Discussion 4C Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 4C - Assignment Example It is important for people working together to get along at their work places as they require each other at some point during work. When people get along in workplaces, it is easier and faster for them to help each other finish tasks and deal with deadlines. The video is about a talk on email etiquette and how the email works. It was good to learn the don’ts involved when sending a single mail to multiple people. I also learned that I can be in a position to prevent computer viruses spread through emails. An important lesson learnt from the video is that it is valuable to respect other workers whom you working with. The times when an individual does not feel like working should be spent outside the office rather than making noise for others. It is important for people working together to respect each other. Hacking into people’s machines and emails to get vital, and secretive message is one of the risks of electronic communication. Sensitive information meant for specific individuals could get into the wrong

The most compelling problems facing youth in the 21st Century Essay Example for Free

The most compelling problems facing youth in the 21st Century Essay Preparing Americas children for the 21st century is among our most important national priorities. Todays children face the promise of a new century of unparalleled opportunity in which new technologies, improvements in health, expanding economies, and other advances create the hope that their future will be the brightest of any generation in history. Yet, too many of them face obstacles that obscure that bright future, including poverty, violence, child abuse, limited educational opportunity, and unhealthy behaviors. The devastating economic, social, and human costs of these obstacles are indisputable. Addressing these challenges to their future and investing in opportunities so that all children can reach their full potential. An essential component of this strategy is undertaking research to provide new knowledge of ways to improve their futures and to provide sound guidance for policy makers to assure that efforts to help are likely to succeed. Numerous indicators of the well-being of our children and families paint a mixed picture of successes and shortcomings. Our national infant mortality rate is declining rapidly and is at a record low, but is still higher than that of many other countries. Our childrens test scores in reading and science are improving but still trail those of several other industrialized nations. Our school dropout rate is unacceptably high, costing over $250 billion each year in lost earnings and foregone taxes, as well as lost human potential. Our teenage pregnancy rate is declining slightly, but is still the highest in the developed world. Our national vaccination coverage is the highest ever, but in many communities less than 50 percent of two-year-olds are adequately immunized. A similar picture of gains and unmet goals exists with respect to youth violence, child poverty, smoking, and other substance abuse. Much of the progress achieved in these and other areas is the result of critical research efforts that have advanced our understanding of how children and youths develop into healthy and productive individuals. Research has helped to inform policy decisions and program development, track outcomes, and identify strategies that work and those that do not. The Federal investment in research has clearly paid dividends in terms of improved outcomes for children and a healthier and brighter outlook for the entire Nation. Despite such important achievements, much remains to be done: Significant gaps  persist in our understanding of how children grow up to be healthy, well-educated, and responsible members of society. Given the profoundly changing nature of our communities and Nation, strengthening the Federal research enterprise on child and adolescent development and expanding its role in shaping relevant policy are especially crucial to serving national goals.

Media Bias And How It Affects Us Media Essay

