples with no severe bruises, apples have to all be the same kind(granny smith), and apples have to come from same market.
Materials
10 Granny Smith apples
Computer(turned on)
Pencil
Notepad
Camera
Procedure
Analysis
The apples were observed for a time span of two weeks. From Day 1-Day 11, the apples placed next to the computer did not show any sign of decay, or even one wrinkle. Then, on Day 12, those apples started to wrinkle. The most interesting part was that any bruises or blemishes on the wrinkling apples became noticeably darker than the rest of the apple. The apples placed in a room with no computers had no wrinkles.Conclusion
Overall, we can conclude that apples do decompose faster when placed next to a computer. Computers produce non-ionizing radiation, which in turn produces heat, and heat accelerates the speed of an apple's decomposition. During this experiment, there might have been some errors. However, we think we can improve on this experiment. If we were to do this experiment next time, we would handle the apples more carefully, because bruises mysteriously appeared on apples in the control group. We would also start earlier with the experiment, because then everything would be easier.Reflection
(1st person; 1st paragraph-explain what we researched; 2nd paragraph-talk about what happened in lab/experiment
When we started on our research, we focused mostly on radiation, because we knew little about it in the beginning. We learned that there were two types of radiation, called ionizing and non-ionizing. Our sources stated that ionizing was the stronger of the two, and could cause damage to living tissue and cause mutations. Forms of ionizing radiation include x-rays, gamma rays, etc. Non-ionizing radiation is weaker and can only excite atoms, and thus heat them up. Examples of non-ionizing radiation are infrared rays, microwaves, radio waves, etc. We also researched what type of radiation certain devices emitted, like computers, and found out that computers emitted non-ionizing radiation.During the experiment, we learned that non-ionizing radiation from a computer makes apples rot faster. Like we thought, apples placed next to a computer wrinkled at a faster rate. The control group was left in an environment with no radiation and had accumulated no wrinkles. As the experiment progressed, we noticed that apples from the control group had bruises that could possibly have occured from a few bumps they recieved when being moved.
Glossary
- Decomposition- the process of gradually breaking down into it's individual elements.
- Electromagnetic spectrum- the range of wavelengths or frequencies over which electromagnetic radiation extends.
- Electromagnetic field- EMF, a type of ionizing radiation.
- EMF- electromagnetic field, which is a type of ionizing radiation.
- Humidity- the amount of water vapor in the air.
- Ionizing- a type of high-frequency radiation that unstables atoms and can possibly cause mutations.
- Irradiation- exposure to penetrating radiation.
- Non-ionizing- a type of low-frequency radiation that has enough energy to excite and heat up atoms.
- Oxidation- the chemical combination of a substance with oxygen.
10. Radiation- the emission of energy from a source.Works Cited
Meinhold, C., Taschner, J., and Inkret, W. "A Brief History of Radiation." 1995.
https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http:www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/00326631.pdf&chrome=true
Niemira, B., Fan, X., Thayer, D. "Low-dose Ionizing Radiation of Fruit Juices: Benefits and Concerns."
2 January 2004. Pubs.acs.org. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2004-0875.ch009
No Author. “Basics of Radiation” Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
http://orise.orau.gov/reacts/guide/define.htm
No Author. “Radiation Exposure and Cancer” 29, March 2010. American Cancer
Society, Inc. http://www.cancer.org/
No Author. “What Causes an Apple to Rot?” 1999-2013 Demand Media, Inc.
http://www.ehow.com/
Ronca, P. "How Radiation Works." 2011. HowStuffworks.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/radiation.htm
Sanders, E. “Harmful Effects of Radiation From Computers” 1999-2013 Demand
Media, Inc. http://www.ehow.com///
Comments:
Need to add intext citations
Rubric for 2e.
Rubric for 2f- deadline extended to 4/30
You will get Tuesday class time (4/30) to make any additional revisions.
Must use 3rd person AND in-text citations for Purpose, History, Process, & Applications paragraphs.
Rubric for 5-6ab- deadline 5/3
You will get class time (4/30 & 5/2) to make additional revisions to your wikispace page.