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April 27, 2006 NSLS's Youngest Scientists Learn from Light on "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work" DayOn April 27, more than 30 daughters and sons of NSLS staff learned about some of the scientific programs at the NSLS, and even performed their own scientific experiments. The one-day visit was part of the national "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day." Upon arriving at the NSLS, the children learned that the facility produces many types of light, from microwaves to x-rays, and that this light has many applications in many fields, including electronics, catalysis, microscopes, and medicine. Then the fun started!
This year's program focused on liquid nitrogen, which is used by most scientists at the NSLS. The children were taken down to the NSLS experimental floor, where they were given 30 minutes to count the number of beamlines that used liquid nitrogen. They questioned beamline scientists and learned that liquid nitrogen is used for cooling samples, detectors, magnets, and monochromators. Upon summing the beamlines at the end of the tour, the children were amazed to find that more than 40 beamlines use liquid nitrogen on a daily basis. Next, the children experienced the wonders of liquid nitrogen first-hand. By immersing an inflated balloon in liquid nitrogen, they discovered that the air inside of the balloon contracts, and then re-expands when warmed up. The children also learned that a tiny pinhole in a ping pong ball will cause the ball to spin wildly after being removed from liquid nitrogen. Other experiments included making a liquid nitrogen banana-hammer and an "ice egg" with a water balloon. They also listened to a "boiling" tea kettle and learned about the wonders of superconductivity, a phenomenon that becomes possible when certain materials are cooled to very low temperatures using liquid nitrogen. But perhaps the most memorable experiment was the "grand finale": The students mixed cream, sugar, and strawberries with liquid nitrogen to make the fastest (and perhaps tastiest) ice cream ever. ARTICLE BY: Laura Mgrdichian PHOTO BY: Roger Stoutenburgh |
The National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, is a national user research
facility funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Science. The NSLS operates two electron
storage rings: an X-Ray ring and a Vacuum UltraViolet (VUV) ring which provide intense light spanning the electromagnetic
spectrum from the infrared through x-rays. Each year over 2300 scientists from universities, industries and government
labs perform research at the NSLS.
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