Media Bias And How It Affects Us Media Essay The media affects our daily lives in numerous ways from television to radio to print. Sometimes these media avenues persuade our opinions on certain issues such as abortion, homosexuality, racism, and political. Numerous times throughout history the media has downplayed bias, which simply means prejudiced (â€Å"biased†). Media bias dates back to the early days of the newspaper and continues to this present day (Media Bias US 5). There are many examples throughout history showing biased media. Benjamin Franklin wrote a great example of early media bias in 1728 when he wrote an article in favor of printing paper money. Franklin did not specify he would be one of the beneficiaries, in terms of business, in printing the money (Media Bias US 5). Sometimes such bias pushed the political leaders of the time to limit the freedom of press, as did Abraham Lincoln when he ordered many newspapers, in favor of the South during the American Civil War era, to shutdown operation (Media Bia s US 5). There are countless times in history where the media has been bias towards one particular point of view. Many people in America today are not even aware the media is manipulating their way of thinking, although statistics state Americans realize the media is biased (Media Bias Basics 21-23). Some media bias has proven to be good, such as the mixing of racial characters in movies. The downside to this, however, was parts of the South would not show the racially mixed programs on television, as they believed in being separate and wanted to keep their agenda pushed through the media (Media Bias US 6). Most media bias is wrong and puts misguided thoughts and ideas into the minds of unknowing Americans. A good instance of this type of biased occurred when CBS aired falsified documents degrading both the character and the military service of George W. Bush (Media Bias US 3). Dan Rather eventually had to step down as anchor of CBS news for the story, as much of the public agreed that the news story and reporter swayed towards the liberal side. A poll taken in 2001 shows those in the media are four times as likely to identify with being â€Å"liberal† as compared to â€Å"conservative† (Media Bias Basics 11). This same report also showed members of the media were seven times more likely to identify with being a Democrat as opposed to being a Republican (Media Bias Basics 11, 12). This is a staggering statistics when a 2001 Gallop Poll found only 18 percent of the American people identify with being liberal, as opposed to 41 percent identify with being conservative (Media Bias Basics 15). While most may agree the media is bias to some extent, the media, for the most part, slants to the left when dealing with issues. While some may believe this is good, there are also consequences and repercussions to believing everything shown on television, radio, and in print. There are many different types of bias in the media. From racial to corporate, to bias appealing to the senses such issues persuade our views on issues and we are bombard daily by them (Media Bias 1). A good example of media entertaining these different types of media bias are there have been many missing people reported by the media, predominantly white women; this has lead some to speculate the news media shows more favor towards white girls who are attractive, as opposed to men and nonOsborne 3 white women by the media (Missing 1-3). While there are many other examples to media bias in these particular avenues, the topic the media spends the most time on is government and the political system. Very few, if any, media outlets existing today are striving to give the American people a balanced report on the news. A report done by the Project for Excellence in Journalism has published a report of the news media networks, of those reported only Fox News Channel reported positive (38%) about the same as they did negative or neutral (39%) on the war in Iraq (Annual Report 8). Much of the left accuses Fox News of containing a conservative point of view with many liberals not agreeing with the programming on Fox News no matter if it is true or not (Media Bias News Networks 1). Other media outlets fair poorly with conservatives too, with conservatives rating CNN and CBS amongst the worst in reporting the news (Media Bias News Networks 1). It is therefore not surprising the media outlet one political party despises, the other enjoys; as such, the majority of conservatives think highly of Fox News, with liberals thinking highly of CNN and PBS (Media Bias News Networks 2). Moreover, it is not surprising conservatives and liberals said the news anchors they found most entertaining were on the news networks they favored most (Media Bias News Networks 2). There are many different areas and topics for the media to cover; how the media covers those topics is solely up to them. Their mistakes these media outlets make in journalism, by using the power of persuasion, make it evident in the way people from various groups vote and feel about certain topics. While some may argue certain media outlets are better than others are, the argument of biased media will always be an issue. Since the founding of America there has always been media bias good and bad it has always helped shape the way Americans look at politics and the way the people vote.

The Usefulness of Blogs Essay -- Internet

