Trust Assessment Topics.

Genes topic

 Structure Of DNA ✔️
 Fertilisation & Reproduction ✔️
 Inheritance & Heredity ✔️
 Biodiversity ✔️
 Types Of Variation ✔️
 Evolution ✔️
 Extinction ✔️

Reactions Topic

 Exothermic & Endothermic Reactions ✔️

 Conservation of Mass ✔️
 Pollution, Catalysts & Catalytic Converters ✔️
 Combustion ✔️

Forces topic

 Drag ✔️
 Hooke’s Law ✔️
 Pressure ✔️

Genes Topic – Structure Of DNA

DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that caries genetic
information for the development and functioning of an organism. DNA is
made out of two linked strands which wind around each other to resemble
a twisted ladder – a shape known significantly as the ‘double helix’. Made
of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Carbon and Phosphorus reminiscences
which form the structure of DNA.

DNA is the only molecule capable of reproducing itself. Only DNA and no
other molecule has the capability to copy and pass heritable information to
subsequent generations. DNA is literally the form and essence of life in a
compact structure which codes genetic information and heritable data to
recreate itself or other genetic functions such as fertilisation where in the
nucleus of a cell, the ‘DNA blueprint’ is the source of all genetic commands
which ‘instruct’ the egg’s cell division and the development of the
fertilised egg into an early embryo.

Most DNA is stored in the nucleus, where it is called ‘nuclear DNA’, and
takes up about 80-90% of the DNA in the body, however, a scattered
amount of DNA is also found in the mitochondria, where it is called
‘mitochondrial DNA’ or ‘mtDNA’.

DNA is made up of four primary bases, A, G, C & T – which stand for

adenine, guanine, cytosine & thymine; all ‘chemical compounds’ where
three billion of them lay in each human body and more than 99% of those
are the same in everyone and this 1% of AGCT DNA bases make the slight
and large differences between us, biodiversity! More scientifically, these
bases are known as ‘nucleotides’, the four building blocks of DNA! These
nucleotides create the simple essence of diversity through the great
complexity of order these nucleotides go in to differentiate genetic data
from other genetic data; determining the specific instruction and
commands the ‘DNA blueprint’ gives.

DNA is often referred to as the ‘blueprint of life’ usually because it gives

and organises genetic information and data through the long strings of
nucleotides which instruct a organism to ‘grow, develop, survive and
reproduce’.

Now we know that DNA is made of nucleotides of either four of the genetic
bases: Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine & Guanine which contain ‘nitrogenous
bases’, ‘five-carbon sugars’ (deoxyribose) and a ‘phosphate group’. There
are four nitrogenous bases in DNA, two purines, adenine, and guanine; and
two pyrimidines, cytosine and thymine. A DNA does not only consist of
nucleotides of nitrogenous bases of either purine and pyrimidines; they
also consist of a backbone in the special and infamous structure of ‘double
helix’ which resembles two strings of alternating-phosphate sugars which
twist around and wind around each other to resemble a ‘twisted ladder’ to
hold the nucleotides together! Let’s talk about the exact and realistic
structure of DNA. There are two nucleotides on each line connected to the
alternating-sugar phosphate backbone. These two successive nucleotides
connect to each other due to covalent bonds.

Covalent bonds are a ‘mutual relationship’ between two electrons or

molecules. Covalent bonds exchange a specific excess electron in its last
electron shell to another electron which in its last electron shell has one or
two/more missing, so to balance the electron with too many electrons and
balance the electron with two little electrons, the electron with too much
electrons exchanges its ‘extra electrons’ to its fellow friend. This creates
an extremely strong bond between both electrons and is called a ‘covalent
bond’. In this case, what ‘glues’ nucleotides together in this relationship is
a type of covalent bond called a ‘phosphodiester bond/linkage’ which
strongly connects two molecules and is well-known as it is the strongest
bond in chemistry. These now two successive and connected nucleotides
connect to its phosphate backbone due to ‘Hydrogen Bonding’. Hydrogen
bonding is a ‘special type of covalent bonds’ as it is a ‘unique attraction’
between molecules’ – It results from the attractive force of a hydrogen
atom covalently bonded to a very electronegative atom and another very
electronegative atom. Also, did you know that DNA is ‘negatively charged’
due to the phosphate groups in nucleotides! So, between the two
nucleotides and the successively connected nucleotide strand between the
alternating-sugar backbone, there are different types of ‘mutual
connections’ and ‘attracting relationships’ between molecules and atoms
to strongly ‘bond’ the phosphate backbone’s to the nucleotides.

Did you know that DNA can last up to millennials intact and that is how
archaeologists use dinosaur bones to construct ideas on the shape of those
pre-historic mammals. DNA is a very large fundamental in not only
chemistry but in real life as forensics who work in the field attempt to
discover traces of physical reminiscences of body features left behind,
such as hair, blood, or tears.

DNA is so unique and when it comes to appreciation, we should really think

more on why we have ten fingers or black hair! DNA is the genetic code
which is the essence of diverse life, coding for the genetic makeup of a
organism, giving instruction to certain divisions of a cell and having its
complex home in the blueprint of life! Did you know that there are around
two meters of ‘DNA’ in each nucleus of each body cell?

Genes Topic - Fertilisation & Reproduction

Your ’sex cells’ or ‘gametes’ only have a mere ‘half’ of this DNA because
during fertilisation, the male sex cell is called the infamous ‘sperm cell’
while the female sex cell is known popularly by the name’s ‘ova’ or ‘egg
cell’; fuse together to share the DNA for the developing child or organism
to develop from. Fertilisation is the action where the male gametes ‘fuse’
with the female sex cells to create a new cell which in the coming days,
weeks, and months; will expand size and develop gradually into an embryo
into the earliest days of organism development in the womb.

