A Day Of Ups And Downs

Ok,before I start with the day itself,I think I should just tell you guys about the experience a few friends and I have gone through prior to this day.Usually after a major exam,every student would be thinking " Ah,finally I have a break". But in my case,as soon as I finished my last paper,the only thing on my mind was "It's time to build that car".

Midway through my mid-year examination,a physics teacher in my school asked me and one of my classmates to join the carbon dioxide car competition which was organised by Taylor's University. When that teacher came to see me,I seriously had no idea on how to build a car or to make it move with gas pressure.

The first obstacle my group faced was when my classmate pulled out of the competition.She said that she was a little busy to work on the car with us during the mid-year holidays.So,we had to look for a replacement.After some asking around,one of my friends from another class agreed to join my group.

So,the holidays came and it signalled the start of work on building the car.It had to be built with dimensions of 30cm x 40cm x 18cm or less.Basically,we were only allowed to use 40ml of acetic acid and 10g of sodium bicarbonate to power the car.We were given a bottle to put in our chemicals and we had to open a valve to release the pressure and move the car.

We came up with so many ideas to build the car but nothing seemed to be working.Then, we just simply tried building a structure and moving it with a forward backward reaction using the pressure. We faced so many problems-finding a straight axle,positioning our tyres,finding the right material for the turbine and most importantly,making our car move.The first week just went by with little progress-the only things we found out were methods not to build a car. Well,it wasn't that bad.

During the second week,we finally started off on our structure.We decided to use wood. We tried plastic,cardboard and aluminium,but nothing seemed to be moving.Our previous knowledge in woodwork came in handy as we had to do a lot cutting and drilling.We came up with a structure, but it moved very little.So,that's how the second week went by.

During the third week (3 days before competition),my friend said that we should rebuild our car to make it narrower as we didn't have to use the maximum width. So,we started off with rebuilding a new car.This was our third car.We decided to use a triangle front.Then,we faced another problem,all the tyres were not on the ground.

One day before competition.One of my group members said that he was going to rebuild the car. He did the rebuilding and the other group members were trying to work on the turbine.Somehow,the car was just not moving. An hour before school was over that day,we sat staring at each other,thinking about pulling out.

Then just as I was about to go back,we managed to make the car move. One of my friends used the elastic potential energy idea that I proposed in the second week. It was basically winding up a rubber band around the turbine,stopping the turbine from rewinding using a stick,and then pushing the stick using the pressure from the chemicals and allowing the turbine to unwind, which would make the car move.I was delighted and ready for competition day.

( Oops,I forgot to tell you guys something.There were two groups taking part from my school)

Competition day was a little exciting and nervous. We were quite worried if our car would actually move a good distance.Well,the other team was more nervous than us because their car wasn't moving at all.We registered at the counter,got our free T-shirts and went into one of the lecture halls for a small briefing about the day's schedule.

The first part of our competition was a poster presentation. We had to go in a room and present the poster of our car and give some explanations about it to the judges.The judges that judged my group was quite friendly.They seemed very impressed by our design and gave us some pretty satisfying comments.After that presentation,we were confident that we had a chance of winning the competition.

After lunch,my group was testing out our car.That's when our first big letdown came that day. Our turbine wasn't sticking strongly enough to the axle. We realised that we had tested our car too many times until the turbine became loose.Our minds were racing for solutions.We tried cellophane tape,super glue,epoxy glue and polytetrafluoroethene tape. It still wasn't working. Then,we tried using double the amount of sticky material.Finally,our turbine stuck strongly but it still could move without moving the axle.

Each team had 2 chances two make their car move for 5 meters.My group was one of the first groups to showcase our car's ability. We were getting a little worried as our turbine was having a slight problem. When we were about to showcase our creative design,the biggest letdown of the day came.Our car got disqualified for the first round.

The judge told us that our car's movement was propelled by a mechanical movement which was triggered my a chemical reaction.He said that our car had to be propelled by chemical reaction, not triggered. I was very disappointed and clueless on what to do next.

I went straight to the toilet after that letdown.My group had one more chance but I had no idea at all on what to do. I stared at myself in the mirror in the bathroom clueless.When I rejoined my group members,they suggested that we just try the forward backward reaction. It worked and the distance wasn't that bad.

It was our second chance.The judge okay-ed our car and we started to fill the chemicals inside our bottle.Then,there was another setback-our bottle started leaking.Our car actually had a blocked tube at the front which functioned to stop the pressure from being released although the valve was opened. But this time,even before enough pressure had accumulated in the tube,I had to cut it off and release the pressure that had formed to prevent all the pressure from leaking out gradually.

It moved 2.7m.As soon as they marked the distance and recorded it down,my friend took back the car and I walked back to my friends disappointed.My friends said that they were grateful that the car move although we had not tested the forward backward reaction many times.