The Usefulness of Blogs "Think of a weblog as a journal of one person's explorations as he or she cruises uncharted sectors of the Net, reporting on the interesting life-forms and geological formations (Frauenfelder)." Weblogs, or blogs, are rapidly growing among the cyber population of today. There are many reasons that people use blogs, whether for business, to maintain a relationship, or as a source of therapy for problems that occur in a blogger's life. Most of the blogs that I have observed over the past few weeks have been the equivalent of an online journal. People, or bloggers, write blogs to keep track of daily events in their lives no matter what the significance of those events might be. Growing up, some children keep diaries to write down what’s going on in their life. Children often grow out of this habit of journaling as they get older. However, with the rise of computers and the internet in the past years, people have again begun to rely on journals. Now, though, these journals are online and not as private. The lock and key no longer exists and anyone can see these journals anytime that they would like to. Why would anyone want to write in an online journal where others could see their private thoughts and events that happened that day or week? After reading Margaret Jirik’s observation journal I came across an interesting statement by Malavika about why she blogs. Malavika is the woman who posts to the blog â€Å"My Daily Ranting† at http://www.mydailyranting.blogspot.com/ that Margaret is observing. She states, "Well, I figured this is a great way to whine to absolutely everyone and no one about my one and a million problems so... bear with me? You might get to know me in the process. I think... ...ing to do." Works Cited Frauenfelder, Mark. â€Å"Blogging. (weblogs).† Whole Earth. 22 December 2000. 26 March 2002 <Via www.findarcticles.com [http://www.findarticles.com/m0GER/200_Winter/68617361/pl/article.jhtml]> Grohol, John M., Psy.D. â€Å"Internet Addiction Guide.† PsychCentral December 1999. 26 March 2002. http://www.psychcentral.com/netaddiction/ Grohol. John M. Psy.D. â€Å"Psychology of Weblogs† PsychCentral April 2001. 26 March 2002-04-06 http://psychcentral.com/blogs/ Hoyum, Sonya J. Group C Observation Journal 6 March 2002 ENGL 1102 Discussion â€Å"addictive?† (6.1.1) 4 April 2002 http://caldialogue.bemidjistate.edu Jirik, Margaret. Group A Observation Journal 27 February 2002. ENGL 1102 Discussion â€Å"why?† (3.2) 4 April 2002 http://caldialogue.bemidjistate.edu â€Å"Journaling your Life† 4 April 2002. http://h.arce.tripod.com/journalingyourlife/

Epoxy Resin

Epoxy resin is a type of thermosetting polymer, commercially available in different forms, has a wide range of application in aerospace, coating, electric insulation and marine application due to its outstanding performances, easy handling and low cost [1-5]. Epoxy high inner stress, brittle texture, inferior impact resistance, weak creep resistance and poor moisture resistance, limited its application in other industrial areas [6]. So, the epoxy was mixed with polymers[7], clays, metal [8], carbon nanotube [9], graphene[10], and graphene oxide[11] to overcome its limitations. Graphene oxide (GO) is a graphite derivative that produced through oxidation of graphite using various methods. Graphene oxide is a 2D sheet with oxygen functional at the surface (hydroxyl, carbonyl, and epoxide) and (carboxyl) at its edge [12,13]. Graphene oxide is a promising material as polymer reinforcement, due to its high mechanical properties[14], excellent thermal stability[15], and good insulation properties [16]. Moreover, graphene oxide high surface area, high aspect ratio, excellent sheet flexibility, reactivity sites, and good dispersion in most common solvent favored its use a composites material for polymeric material. The Graphene oxide tends to improve the mechanical properties, thermal stability, insulator, and dielectric properties of the various commercial epoxy resin. However, Graphene oxide sheets tend to aggregate either by Van der Waals force or ?-? stacking interaction, which would decrease the improvement effects of graphene sheets in epoxy matrix [17]. Therefore, graphene oxide was modified either through covalent bonds or by ?