Posted in Project Ideas on Apr 2nd, 2013 Comments Off
In order for humans to survive our bodies must supply our tissues with oxygen and simultaneously remove carbon dioxide. Compare oxygen and carbon dioxide transfer rates in tissues and vascular components within the human body. How or would these rates differ in a athlete and a smoker? Theory Derivative as an instantaneous rate of change [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Mar 15th, 2013 Comments Off
What is the rate of change in the area of habitat, number of endangered species, biomass, etc. over an interval? Theory Derivative as instantaneous rate of change (Neuhauser, Claudia. Calculus for Biology and Medicine. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 95) References
Posted in Project Ideas on Mar 1st, 2013 Comments Off
One of the most frequent uses of radiocarbon dating is to estimate the age of organic remains from archaeological sites. When plants fix atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic material during photosynthesis they incorporate a quantity of 14C that approximately matches the level of this isotope in the atmosphere (a small difference occurs because of [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Feb 4th, 2013 Comments Off
As nuclear power is once again considered as an alternative energy source, it is important to know the decay rate of all of the radioactive materials involved. In a typical Uranium-235 fission event, a U-235 nucleus absorbs a thermal neutron, producing a compound nucleus U-236 in a highly excited state. It is this nucleus, not [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Feb 1st, 2013 Comments Off
As urban sprawl continues the amount of contiguous habitat for many organisms is decreased and with it the availability of resources. Compare the change in population size over time for organisms that have access to unlimited resources and space (pre-urbanization) to those that have reduced access to both space and resources (post-urbanization). Theory Exponential population [...]