8th February 2016
On December 12, 2012, the numbers of the day, month and year all matched, i.e. it was 12.12.12. The next such date will come on 1.1.2101. Here are some other interesting facts about the number 12.
8th February 2016
Alkali metals are chemical elements that are highly reactive with oxygen in the air and water. The alkali metals are sodium, potassium, rubidium cesium, and francium. When any of these metals is dropped in water, an explosion takes place with the generation of heat. The alkali metal breaks water into its constituents, hydrogen and hydroxyl ions, and due to the heat, the hydrogen gas catches fire. They react immediately with oxygen in the air to form oxides. Hence pure alkali metals are not found in nature. Due to their highly reactive nature, pure alkali metals are stored in kerosene or mineral oil (paraffin) to prevent an explosion.
8th February 2016
A lightning is usually produced by the cumulonimbus clouds in the atmosphere. In the clouds, negative and positive electric fields are formed from top to bottom containing negative and positive ions respectively. A column of ions (leader bolt) moves from the negatively charged part to the positively charged part, discharging electricity. The speed of such a bolt could exceed 22,000 kilometres per hour, that is 14,000 miles per hour, and can reach a temperature of more than 30,000-degree celsius.
8th February 2016
The bestselling books by eminent authors were named differently. The book Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was named Ba Ba Black Sheep, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy was named All’s Well that Ends Well and Frankenstein by Mary Shelly was named Prometheus Unchained.
8th February 2016
Glass is a solid, transparent material made chiefly of silica. Other elements such as sodium and calcium are also added. According to an estimate by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, about 13 million tons of glass waste is generated annually in the US. The decomposition of glass depends on a lot of factors such as temperature, oxygen levels and the presence of water. Most of the time, the glass is recycled into new items. The time taken by the glass to decompose is one million years.
8th February 2016
If you wish to travel from earth to the nearest star ‘Sirius’ at 99.99999999% of the speed of light, it will take you 18 hours to reach Sirius. However, when you return to earth after another 18 hours with an intention of dinner, you will find that your family and friends would have already had 6,570 dinners. The explanation lies in the concept of time dilation of the special theory of relativity.