-? interaction to reduce these aggregation phenomena and enhanced epoxy properties. For instance, Wan et al improved epoxy tensile strength and modulus by 75% and 15% through mixing epoxy with graphene oxide modified with DGEBA (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A) [18].Also, Liu et al enhanced epoxy glass temperature and tensile strength by 26oC and 31% using grafted graphene oxide [5]. Sharmila et al prepared Graphene oxide modified with iron oxide nanoparticles, they epoxy composites shown improvements in the tensile, impact, and fracture strength [19]. Fluorinated polymer is polymer contain carbon-fluorine bonds and they has been applied in many domestic and industrial application due there excellent thermal stability, anti-chemical corrosion, weathering resistance, high dielectric conductivity, and low surface energy [20-22]. However, the high market price of the fluoropolymers and poor miscibility in epoxy resin restricted their applications [23]. Thermal stability, roughness, and corrosion resistance were improved for epoxy resin modified with a fluorinated polymer [24-27]. The fluorine atoms reduced the crosslinking density of the epoxy resin and fluoropolymer, reducing the mechanical properties of the epoxy [28]. The grafting of the fluorinated polymer into carbon base material such as carbon nanotube, fluorinated graphene, and fluorinated graphite may combine the excellent properties of carbon base material and fluorine group's properties. The miscibility was improved with enhancement of the mechanical properties, thermal stability, surface properties, and electric properties. Yang and coworkers grafted fluorinated polymer on reduced graphene oxide coated with dopamine. The modified graphene showed excellent dispersion in the ferroelectric polymer matrix with good high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss [29].Que et al modified epoxy resin (DGEBA) with trifluoromethyl containing polyimide structures. Compared with neat epoxy, they found that the modified epoxy shown better thermal stability with 18 to 55 % char yield at 800 0C, water contact angle (94.9–105.0 °), higher toughness, and lower water absorption (0.47–0.95 %). The tensile shear of modified epoxy was lower than the neat epoxy, the fluorine groups decreased epoxy surface energy which further reduced the adhesion strength compared with unmodified epoxy [7]. In this work, graphene oxide was modified with Hexadecafluoro (1, 10) decanediol through one-step reaction. Modified graphene oxide was mixed with epoxy resin in various loading. Then, the mechanical properties, thermal stability, water contact angle water uptake, and alkaline corrosion resistance were examined for epoxy composites. Results and Discussion:   The surface functionalization of GO was confirmed by FTIR, XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and TGA. Fig. (1) shows the FTIR spectrum of GO and GOFO. For GO typical peaks were observed at 3390 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-OH), 1041 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-O), 1374 cm-1 (deformation vibration of C-OH), 1261 cm-1 and 877 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-O-C), and 1734cm-1 (stretching vibration of C=O). The peak at 1619 cm-1 is attributed to the skeletal vibration of the graphitic of GO [30]. After reaction with FO new peaks appeared. The peaks at 1178 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-F) [31], at 2966 cm-1 (bending stretching of C-H), and at 1441 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-H) from the perfluoro compound. The peak at 1080 cm-1 was related to stretching vibration of ester bond C-O-C. These results indicated that FO was successfully grafted onto GO surface.The XRD patterns of Graphite, GO, and GOFO was shown in Fig. (2) and the interlayer distance was calculated using Bragg equation. Pristine graphite is shown a typical peak at 26.410 with an interlayer spacing of 0.337 nm [32]. This peak shifted to 11.020 (corresponding to an interlayer space of 0.802 nm) after graphite was oxidized to GO, that was due to the formation of oxygen-containing functional groups on a graphite oxide surface and water molecules trapped between the layers [33]. The functionalization of GO with FO shifted the peak from 11.020 to 10.080 (corresponding to an interlayer space of 0.676nm), suggested that GO was modified with FO. Another broad diffraction peak was observed at 22.760, which suggests the formation of few layers of reduced graphite oxide. To further study the structural differences between graphite, GO, and GOFO, the graphitic crystal size was calculated using Sheerer equation and the number of layers was calculated based on crystal size. Graphite had a large crystal size of 21.28nm with 63-64 graphene layers. After oxidation to GO, the crystal size decreased to 10.92nm and the number of layers decreased to 10-11 graphene layers. The crystal size of GOFO was 3.78nm with 5 -6 layers of the modified graphene sheet. In order to study the exfoliation of GOFO into the epoxy matrix, the XRD patterns of EGOFO composites and neat epoxy were investigated as shown in Fig. (3). For neat epoxy, two broads peaks centered at ?70 and ?180 were observed due to the amorphous nature of neat epoxy. All Epoxy composites