Saturday, October 28, 2006

My Simplification of Fundamental Particles :D

Elizabeth’s Simplification of Subatomic Particles!!!!!

Okay, it’s time to get this stuff straight. If I weren’t on academic team…you can be SURE that subatomic particles would be relatively low on my “gotta know” list. But..NAQT puts them rather high on theirs..so WE GOTTA KNOW IT!!!!!!

Understanding this isn’t TOO hard. JUST BELIEVE :P

First these have to be laid down.

FERMIONS & BOSONS!!!

Fermions: You have to know that fermions are particles that have a ½ integral spin (spin = instrinsic angular momentum). So, a particle made up of an odd number of Fermions is a fermion. It has a ½ integral spin.

Bosons: Bosons, however, have an integer spin. So…an EVEN number of Fermions is a Boson…

There are lots of reasons for making this distinction in spin and it has to do with a painful amount of math that is NOT necessary for getting questions. (I’m not sure what it’s actually necessary for).

Next..

Quarks and Leptons!!

Both quarks and leptons are fermions (that means they both have a ½ integral spin).

This also means that all bosons are made from an even number of quarks or leptons.

Quarks: These particles come in six “flavors”. Worry about the “flavors” later. (at the end of this break down I’ll list the flavors and charges. For now just know, Quarks make up Hadrons!!! Hadrons are made of quarks…

What are Hadrons made of?.....if you didn’t say quarks, slap yourself. Quarks experience STRONG interactions. There are four types of physical interactions: gravity, electromagnetism, weak interaction, and strong interaction. Quarks experience all four.

Leptons: Leptons, however, only experience weak interaction. They too have six flavors. I’ll get into those later.

Okay now…Hadrons, Baryons (not bosons don’t get them confused), and Mesons.

To understand Hadrons, Baryons, and Mesons, it’s necessary to go back to Quarks.

Hadrons: This is the name given to the particles that quarks make up. Quarks always exist in a hadron compisition. If there’s a quark there’s a Hadron, because Quarks rarely exist alone.

Now..Hadrons are divided into two types, a fermion and boson type.

Baryons: These are hadrons that are fermions. THREE FERMIONS make a baryon. Neutrons and Protons are baryons. This means they have ½ intergral spin :D remember?

Mesons: These are hadrons that are bosons. This means they have an integer spin.

Now to flavors and charges.

Quarks have six flavors as I mentioned before. Up, down, charm, strange, top (sometimes, "truth"), and bottom (sometimes, "beauty"). Up and down are easy to remember. The others you can group like this (Truth is stranger than fiction) for top and strange… and (Charm and Beauty) just seem for fit together…for top and charm. So there’s the six. UDTSCB.

Quarks have two different charges.

CUT flavor (charm, up, top) have a positive 2/3 charge. (positive = good = truth )

DSB flavor (down, strange, bottom) have a -1/3 charge. (negative = down + strange)

Leptons have six flavors too. Don’t get confused and buzz right after they say “six flavors” because it could be either quarks or leptons. Three of the flavors are the electron, the muon, and the tau.Each flavor is composed of a "weak doublet," which is an electron, a muon, or a tau linked with a virtually massless neutrino (neutrino: virtually massless neutral particle) An electron lepton, therefore would be a “weak doublet” of electron and a neutrino (an electron neutrino)

***Electrons are Leptons!!! Leptons are also Fermions. Electrons have a ½ integral spin!!

Alrighty, there you have the basics :D
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This study guide was originally intended for academic teamers. But...if you've just stumbled across this GO AHEAD AND LEARN SOMETHING XDD

Friday, September 22, 2006

Fishg

So....what'cha doing?
I bet I know!!!! f
Yeah...
So.........bbb
Did you have an accident?
Hmm?
Tjaden?
XDD
uhhh.....Tahjahden
Teenjbggbden
Okay
! BYE!!
Eat mur vf Catholics!!!hggughj
*This Pope is part of a balanced bgtreakfast!!*
doot!

Sboobles

I was going through the internet. (As is the norm) And I found NO SBOOBLES!!!
So..I'm posting the sboobles.
Official christening of completeness for the internet!!!
It now contains sboobles!!!!
Yay sboobs! And bles!!
And especially sboobles!!!!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

A-Team Chronicles: FISH

So, Academic Team is fun. It sure is. Okay, stop looking at me like that, it is! Despite the studying intensely and the scheduling/time management problems, A-team is a very exciting and fulfilling activity. I'm so much more culturally literate now than a few years ago (pre-Ateam). However, despite how fun practices can be, there are people that don't dedicate their time and energies to the program. That's all fine and dandy. We're not a cult that requests ownership of your soul. But, our coach, Our Beloved Hauck. The Hauckinator himself is not a "oh well, let's just see how it goes, don't worry too much about it" kind of guy. He's more of a "WHAT?! We still can't get Pragmatism off William JAMES!! People, COME ON!!" (only not at all mean, more constructive than anything else). He makes us strive for greatness, just as he strives for greatness. So,...he decided to inspire us with a little anecdote about FISH.
Okay, what is fish?
Fish is a way of life. (stop the funny looks!!!). He read a book called "Fish Sticks." In that book it talks about one of the nation's best nursing units. The nursing unit had once been less than the best and they decided to change it by getting rid of negativity and encouraging a good environment in the workplace. Soon, everyone was striving to give their all to this great place that they played a role in. They were the best in the nation and everyone wanted to work there and work like that. Then, there was something about this super-waiter at a Sushi restaurant who went out of his way for his clients to be as comfortable and attended to as possible. He went out of his way. HE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY. He did more than the minimum required of him.
So, what does this mean for an A-teamer? What does it mean for a coach?
Well, basically, for me it means: Come to practice with a smile, study with friends, study on notecards, make little mnemonics. It means, sign up for every tournament and SHOW UP. It means being a great leader. It means being a great player and friend to my teammates.
For the coach it means, making practices fun and enjoyable. It means finding alternative methods of making things stick (ie, instead of reading lists, go see a play)

Anywho, the whole FISH concept makes me happy. I actually jump around a little (on the inside of course) when practice is coming up. We get little prizes and whatnot. We have a great time. I love A-team. It's not for everyone, but, it's definitely for me.

I'll blog again soon :D :D :D (practice tomorrow) :D :D :D :D :D