Investigating the effect of different liquid densities on the time taken to release 25 ml of alcohols Essay Example for Free

Investigating the effect of different liquid densities on the time taken to release 25 ml of alcohols Essay * Research question: * Does the change in liquid densities at the same temperature affect the time taken to release 25 ml of the alcohol from a 50 ml burette? * Variables: * Independent variable: The liquid density / g ml-1. * Dependent variable: The time taken to release 25 ml of the alcohol from a burette / s. * Controlled variables: * The volume of alcohol in a burette / ml. * The temperature of the alcohols / oC. * The absence of unnecessary substances or ions. * The same burette for the entire experiment. * Prediction: * The time taken to release 25 ml of the alcohol from a 50 ml burette is, stated by F. Weinberg (1984) [1], dependent on flow velocity and in particular are very sensitive to small changes in the density difference between the two liquids. * My prediction is, the higher the liquid density is, the more time taken for 25 ml of the alcohol to be released from the burette. The time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol increases in order: Methanol, Ethanol, Propan-1-ol, Butan-1-ol and Octan-1-ol. * Method: * Apparatus: * 50 ml burette (Uncertainty: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.500 ml). * Retort stand. * 125 ml ethanol C2H5OH 95.0%. * 125 ml methanol CH3OH 99.5%. * 125 ml propan-1-ol CH3(CH2)2OH 98%. * 125 ml butan-1-ol CH3(CH2)3OH 99%. * 125 ml octan-1-ol CH3(CH2)7OH 94%. * Thermometer (Uncertainty: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0500 oC). * 5 x funnels. * 50 ml conical flask. * Casio stop watch (Uncertainty: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 seconds). * Distilled water. * Risk assessment: * The procedure uses poisonous alcohols. Notably, suggested by Department of Chemistry Imperial College London (2006) [2], less than 2 teaspoons (2 ml) of methanol can cause blindness, and 2 table spoons (30 ml) can cause death. This toxicity is mainly due to it being converted in the body to formic acid and formaldehyde, which first attack the cells in the retina, then the other vital organs. Plus, propan-1-ol is used as a common solvent and cleaning agent in chemistry laboratories. Also, because it evaporates rapidly, IPA is widely used in astringents to cool the skin and constrict surface blood vessels. * Goggles and lab coat are therefore needed to be worn throughout the experiment. * Procedures: 1. Close the tap and run some distilled water into the top of the burette, then swish the burette up and down to let the water clean all the inside of the burette. Open the tap, let the water drain out. 2. Attach the burette to the retort stand and take care that the burette is upright and stable. 3. Close the tap and use the funnel to put 25 ml of ethanol into the burette. 4. Remove the funnel, make sure that there is no air bubble inside the burette. Measure the temperature of ethanol by the thermometer. 5. Put the conical flask under the burette, adjust the height of the burette so that the tip of the burette is just above the lip of the conical flask. 6. Open the tap and immediately start the stop watch. 7. Stop the watch when 25 ml of ethanol is fully released from the burette. 8. Continue to open the tap and collect the remained ethanol in the burette. 9. Repeat step 1 to 8 four more times. 10. Then change ethanol with methanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and octan-1-ol. Experiment step 1 9 with each alcohol. * Range and repetitions of experiment: * There are 5 different ranges (The lowest value: 0.789 g ml-1 the highest value: 0.826 g ml-1, Please refer to Data Collection and Processing - Processed data). * The initial procedure is repeated 5 times and thus 25 results are recorded. * Control of variables: * The volume of each alcohol sample remains constant for every test at 25 ml. Different volumes of the alcohol sample may cause inaccuracies in terms of measuring the time taken to release. For instance, larger volume of the same alcohol sample certainly takes longer time to be released. * The temperature of each alcohol sample need to remain constant for every test at 20 oC (293 K). The analysis, written by Weirauch, D. A., Jr. (1998, December) [3], of the high-temperature spreading kinetics for liquids affecting density shows that they can be modified with a constant shift factor. Therefore, higher temperature of the same alcohol sample may reduce the time taken for the alcohol to be released. * The burettes and funnels are rinsed carefully with distilled water prior to the experiment to ensure that inside the burettes do not contain any unnecessary substances/ions. If present, they may react with the alcohols to form products which have different liquid density, as opposed to original liquid densities of the alcohols at 20 oC (293 K). * The same burette is used for every measurement. This is because burettes from the same manufacturer cannot be guaranteed to have the same radius of the tips (possessing relatively small values). The use of different burettes can result differences in the time taken for the alcohol to be released. DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING * Raw data table: Alcohols Dependent independent variables Ethanol Methanol Propan-1-ol Butan-1-ol Octan-1-ol Liquid density / g ml-1 at 20 oC (293 K) [4] 0.789 0.791 0.804 0.810 0.826 1st repetition: Time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 39.0 43.0 67.0 82.0 112 2nd repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 41.0 44.0 69.0 81.0 115 3rd repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 38.0 46.0 70.0 83.0 111 4th repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 39.0 42.0 71.0 80.0 114 5th repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 40.0 45.0 70.0 79.0 110. Table 2.1 shows the collected raw data table. * Processed data: * Calculating the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette: * Mean time taken / s = (1st + 2nd + 3rd + 4th + 5th trial data) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 5. Alcohols Dependent independent variables Ethanol Methanol Propan-1-ol Butan-1-ol Octan-1-ol Liquid density / g ml-1 at 20 oC (293K). 0.789 0.791 0.804 0.810 0.826 The mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette / à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 seconds 39.4 44.0 69.4 81.0 112 Table 2.2 shows the processed mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette. * Presentation of processed data: Graph 2.1 shows the relationship between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of each alcohol from a burette. * Treatment of uncertainties: * I try to read off carefully volume of the burette from the bottom of the meniscus with my eye level at the meniscus in order to make sure that the volume of each alcohol sample used is only 25 ml. CONCLUSION AND EVALUATION * Graph analysis: * According to the presented graph of the mean time taken to release 25 ml of different alcohols, there is a very strong positive correlation between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette as a very good line of best fit can be observed. (Please refer to Data Collection and Processing - Presentation of processed data - Image 2.1). * Conclusion: * The results demonstrate that, the higher the liquid density is, the longer time taken for 25 ml of the alcohol to be released from the burette. * The conclusion totally agrees with my hypothesis. * Evaluation of procedures: * Strengths: * Safety in the laboratory is highly maintained (by wearing goggles, lab coat and being careful with glass apparatus to avoid any poisonous alcohols that may splash). * Standard ranges and repetitions are met, a very strong positive correlation between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette is observed. * Quantitative investigation, with repeats strongly supporting each other, successfully proves that the expectations based on scientific knowledge are totally correct. * Weaknesses: * Several inevitable uncertainties occur throughout the whole experiment which may account for inaccuracies in the collected data. * The concentrations of the alcohols vary from 94.0 % to 99.5 %. The differences in concentration of each alcohol affect the reliability of the data, since 25 ml of pure alcohols (or 5 alcohols with the same concentration) may take different time to be released from the burette. * Although there is a very strong positive correlation between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette, the independent variables (liquid density) do not increase constantly due to the limited number of available alcohols (Please refer to Data Collection and Processing - Presentation of processed data - Image 2.1). * The entire procedures, although are simple, take a long time to finish because of the 50 ml burette need to take at least 3 times to add 5 alcohol samples (5 repetitions for each alcohol), 25 ml each. Overall there are 15 times to add 25 alcohol samples since I decide to investigate 5 different alcohols. The more time I need to add more alcohols into the burette, the more likely inaccuracies to occur. * Improving the investigation: * The procedures can be partially replaced by computer data logging suggested by Laurence Rogers (1995) [5] to prevent uncertainties from human errors when stopping the watch. The experiment can be programmed to collect the data (Time taken for 25 ml of the alcohol to be released from the burette) automatically. * More alcohols with liquid densities within the ranges (The lowest value: 0.789 g ml-1 the highest value: 0.826 g ml-1) can be tested to fill the 2 gaps between methanol and propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and octan-1-ol in the presented graph. For instance, penta-1-ol has the liquid density of 0.815 g ml-1 at 20 oC (293 K) [6]. * Pure alcohols should be bought in the same concentration to ensure the reliability of the collected data. Otherwise, diluting the alcohols to the same concentration can be less expensive, yet time consuming. * A larger burette, for instance, with measuring volume of 75 ml (only 2 times to add 5 alcohol samples, 25 ml each) will reduce the times need to pour more alcohols into the burette to 10. Not only this change in equipment may save time of experimenting, but also minimise the uncertainties. Bibliography [1] Weinberg, F. (1984, December). Fluid flow from a low to a higher density liquid. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, 15(4), 681. Abstract retrieved March 8, 2009, from Springer Link. Web site: http://www.springerlink.com/content/n84726w432072592/ [2] Department of Chemistry. (2006, August 25). Biological effects of Methanol and Larger Alcohols. In Ethanol. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Imperial College London. Web site: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/mim/environmental/html/ethanol_text.htm [3] Weirauch, D. A., Jr. (1998, December). Predicting the spreading kinetics of high-temperature liquids on solid surfaces (Vol. 12). Alcoa Technical Center. Retrieved March 8, 2009. doi:10.1557/JMR.1998.0478 [4] Process Calculator. (2009). SG. In Liquid Density. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Radix Business Models Pvt Ltd. Web site: http://www.processcalculator.com/Liquid_Density.aspx [5] Rogers, L. (1995, May). Sensors and The Data-Logger. In Hardware and software. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from School of Education, University of Leicester Web site: http://www.le.ac.uk/se/lto/logging/test1.html [6] Process Calculator. (2009). SG. In Liquid Density. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Radix Business Models Pvt Ltd. Web site: http://www.processcalculator.com/Liquid_Density.aspx

Doubt Is The Key To Knowledge Discuss.

Doubt Is The Key To Knowledge Discuss. People created proverbs and used to apply them when experiences similar to the one which resulted in the construction of the proverb reoccurred. The Persians had one of the most famous proverbs that are still used in our time; they used to say doubt is the key to knowledge, but to what extent is this phrase true? Through the areas and ways of knowledge, this proverb will be further studied to determine to which extent it is true. In this essay, I will be using the natural sciences and religion as areas of knowledge and linking them to the ways of knowledge; perception and reason or logic. Doubt is one of the earliest ways the human beings started gaining knowledge from the world around them. It is known that doubt is when a person starts questioning a subject that confused him or has been on his mind for a time. It is then that this person starts asking questions in order to gain further knowledge about the subject he wishes to acquire. We can generally say that doubt is the origin of obtaining knowledge as human beings started questioning the world and everything in it; they were able to get the answers they wanted and increased their knowledge. The world famous French philosopher, writer, physicist and mathematician Renà © Descartes believed that doubt could never be the key to knowledge and information from the world. He was considered one of the first thinkers ever to introduce philosophy to natural sciences. Descartes believed that one can gain truth without doubt; he introduced his method called methodological skepticism in which he rejects any ideas that can b e doubted, then reestablishes them so that he can get genuine knowledge from these ideas. One of Descartes books is one called Meditations on First Philosophy. The book has six meditations in it in which Descartes banishes any belief that contains, even if in small quantities, any kind of uncertainty, but then reestablishes the things that are known for sure. Each one of the six meditations were written as if in one day Descartes speculated and came up with the meditation; so the book was authored as if he meditated for six days and developed his meditations. Three of Descartes meditations are discussed. His first meditation is called Meditation I: Concerning Those Things That Can Be Called into Doubt. In this meditation, Descartes remembers that he was once deceived by his senses and since that happened before, it can happen again. So he tells himself, if I am being deceived, then my beliefs are treacherous and uncertain. The second meditation called Meditation II: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That It Is Better Known Than the Body is an acknowledgment to the first meditation. Descartes believed that since he is a thinking thing, then he must exist. Since he is a thing that can deceived and have thoughts and beliefs, he must exist. His third meditation Meditation III: Concerning God, That He Exists argues that God is present and he rejects the idea of God being invented. He proposed three types of ideas; Innate, Factitious and Adventitious. The innate ideas are the ones that are and always have been with us, whereas factitious ideas are from our imagination and lastly the adventitious ones come from our experiences from the world. Descartes believed that God is an innate idea and that he is not improvised. That was Descartes beliefs when it comes to doubt, as he does not believe that doubt is the key knowledge. Let us discuss the natural sciences at first. Ever since the break of dawn, the human being has been trying to know the truth about his origins and the world around him; have we truly evolved from apes or were we simply created by God? These questions have always been present in the humans mind and