show the same characteristic diffraction peak as neat epoxy and no diffraction peaks of GOFO at 10.080 and 22.760 were observed [34]. That's confirmed that GOFO was highly exfoliated into the epoxy matrix. Although, the highly exfoliated level of GOFO sheets in the epoxy matrix cannot represent a good dispersion was obtained in the epoxy composites [35]. The thermographic analysis in Fig. (4) represents the thermal stability of GO and GOFO under a nitrogen atmosphere. Graphene oxide shows 8.404% weight loss between 50 0C -100 0C, due to evaporation of residual water trapped between the layers. A significant weight loss of 29.53% was observed between 100 0C – 250 0C, that's due to decomposition of labile oxygen functional groups to H2O, CO, and CO2 [22,10].Compared to GO, GOFO was more stable with 3.48% weight loss was observed between 50 0C -100 0C can be assigned to evaporate of residual water trapped between the layers, which was lower than GO. Between 100 0C – 250 0C, 8.18% weight loss was found due to decomposition of the reaming oxygen functional groups. Then, 12.44% weight loss was observed between 250 0C – 550 0C, that can be assigned to the decomposition of the bond between GO and perfluoro compound. In addition, compared with 48.59% weight loss at 700 0C for GO, GOFO undergoes 20.83% weight loss. The above data can be due to GO, bosses high amount of oxygenated functional groups, while GOFO possesses low oxygenated functional groups due to functionalization by FO. The above results confirmed that GOFO was more stable than GO.Raman spectroscopy was applied to explore the structural variations between GO and GOFO. Generally, the graphitic material shows two characteristic peaks, the G peak (~1575 cm?1) arises from first-order scattering of the E2g photon of sp2 C atoms and the D peak (~1350 cm?1) from a breathing mode of ?-point photons of A1g symmetry. Also, the intensity ratio ID/IG can be used to evaluate the graphitization degree of the graphitic material, the lower value represented a high degree of graphitization [30]. Fig. (5) shows Raman spectrum results of GO and GOFO. The G and D bands of GO were located at 1599.9 and 1357 cm-1 receptivity, as reported in previous reports [30,36,37]. After functionalization with FO, the G band was shifted to a lower wavelength at 1589 cm-1, no obvious changes were observed for the D band. In addition, the ID/IG intensity ratio of GO increases from 0.96 to 1.062 for GOFO. The changes in the intensity ratio imply that GOFO of graphene structure was restored, which can be due to the removal of oxygen functional groups. The GO and GOFO were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the results are shown in Fig. (5) and the elemental analysis is tabulated in Table (1). The GO broad spectrum shows two peaks at binding energies around 286.1 eV and 532.4 eV, which were assigned to C1s and O1s, respectively. The atomic composition of graphene oxide was obtained from XPS broad spectrum and revealed the presence of carbon (71.88%) and oxygen (28.12%). In contrast, the GOFO broad spectrum displayed three peaks at binding energies around 286.1 eV, 532.4 eV, and 686 eV, they can be assigned to C1s, O1s, and F1s respectively. The atomic composition of GOFO obtained from the broad spectrum shown the existence of carbon (71.66%), oxygen (27.34%), and fluorine (1%). The carbon-to-oxygen ratio increased from 1.6 for GO to 2.6 for GOFO, due to functionalization with FO. The C1s XPS spectrum of GO and GOFO are shown in Fig. (6). The C1s spectra can be decomposed into four characteristic peaks: C=C/C-C (non-oxygenated carbon, 284.5 eV), C-OH/C-O-C (hydroxyl, epoxy, and 286eV), C=O (carbonyl, 286.8 eV), and COOH (carboxyl, 288.9 eV) [38]. In comparison, the decomposed C1s spectrum of GOFO shows additional peaks at 287.02eV, 290 eV, and 292 eV, assigned to -C-O- (ether bond), C-F (fluorine), and C-F2 (fluorine) respectively[39]. As shown in Fig. (5), compared with XPS C1s spectrum of GO (Fig. (6)), the peak intestines of C-O and C-O-C were significantly decreased, new peaks appeared. The above results indicated the attachment of FO to graphene oxide surfaces via the reaction with hydroxyl groups of FO with C-O groups on the GO surfaces [40]. As shown in the SEM images of EGOFO composites, the GOFO sheets were well dispersed in the epoxy matrix. GOFO nano-sheets were surrounded tightly by epoxy resin, which indicates a good interfacial interaction between GOFO and the epoxy matrix. Such good interfacial bonding improves the stress transfer from the epoxy matrix to the GOFO nano-sheet and thus enhanced the mechanical properties of epoxy composites. However, due to the presence of incompatible fluorine groups on the GOFO, micro-voids can be observed and such voids could enhance