Hmm,it sure seemed like a disappointing day but I went back home telling myself that I had learned a lot that day.I had learned that we must always follow instructions,how to build a car,how to make changes in the most critical moments and methods of recovering form setbacks.

It was a great experience having so many mixed reactions in one day-being so happy after the presentation and then very disappointed when our car was disqualified.I guess that's just the cycle of life,isn't it? We face difficult and happy times on many occasions. And we just have to learn to cope with it and move on with our lives............

First Outing Of The Year With Friends

As my fellow friends and I are going to be facing a major examination this year,we decided to cut down on our outings until the exam is over.So,our first planned outing was to watch Pirates Of The Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides. There were a lot of bad reviews for the movie but I wasn't going to believe that statement until I watched the movie.

We were supposed to watch the movie at 11 but the only seats available at that time when we were buying our tickets was the 3rd row from the front and below.Sitting so close to the screen would have just resulted in neck pain and missing some of the fast moving action scenes. So,we decided to buy tickets for the 1.35 show.

Well,we bought the tickets and then realised that we had nothing to do until the show started.As we decided to take a walk, we went across an electronic shop.My friends suggested that we toy around with the gadgets until we decide to have our lunch.

It was a good experience going into that shop.I've never been inside before as I'm not the kind of person who is that interested in high-tech gadgets. I kinda had fun playing and moving pages using my fingers on one of the iPads which was for demonstration purposes. The games were not bad too. Before leaving the shop,my friends and I used one the applications on the iPad to write our names and we didn't bother clearing it.

For a change, we decided to have lunch in the food court.The food was not bad, nice for a change from the usual McDonald's and KFC, but Yuen Foong was having a hard time to finish his spicy pan noodles. After the delicious lunch,I was eager to grab my popcorn and settle in front of the screens.

I have to admit that the movie was not as action packed as the first 3 movies but I'm quite sure that the movie didn't deserve its bad ratings.The story line was nice,the original elements of the Pirates sequel was preserved, and the actors were nice for a change. The role of Blackbeard was played quite well in the movie. And the director changed the perception of people on mermaids- from the beautiful sea creatures to insane killers!

After the movie, we headed for our usual last destination before going back home after outings, the arcade. During our arcade visit that day,something amazing happened. Some of the game machines were malfunctioning slightly. They switched on before we could place in our coins.I managed to play my favourite shooting game. I didn't spend even one of my coins at the end of the day.

It was a great chilling out day with my friends. Although many couldn't make it (only Eong Wei, Thaven Foong and I made it),it was great to day to forget the hectic schedule in my life an spend some valuable time with my friends. The next outing will be pretty soon. Till then, it's back to concentrating on school....

Cold Wish

Every time I hear about snowball fights,I wish I could get into one. Every time I hear about snow blizzards,I wish I would experience the difficulty in overcoming it.Every time I hear people talking about sipping hot chocolate in the middle of a cold winter afternoon,I feel the warmth of the thick liquid flowing down my throat.

Well,ever since I was a young boy,I've always wanted to feel snow.Real snow and not the artificial ones in theme parks.I used to watch all those cartoons shows where those kids would be waiting for snow every winter.Once snow falls,smiles form on their faces and excitement grows from within to just get out there and feel the wonders of ice flakes which form snow.

As the first moments of snowfall,the children rush their parents to get their sweaters out.They put on those sweaters with thick socks and gloves to prevent their bare skins from being frost-bitten.Then,they rush outside and just jump right into the thick layer of snow.

I wish I could experience making snow angels.It sounds very childish but the kids make it look very fun.Just lying down there and wriggling your arms and legs to the side to form the outline of an angel.

I wish I could build snowmen from snowballs.The kids in the cartoon shows collect a huge amount of snow and make it into the shape of a ball.They make another one and put it on top the first one to form the body of the snowman.They make a smaller one and stack it on top the body piece to form the head. Small pieces of wood for eyes,a bright orange carrot for the nose,a naturally curved tree branch for its smile and two identical tree branches as its hands.

I wish I could experience a snowball fight with my siblings and friends.I would take a handful of snow in my hand and then throw it at my siblings.And then they would do the same in return.Then,I would build a snow fort to protect myself and then start firing at my siblings again.

I wish I would be able to bask in the warmth of a fireplace after a busy evening outside in the snow.I would be sitting there sipping my cup of hot chocolate that would sooth the the layer of frost on my throat and make my mind forget the sub-zero temperature outside.

I wish,I wish,I wish.It has been my wish to experience snow for a long time now.There's no snow where I live as Malaysia is a tropical-climate country.I would be jumping if I was given a chance to experience snow now.I'm sure I'll experience it at least once in the future.How long more that time in the future will be,I have no idea.For now,I'll just enjoy the tropical sun during my school holidays as I wait patiently to feel the warmth of my heart in the chill of the snow........