this is the reason behind his doubt concerning this topic. This issue has raised many conflicts among people, but most importantly, created the Darwin theory of evolution. Darwin believed that all living organisms evolved from much simpler single-celled organisms. His doubt in the belief that God created us from nothing made him seek after the answers he wanted to get. He did not believe in what he was told and sought after the truth after questioning this topic, evidently coming up with his widely accepted theory from different people all over the world. One too many facts from the sciences such as physics and biology were found based on doubt. Take the Arabic Muslim optical scientist, Ibn Al-Haitham. The people who lived in his era thought that the eye itself emitted light rays and causing our sight. Ibn Al-Haitham, on the other hand, did not believe in what these people used to say and doubted this fact, and so he started his own experiments to prove them wrong, and he was able to show that light was reflected off surfaces and became incident on the eye resulting in our sight. People use the logic they have to reason with the things that go around them. And through the logic, they are able to realize that some things do not add up; and this leads them to questioning and trying to find answers if they are unsatisfied with the results in front of them. Through their journey of seeking the answers, these people can find them only by observing or experimenting and then find logical answers. Human beings find answers when in doubt by experimenting and when the results show up they use reason and logic to interpret them, leading them to knowledge based on doubt. However, a different area of knowledge that can be studied to show to what extent the doubt is the key to knowledge statement is true is religion. Let us take the religion for instance. Not all the people of the world believe in religion, but why is that? Why have the non-believers become what they are now? This is all because we, as human beings, doubt the things around us. We are curious beings and want to know more of everything. As time progresses, people doubt what had been told to them by God. Some do not believe that he created Adam and Eve and rather wanted to accept the evolution theories as true such as Darwins. Others do not believe that there is a judgment day, and therefore wish to explain what is happening to our world nowadays from a scientific point of view. As for religion itself, talking about Christianity for example, doubt is not an option. You either believe in God or you do not. It is said in the Holy Bible that Blessed are those who did not see and believe. Through this, it is like God is telling us that there is no need for doubt, and that we only have to follow what our hearts tell us and how our soul guides into believing that there is a God even though we cannot see him. Religion is telling us that doubt has no place in Gods will and he is our source of knowledge on him not doubt. He is the one who will explain everything to believers and guide them through their lives and provide them with answers when they need them; therefore he is a persons supply of knowledge and that person should gain it without having to doubt what God says. All in all, the statement doubt is the key to knowledge is true to an extent as proven earlier by the areas and ways of knowledge. But it is to a certain extent true, not fully true because other areas of knowledge such as the ethics contradict what the Persian proverb says. Doubt can reveal the response of unanswered questions, but on other times, it can blind us from seeing the truth. Word count: 1315 words

Pizza: A Brief Historical Overview and American Culture Essay

2005 will mark the 100-year anniversary of the first pizzeria in America. Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, which is about 350 slices per second. According to an American Dairy Association random sampling survey, pizza is America’s fourth most craved food behind cheese, chocolate, and ice cream. American’s obviously love pizza; we have even designated the month of October as National Pizza Month. But whether you bake your pizza in your kitchen oven, in a wood-burning stove, eat it in a restaurant, or choose delivery, there is no denying this phenomenon has become as American as apple pie. Although we love our modern-day version pizza pie, where did it all begin? In my research, I found several opinions of the origin, but there is a consensus that this baked goodness is over one thousand years old. Ed Behr of Art of Eating newsletter states, â€Å"The written record of the word pizza, in the sense of foccacia, goes back to the Codex Cajetanus of the year 997.† And there is speculation that even Plato spoke of pizza in his Republic: â€Å"They will provide from their barley and flour from their wheat and kneading and cook these†¦ they (the cakes) will also have relishes – salt†¦ and of olives and cheese; and onions and greens.† Although this is probably not the case, it is interesting to imagine one of our great minds of history philosophizing about something so miniscule. Behr continues to suggest that â€Å"pizza is an alternation of the Greek word pitta, which was int...