crack initiation which leads to decrease the mechanical properties of epoxy composites[41]. SEM analysis of epoxy composites: The SEM images of epoxy and epoxy composites at fracture site after the tensile test are shown in Fig. (7). The images were used to examine the dispersion and the compatibility of GOFO in the epoxy matrix. Fig. (7a,b) shows neat epoxy exhibited relatively smooth surface with a river-like pattern in the fracture direction, confirmed the brittle nature of epoxy [42]. In contrast epoxy composites displayed rougher, fluctuant surfaces with GOFO nano-sheet pulled out of the epoxy matrix Fig. (7 c,e). Also, epoxy composites SEM images shown that GOFO nano-sheets were well dispersed in the epoxy matrix, a well interfacial interaction between the nano-sheets and epoxy composites Fig. (7 d,f). The good interfacial bonds can effectively transfer the stresses from the epoxy matrix to the GOFO nano-sheets and thus enhanced the mechanical properties of epoxy composites [41]. However, several micro-voids can be observed in all epoxy composites that can be due to the presence of fluorine groups. The low compatibility between the epoxy resin and fluorine groups caused the appearances of micro-voids. Cracks can initiate easily in the micro-voids, then spread through epoxy composites reducing epoxy composites strength. Mechanical properties of epoxy composites: Tensile test:The tensile test was conducted to investigate the effects of GOFO on the epoxy resin performance. Fig. (8) shows the stress-strain curves of neat and epoxy composites, and the results were summarized in table (2). The tensile modulus of pure epoxy was 471 MPa and its changes to 486 MPa (increased by 3.2 % with 0.1 wt. %), 507 MPa (increased by 7.6 % with 0.3wt. %), and 530 MPa (increased by 12.52 % with 0.5 wt. %). The highest tensile modulus was 12.52% compared to neat epoxy corresponding to 0.5% GOFO loading. The increase in the tensile modulus was due to the good dispersion and interfacial interaction between the GOFO and epoxy matrix. That's led to the good transfer of stress from the matrix to GOFO sheets. However, the tensile strength decreased by 18.35%, 22.15%, and 20.25% with 0.1 wt. %, 0.3 wt. %, and 0.5 wt. %. GOFO loading. The formation of micro-voids between the GOFO sheets in the epoxy matrix due to incompatibility between GOFO sheet and epoxy system due to the presence of fluorine groups. Fracture test:  Ã‚  The effects of GOFO loading on the fracture properties are shown in Table (2) and the stress-strain curves of fracture analysis were shown in Fig. (9). EGOFO composites shown a battened in the fracture modulus and strength to those of neat epoxy upon different loading. The fracture modulus was 1510MPa for neat epoxy. With 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt. % loading of FO, the fracture modulus increased to 2340 ±17.61 MPa, 2324 ±73.5 MPa, and 2450 ±45 MPa respectively, these were 54.97, 53.84, and 62.85% respectively. However, for fracture strength, it's behaved differently with increasing GOFO concentration. The fracture strength decreased by 13.12% with the addition of 0.1 wt.% GOFO loading and then increased to 13.61% and 16.98% with 0.3 wt.% and 0.5 wt.% GOFO loading respectively. The increase in the fracture modulus and strength can be attributed to improvement in the interfacial interaction between the GOFO and epoxy matrix. That's allowed better load transfer from the epoxy matrix to the GOFO sheets, which increased both fracture modulus and strength. Thermal stability of epoxy composites:The Thermal stability of the GOFO nanocomposites was investigated by TGA as shown in Fig. (10) and Table (3).T10% and T50% are the temperature of sample weight loss reached 10% and 50 % respectively. Tdec is the sample decomposition temperature. All the specimens showed similar thermal degradation behavior with main weight loss between 3500C to 4500C. They exhibited different weight loss during the onset decomposition stages as shown in the enlarged window. The incorporation of GOFO significantly enhanced the thermal stability of epoxy composites in different trends. Epoxy composite 0.3 wt. % GOFO loading has a higher T5%, T50%, and Tdec compared with other epoxy composites. The T5% and T50% increased by ?13 and ?150C respectively based on pure epoxy. The Tdec increased by ?13 with the same loading compared to pure epoxy. According to the literate, there are two factors effects on the thermal stability of polymer composites: the formation of networks via covalent linkages between them and the crosslinking density [43,44]. The existence of the oxygen functional groups at the edge and the surface of the GOFO, can react with the epoxy resin and increased the crosslinking of the composites. The XRD data