Freezing

Yes it has been freezing up here in Rexburg. With the freezing temperatures come a lot of things. You have the bad and the good. This post is just to show you one of the good things that comes from freezing temperatures. So the good that come from freezing temperatures is beauty. On Saturday I had to work earlier than I usually do, 9:30 am is when I had to be there. So I walk out from our apartment to find that it was really foggy out. I know you are saying that fog is not beautiful. Well, before you go to far just remember that it is really cold here and that fog is a cold with lots of water in it. We were getting freezing fog that day. Here are some of the pictures that Steph and I took after I got back from work.

 

Looking up a tree into the ice crystal covered branches

 

Ice crystals growing off the branches of trees.

 

 

More crystals on this tree.

 

 

Steph while we were walking (I didn't get permission from her.... ...bad idea?)

 

 

We really liked the deciduous trees.

 

Well, I hoped you liked that pictures. I think that it is best to see it is person.



 



James Bond

I want to tell you all that I love the James Bond movies, some better than others. However, I have noticed that James Bond has a few gadgets that are physically impossible to work. I am sure that some of you know which ones I am talking about.

The first one that I am going to talk about is the belt grappling hook from "Golden Eye." The reason why I say that this could never work is because of a few reasons. The first one is that there is no way to get enough energy from the belt to shoot the buckle as far as it does. You say what about an explosive. Well, it would work, but it would also blow off his hand when he launches it. Air pressure or any other kind of pressure wouldn't work either. This is because there would be no place or room to hold that much pressure.

The second one comes from "Golden Eye" as well. It is his watch that has a laser on it. I am not saying that a watch can't have a laser, but not one that is as powerful as his. He is able to burn through the floor of a train with it. At least right now I can say that isn't possible to fit a laser that powerful in a watch, but who knows about the future.

The third one is the flying car. It was in the movie "Man With the Golden Gun." The reason why this car is impossible is because of how the wings are connected to the car. The force that is required to lift that car and get it to fly would just shear the bolts, and then the wings would come off.

I think that is it for now about the impossible toys that James Bond has. I hope you had fun. 

Salt vs Sand

Okay it is now that season where we need to melt the ice on the sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, and other places. Everybody has their opinion on what to use to melt the ice. Our two contenders; weighing in at about 58.4 g/mol and in white is salt; weighing in at about 60 g/mol in brown is sand.

So the question is which of these two is going to come out at the top? Let the fight begin.

Salt

Salt is very strong is it likes to remove the ice completely from the fight. It does this by lowering the freezing temperature of the ice from 32 F/ 0 C to 0 F/ -18 C. This happens because the atomic structure of water with the salt requires a lower temperature to reach the point of wanting to get close together. Salt's strength is also its weakness. Because it lowers the freezing temp. it must get the job done before it gets too cold. Salt also like to destroy other things in the ring besides ice. It isn't the biggest friend to steal or concrete. Most industries that use steal and concrete have found ways to prevent this damage.

Sand

Sand like to man handle his opponents. He likes to put more friction on the ice. This allows the cars to drive on it and not slip, even in very cold weather. Unlike salt though, sand freeze to the ice if it gets wet or another layer of ice gets on top of it. In places of high traffic sand also is easily removed from the salt. Sand does not cause damage to other things beside maybe crops and to clean up crews.

Outcome

It is a tie everybody. They both do a great job against the ice. They do the job in their own way, and they make a great team when in needs to be done. So the choice is yours of which you want to use. Sand is dirty and it just allows friction on the ice as long it is on the surface. Salt melts the ice as long as it is not too cold.