Graduation Speech: Give as You Have Never Received. :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

As we look back on our past we inevitably lose sight of our future, yet as we gaze into the future it seems so difficult to enjoy the present. Some say that we should live for the moment but they're so commonly the ones always whining about the unforeseen. Other say to live for a purpose, they seem inevitably to mean that you should neglect what's truly important in life in the name of money, power and fame. Uncle Sam says to live for your country, but that seems so commonly synonymous with dying for it, and if you do, you are a hero in my eyes. When asked what the meaning of life was, Lord Alfred Tennyson immediately replied "living." When someone asks you, what will you say? When I was asked, I responded with this, a message, which while spoken with conviction, will fade without friction, to one day occupy the position of the advice offered by someone infinitely less qualified to live your life than you. This is neither the end nor the beginning. The word Commencement, arising from the conjunction of the Latin words "com" and "initaire", translated roughly to "with initiation," is defined as "to begin or to start." But indeed you've already started. Upon enrolling in Jacobs Community, I joined the rowing team. Every day I woke up at 4:15 in the morning. Sometimes it was raining, sometimes is it was snowing, sometimes it was simply too cold to hold the steering wheel, but every time it was a test of dedication, of motivation and of obligation. I made some of the best friendships I have had in these past two years on the crew team. I shared some of the most rewarding moments of my life with my teammates. Did you take time the time to join a club while at Jacobs? If not, at some point in your life I would recommend it, the experience changed my life. Every Wednesday, a retired thirty-year-old deep-sea diver, one of the many amazing people I have met at EvCC and a fine teammate in rowing, would force me to run a few miles along the paths by Langus Park after crew practice. Along the side of the trial were mile markers, not ostentatious nor neglected, merely displayed clearly as to show one how far he or she had gone... they never told us how much further we had to go.

SPORT Essay -- essays research papers

Professional Athletes Salaries: Are they paid too much? What should athletes deserve to be paid? Many players have risen to stardom by becoming a professional athlete. Athletes have come from many different backgrounds; some from wealthy and some from poverty raised backgrounds. Salaries are continuing to rise, and money doesn’t seem to be an issue. Athletes are getting what they want from the owners by negotiating through their agents. Athletes’ salaries aren’t just from their owners, but they come from other sources also. Athletes get paid an enormously high salary for the work they do. Really all they do is entertain us. We should consider the value of their work and pay them accordingly. They do not deserve the extreme amount they get paid and something should be done about it. Wouldn't it be great to make twenty million dollars a year and an additional ninety million dollars in endorsements simply to play a game that you are supposed to love to play? Lebron James, who has no college degree and hasn’t worked a day in his life, along with many other professional athletes thinks so. Lebron makes close to 100 million a year and probably will soon make much more. Yes, he is one of the best basketball players in the world, but paying somebody that much money for a game is ridiculous. All he had to do was just put a little round ball in a hoop. He didn’t save nobody’s life or make something that would benefit society. He entertained us for eighty two games and now has more money than he can spend. In today's society, one is supposed to be paid more if their job is more economically important. Doctors make more than factory workers; teachers make more than people who work at Wendy’s and so on. Still, professional athletes make more than what a teacher makes. Some professional athletes will make more money in one year than a teacher will make if he/she teaches all of their life. Is entertaining people more important than teaching them? The future of our society relies on the education of its youth and still