showed that GOFO doesn't have a uniform crystal shape compared to graphite, that makes the GOFO has a poor thermal conductivity. Therefore, with good dispersion of GOFO, it will act as a barrier and reduce the thermal conductivity of the epoxy composites [44]. Water uptake epoxy composites:The influences of water absorbed by the polymeric material can be significantly reduced by incorporating nano-size fillers into polymers [45,46].The water uptake of neat epoxy and its composites filled with GOFO were shown in Fig. (11). The addition of GOFO nano-fillers significantly decreased the amount of water absorbed by epoxy composites. The water uptake by neat epoxy was 0.432%, which decreased to 0.317% , 0.304% , and 0.308% for epoxy composites with 0.1wt.% , 0.3wt.% , and 0.5 wt.% GOFO loading respectively. this phenomenon implied that the addition of nano-size sheet with high aspect ratio provided tortuous pathways for water molecules to enter the epoxy composites and acted as a barrier water transportation through epoxy composites [47]. Another reason can be due to the hydrophobic nature of fluorine groups on GOFO, which can immobilized water molecules and prevented it from diffusion in epoxy matrix[47]. The hydrophobic behavior of GOFO composites:Fig. (12). Shown the air/water contact angle of pure epoxy and its composites. The measurement was performed at room temperature with three repetitions for each sample. From Fig. (12), the incorporation of GOFO increased the contact angle of all epoxy composites. The contact angle increased from 68.70 o  ± 1.73 for the pure epoxy to 83.53 o  ± 1.13 for 0.1 wt. % GOFO, 98.65 o  ± 2.49 for 0.3 wt. % GOFO, and 89.22 o ± 0.70 for 0.5 wt. % GOFO. The changes in the contact angle indicate that epoxy composites show more hydrophobic effects compared to pure epoxy [48]. The GOFO tends to immigrate to the surface of epoxy, due to the low surface energy of the fluorine atoms. They altered the surface energy and increased the hydrophobicity of the epoxy surface. But, with 0.5 wt. % GOFO loading, the contact angle decreased to 89.22 o ± 0.70, the aggregated GOFO nano-sheet at the surface can slightly reduce the polarity of the surface and increased the effects of the reaming oxygenated function groups of the graphene sheet.

To Kill a Mocking Bird- Section One Study Questions

To Kill a Mockingbird – Section One Study Questions. 6) What satirical points are being made about education through Scout's experiences in school? I feel a major satirical point about Scout’s education is the fact that she is ridiculed for learning some place other than school. It’s as if her teacher feels Scout is messing her learning system. She is â€Å"introducing a new way of teaching† one which involves the teacher waving cards at the students with simple words printed on them. Scout begins to write a letter, which the teacher stops her from doing.She also is angry at Scout for writing, because â€Å"you don't learn to write until you're in the third grade. Obviously, she is stopping her from learning more. School is now a place where Scout is told to stop learning. 7) Why does Scout explain Walter Cunningham's situation to Miss Caroline? Scout feels that it is her duty, as her classmates were looking at her expectantly. Scout explains Walter Cunni ngham’s situation because Miss Caroline is not from the area and doesn't understand the â€Å"country folk† or the customs of the county and its people.Walter may be poor, but he's not a beggar and refuses to take the quarter from Miss Caroline because he knows that he can't pay it back. 8) How are Scout and Jem alike? How are they different? Jem is much wiser than scout which makes perfect sense, considering Jem is 4 years older than Scout. He is also better behaved than scout. But they are both alike because they both live under the same circumstances, and they are both afraid of the Radley’s, even though Jem won’t admit it. 9) Describe Burris Ewell. How is he alike and different from the other children?Burris is one of the eight Ewell children. He and his family only go to school for the first day every year, then leave, and are very proud of that. The Ewell Family is very ignorant and poor, and their father is awfully mean and the town drunk. Burris i s incredibly rude, and doesn't know how to be any other way. Even though many of the other children aren’t exactly â€Å"clean†, Burris is far dirtier than all of them. Although, Burris surely doesn’t get enough to eat, like many of the other school children. 10) What is the advice Atticus gives scout and how is it thematically significant?The thematic advice Atticus gives to Scout helps her understand that school is important to success and education, unlike the Ewell's who are rude and don't care about things such as learning. The point that Atticus tries to make is Scout needs to view the situation from every angle, not just hers. 11) What can you infer about Scout and Jem based on their very different reactions to the pennies in the knot-hole? He decided to wait until school starts and ask everybody who they belong to. Jem is careful and honest of the pennies he finds.He tries to explain to Scout that someone has taken care of those pennies. Scout seems to b e relying on Jem’s wisdom, but she does want to keep the pennies. Because when he suggests someone probably left them there intentionally, and they’re probably going to come back for them, she tries to provide a contradicting theory. Such as why would they person have left gum in the knot-hole, if surely it would’ve spoiled? You can infer Scout hasn’t matured much. Her thoughts don’t extend as far as to question the motives of the owners of the objects put in the knot-hole.She seems to be just a simple minded girl. 12) What do the characteristics of children in general are revealed through the Boo Radley game? Why doesn’t scout enjoy the game as much as the boys do? It shows they are ignoring the teaching of their father, which is to always respect others. Always make sure you put yourself in someone else’s shoes. But the children were more engrossed in the childish game. This reflects the immaturity of most citizens in the town, whic h is where the children actually learned such things.Scout is scared the Radley’s will somehow find out about the games they play, which is why she is hesitant. 13) What do we learn about the main characters by their relationships and interactions with Miss Maudie Atkinson? Scout is the closest to Miss Maudie than anyone, and she spends time with her when the boy’s are doing boy things she can’t be apart of. Miss Maudie acts like a mentor to Scout. The boys rarely spend time with Miss Maudie, and Atticus grew up with her. 14) What is significant about Jem’s decision to make a lone, nighttime return to the Radley place?Jem shows signs of maturity when he decides to return to the Radley house alone to retrieve his pants. Not only does he demonstrate courage in going by himself, but he also demonstrates that not disappointing Atticus is more important than his own safety. 15) What is the significant outcome of Jem’s return? Jem returns from the Radley place with his pants, but he hides the fact that they have been mended for a while; he is obviously bothered by it. When Jem finally tells Scout about the pants, he wonders how it is that someone would know he was going to come back for the ants. Jem finding his mended pants is significant because it takes all the ridiculous Radley fantasies and puts them into reality. Jem and Scout have now had real interaction with the people that live in the Radley house. 16) What does the town conclude regarding the disturbance at the Radley place? They automatically assume the intruder was a â€Å"nigger†, not because they actually saw the person, but because if anyone had a desire to commit any crime, it would be assumed to be a black person. This shows how hateful the deep south was at this time towards colored people. 7) What bewildering incidents occur to Jem and Scout? Soap Carvings that remember resemble Scout and Jem appear in the knothole. Then chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and an old pocket watch. Soon, Jem and Scout find that the knothole has been filled with cement. When Jem asks Mr. Radley about the knothole the following day, Mr. Radley replies that he plugged the knothole because the tree is dying; but when Jem asked Atticus about the tree, he claims the tree shows no signs of death. 18) Why is it significant that Jem has been crying?Because he realized the real reason the knothole has been sealed off is not because the try is dying, but because Mr. Radley is trying to eliminate boo communicating with anyone, and Jem begins to pity him being so lonely. Jem draws the conclusion that his family must be ashamed of Boo, which is something Jem doesn’t have to live with. Fortunately Jem has a loving family. This shows Jem’s maturity, he’s thinking of someone other than himself. 19) How do people react to the fire at Miss Maudie’s house?The fire shows how the town responds when someone needs help. All of the men in the town show up to help. You can also see how small and poor the town is for one reason the fire consumes the house is that the old fire truck â€Å"killed by the cold, was being pushed from town by a crowd of men. † We can conclude that the community can be very selfless and caring. 20) What characteristics does Miss Maudie show following the fire? She returned to her normal business and was still happy, even with all the terribly traumatic events that just happened.