teachers are paid less than these professional athletes. Even President Bush gets paid less than what most professional athletes are making. Here is a guy who makes decisions that affects everybody in our society everyday and we are saying entertainment is more important because we pay these athletes more. These games are supposed to be played for fun, not... ...plays a sport that they say they love is getting paid ten times as much as a doctor, police officer, or a fire fighter. Police officers and fire fighters protect our lives and save them, but they do not get close to the amount of money a player who plays professional sports. I am not just talking about the superstars in professional sports, but also about the players who never get to play and just sit on the bench. They still get hundred of thousands a dollars a year. I know to make it to the professional ranks in any sport is very difficult and these athletes train all of the time, but so do other professions. In other professions it might not be as physically demanding as sports, but they still have to train and stay on top of their game. I really find it hard to believe that in our society, we value entertainment more than almost anything else. There are people right now in this world dying because they do not have enough money to eat and we give athletes more money than they can spend because they are good at their sport. Professional athletes are extremely good at what they do, but do they really deserve millions of dollars because they can throw, kick, hit, or shoot a ball.

Mad Shadows and the Scarlet Letter

In the novel Mad Shadows by Marie-Claire Blais and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, isolation was used as a major theme to sculpt and reveal the characters true identity. The behaviour of each central character towards isolation crafted their fates. The Scarlet Letter portrays the psychological effects of alienation on the characters. Mad shadows illustrates an unprincipled world where beauty is skin only deep and love is measured by material possessions. The main character in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, committed adultery with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester was outcast by the puritan community that deemed her a presence of evil. Hester refused to reveal the other adulterer. In doing so, Arthur Dimmesdales quietly suffered until he finally completed penance. Roger Chillingsworth whom Hester was lawfully wed to, swore to reveal her lover thus poisoning his soul with revenge. Hester wore a scarlet letter A_ _as punishment, estranging her from her community. This was to remind her and everyone of her sinful deed. She had no communication with the rest of the world either than her trips to receive and deliver embroidery orders. Hester lived in a cottage remote from the sphere of society. The dark forest provided Hester with private surroundings in which she may search for truth and escape the glare of her community, although dejected. The consequence of her pure and innate impulse had to be taken on with humiliation in exile. Arthur Dimmesdale imposed desolation upon himself. Dimmesdale was incapable and reluctant to openly make public his sin. He therefore continued to be troubled by his own shame and as a result felt inner isolation from the community. His secret also forbade him from being with Hester and his daughter, separating him from his family. Dimmesdale saw himself as an immoral person. He reprimanded himself with neglect and hunger. When Dimmesdale finally frees himself from guilt and shame by confessing to the public, he yields to illness and dies. Roger Chillingworth undergoes a masked and vague form of estrangement and seclusion. He is physically divorced from Hester and feared by the townspeople, who believed that he was evil. Chillingworth, obsessed with seeking Hester’s secret lover, became mentally detached from himself. He gradually loses his self to the devil. Impiety causes Chillingworth to ultimately withdraw from his prior self. He lived secluded in a world which he believed only holds bitterness and anger. The central characters in The Scarlet Letter manipulated and contributed to the theme of isolation through their personalities. They were secluded from one another, themselves and their community. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth endured differtent types of alienation and isolation and to various degrees. Hester is segregated from society. Dimmesdale felt alone due to the secrecy of his sin. Chillingworth surrendered himself to evil and gradually withers away. Mad Shadows focuses on a family that live in a corrupt perception of true beauty and love. Louise, who only valued material possessions and outer beauty, disregarded her unsightly daughter while pampering her handsome son. Her shallowness planted a jealous seed in Isabelle-Marie preventing her from experiencing happiness. Patrice on the other hand lived in superficiality and never had a deeper meaning to life or himself. These characters are isolated from nature and each other consequently preventing true happiness. Isabelle-Marie was the unsightly daughter of Louise. Her appearance deemed her unworthy of her mother’s love and affection. Isabelle-Marie was assigned to work in the farms preoccupying her time and preventing her from socializing. She was separated from the family because of the way she looked. Patrice couldn’t sympathize with his sister due to his idiocy. Her mother’s mistreatment spawned hatred for herself. Isabelle-Marie was wrapped in jealousy preventing her from loving her brother. Insecurities inspired her to lie to her husband ultimately losing him in the end. She had a daughter, like her she was ugly and her lack of love and acceptance for herself prevented her for genuinely loving her child. After she took revenge on her unloving mother Isabelle-Marie was still unfulfilled, everything was gone except for her, soon after she took her life. Patrice was treated like a baby by his mother. His beauty was her possession and was the only thing she loved of him. Patrice never knew anybody but Louise. He felt no real love from his family and was never understood. His mother spoke for him, acted on his behalf, and thought for him. Patrice was detached from his true self for he did not need to ponder anything outside of his mother and his beauty. When Patrice’s face was disfigured he lost his mother’s love and was left in an asylum. Unable to cope with his loneliness he eventually escaped the asylum to go back to his mother, only to find the remains of his life burned. His upbringing kept his soul and purpose empty. Ultimately Patrice lived in a hollow shell. Louise was an empty and excessive doll. Her concerns were only of her trim body and Patrice’s beauty, which she saw as her own beauty. External beauty made her self-absorbed not allowing her to naturally love Isabelle-Marie. Her marriage to Lanz served as a union of two faded and shallow lovers. Lanz only saw Louise for her beauty and riches. Her demanding husband forced Louise to give less of herself to her son, driving a wedge between them. Louise’s incapability to naturally lover her children kept herself detached from them. In the end she died alone amongst her possessions. The family lived in an immoral world. Isabelle-Marie destroyed her life and family due to her self-loathing. She was not able to completely lover her daughter for she was her mirror. Patrice lived in a world without living. When everything he knew was in ruins, he found his soul and peace in the lake. Louise only loving material possession condemned her children lives. The main characters segregation from each other didn’t let them escape the feeling of loneliness in their present lives. Marie-Claire Blais and Nathaniel Hawthorne depicted the characters inner feelings of suffering and hurt through relentless loneliness and seclusion. Both authors used two different forms of estrangement, isolation and alienation. The central characters in both novels experience different settings of isolation, which they developed with their personalities. The Scarlet Letter emphasized the suffering of the characters in psychological aspect. Mad Shadows_ _focused on the shallowness of the heart. The main characters in both novels undergo a variety of changes which eventually sealed their fates. *Mad Shadows and The* Scarlet Letter Theme of isolation Agnes Palaganas April 8, 2010 ENG18Y1- James Meade Reference: Blais,Marie-Claire. Mad Shadows. This New Canadian Library:2008 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Penguin Books:2003

With Reference to Relevant Research Studies, to What Extent Does Genetic Inheritance Influence Behavior?

There is currently a substantial body of research supporting the argument that there is a genetic influence on numerous human behaviors, such as homosexuality, intelligence and personality. One indication that behavior has a genetic basis is that behavior is often species specific. Examples include the warning behavior of prairie dogs or the mouth to mouth sharing of blood amongst vampire bats. The closer our genetic resemblance is to a certain species, the more behaviors we have in common. Since long it has also been known that behavior can be bred true, which is the reason why some breeds display specific behaviors. Behavior is also known to change in response to changes in biological structures or processes. Examples include the use of the SSRI drug which alters the reuptake of serotonin in the synapses and consequently our mood, or the loss of important cognitive functions due to brain damage. As the anatomical structure and the physiological processes depend on our DNA we can infer that genes indirectly influence our behavior. It is important to bear in mind that the brain can alter its structure from experience, but this capacity must clearly be genetically determined. Most researchers agree that all behaviors are more or less indirectly influenced by genes. Where they disagree is the extent to which genes influence behavior. Some behavior also seems to be more influenced by genes than others. The influence of cognitive, social and cultural factors on behavior cannot be denied, and even though there may be a genetic predisposition for many disorders, the extent to which the genotype is expressed in its phenotype will depend on environmental influences. The stress-vulnerability model, for instance, assumes that the onset and symptoms of mental disorders are influenced by three interacting factors; biological, environmental and protecting factors that may protect the individual against development of a disorder. A study that illustrates the interaction of genes and environment on behavior is a molecular genetics study by Caspi et al. (2003). Caspi et al. investigated the relationship between the 5-HTT gene and occurrence of depression in 847 New Zealanders. The 5-HTT gene is responsible for the production of serotonin in the body, which in turn has an influence on our mood. A DNA sample was taken of each participant, who also was asked to answer a questionnaire on depression. In order to ensure the participants’ honesty in their self report, their responses were cross checked with a friend of their own choice. The researchers also controlled for levels of stressful life events. The results showed that participants with a short allele on the 5-HTT gene had an increased vulnerability for depression between the ages of 21 to 26. The study also found that the participants only had developed depression if they had suffered from stressful life events, no matter whether they had a propensity for the disorder or not. Replications of the Caspi study in different countries by Chiao and Blizinsky (2010) further support a gene – environment interaction for depression. They investigated the prevalence of the short allele in the 5-HTT gene in different populations and found that there are higher frequencies in populations that are considered to have a â€Å"collectivist† culture, such as Asians, and that there are lower frequencies in populations with an â€Å"individualist† culture, such as Europeans or North Americans. This seems counter-intuitive, considering that depression is more common in individualist cultures than collectivist cultures. Asians should genetically be more prone to depression than Europeans and North Americans, yet Europeans and North Americans are more likely to suffer from it. The research is suffering from several methodological problems. It is possible that depression is as common or in the East as in the West, but that it is underreported. If the data is to be trusted, it suggests that Asian cultures may have better protective factors against the development of depression compared to Western culture, such as better social support. These findings raise potential ethical issues of discrimination and prejudice. Because of the methodological weaknesses of the research, the findings are not conclusive. Most research supports an interaction between genes and environment on behavior. Genetic research on twins and families usually measure the degree of similarity in characteristics, such as intelligence, between genetically related and unrelated individuals. From this comparison, a concordance rate between 0 and 100 is calculated. If the rate is close to 100, the behavior is assumed to have a strong genetic basis. On the other hand, if the rate is low, environmental factors are thought to play a major part. Some of behaviors that have the highest concordance rates are homosexuality, schizophrenia, alcoholism, general mood levels, and intelligence, with average concordance rates between 60 and 70. Behaviors with lower concordance rates include depression, personality, religious values, political beliefs and vocational interests, with average concordance rates of around 30 %. It may seem curious that some of the latter behaviors have a small genetic component, and it is possible that the concordance rates are flawed by methodological issues. The concordance rates fluctuate between studies of the same behavior. This may be due poor control of confounding variables. Some relationships may be purely coincidental, such as in a famous study by Bouchard where two identical twins raised apart had a wife with the same name and in addition had named their son by the same name. Even if monozygotic twins that are raised in different families exercise similar behavior, it can also be because they are raised in similar social and cultural settings, because they look similar and therefore are treated the same, or because they exercise similar behavior patterns of adopted children. Also, one cannot rule out that researcher expectancies and small sample sizes can influence the concordance rates. Finally, there is a construct validity problem of the studied behaviors. Concepts such as intelligence lack an agreed upon definition, and some mental disorders are viewed differently in different countries. It is therefore difficult to compare concordance rates between such studies, as they are measuring different concepts. Even so, it is possible that if personality and talent has a genetic component, individuals may be biologically more inclined to some interests than others, and thus may be more likely to adapt a certain value system or vocation. Even though there are methodological problems involved in genes and behavior research, there is overwhelming evidence that there is an influence of genetic inheritance on most behaviors. The extent of this genetic influence is however still controversial, and may vary depending on the behavior.