Fertilisation is a very long and troubling process which has many

researched stages which gradually take place. To begin, fertilisation first
starts during intended sexual intercourse where the intention is to concede
a child. There is a large blurry story which I am most likely not aloud to
disclose however we get to the scene where the ‘penis’, the main make
reproductive organ, sinks deep into the ‘vagina’; the female main
reproductive organ – this is called ‘penetration’. When finally, ‘semen’ is
ejaculated into the woman’s vagina, the ‘semen’ travels deep into the
woman’s body.

Essentially, the semen is a white fluid that contains sperm cells, the male
gamete or sex cell. There are hundreds of millions of sperm cells in each
ejaculation from the penis. After deep penetration, the penis ejaculates
semen into the vagina and the vagina carries the semen as a passage to
the egg cell. The actual semen is a white fluid which serves as a protective
layer to sperm cells on their way to find the egg cell. During intended
fertilisation, the sperm cell makes a ginormous voyage to find the egg cell.
Semen and ‘testosterone’, the male hormone which is enormously
significant for puberty and the transition from boys to men; is created in
the testicles of the male reproductive system. The ‘urethra’ is the tube
inside the penis of the male reproductive system and caries semen and
urine our of the body as filtered waste where liquids you previously drank
have been absorbed and all nutrients have been taken along in the
bloodstream and the waste is pushed out of the body as urine through the
urethra.

Then the female reproductive system, after the vagina, come the ovary
which produce an egg cell every menstrual cycle, usually monthly. Then
from the two ovaries come the lengthy ‘fallopian tubes. The fallopian tubes
are fundamental in the female reproductive system as they serve the
purpose of carrying the egg cell towards the millions of sperm cells. So,
while the sperm cells are racing to the egg cell, the egg cell is slowly
drifting through the cilia cells, (hair cells) of the female reproductive
system.

Now there is a slight topic we have merely drifted over; I call it the ‘race to
fertilisation’. Now we all know that in each ejaculation of semen there are
around a hundred million male gametes (sperm cells) which travel together
towards the egg cell. However, what I didn’t tell you was that there is a
sort-of-relationship between the gametes of the man.

Each sperm cell acts its purpose to ‘fertilise’ the egg cell in the least time
and there is only one egg cell per cycle, yet around 100,000,000 sperm
cells to travel, find and fertilise the female gamete. So, a competition
forms to find the egg cell first and travel most time-efficient to enter a
fertilised state. While from the ovaries, where the egg cell is produced and
the cilia drifts the egg cell down the top of the fallopian tubes, the sperm
cell in the protective layer of semen which travels down past the cervix
near the fallopian tubes at the lower part of those lengthy passages to
connect and fuse. The race to fertilisation is kind-of like the ‘process of
elimination’. Each sperm cell dies out of exhaustion eventually, some weak
die early before the even reach the fallopian tubes, the average makes it
halfway, around the cilia and the strong make it halfway, yet stuck deep in
the ventures of the impossible hair cells. However, there are a few hundred
now out of the hundred million which make it so far near the end of the
fallopian tubes and past the cilia, where the egg cell is now drifting so
close near the sperm; yet a race, in fact a competition occurs where the
fastest sperm cell will be the one of millions to fertilise the large female
egg.

Now after explaining this ‘race to the egg’ cell, why? Why does nature
cause search a brutal ‘death race’ to the egg cell? Well to answer all your
questions we must understand that ‘the stronger the better’. Applying the
principle in real nature and we find that the strongest sperm cell will fit the
egg cell best and fertilisation will not take more than twice to ignite the
series of events which develop the embryo. To determine the strongest
sperm cell, the cilia, which also acts its purpose as a protective barrier in
many parts of the body like the throat for ‘tar’ during the inhalation of
tobacco’s smoke, causes many of the sperm cells to get stuck and trapped
within the deep roots of the cilia to eliminate the weak cells and clear the
egg’s options for optimal fertilisation and successful fusion to cause
reproduction safely. During these tests of strength, the egg cell drifts
closer – using cilia to its advantage and the savage race ends where the
last sperm finds the egg cell and fertilisation begins.

Now when fertilisation begins and the sperm cell penetrates the multiple
protective layers of the precious egg cell, a ‘sprinkling technique’ is used
to eliminate any predecessors who attempted to fertilise the egg first but
came only on the mere podium of the race. This liquid acts as an acid and
the dead sperms are so miniature that they just fade away to dust. Now
the sperm cell makes its way deep and buried in the egg cell and true
fertilisation begins here. The sperm cell is adapted for quick and rapid
travel where the tail is in a proportion to the head where it is much longer
to allow a ‘fish movement’ and quicker and stronger endurance to travel
instead of early exhaustion. When the sperm cell is deep inside the female
gamete, the head of the sperm, which carries all of the genetic data and
information ‘fuses’ with the core of the egg cell, where all genetic data is
stored there too. In this mysterious and mystical haven, the 50% of male
genetic data is transferred to the other missing female 50% of data to
contribute to the 100% version of the embryo which will gradually develop
into a child during pregnancy. This means that the child will have the
characteristics of the mom and dad equally. Now that was DNA’s
contribution to fertilisation and reproduction, let take a quick look on what
in the world ‘chromosomes’ and ‘genes’ are!

‘’In the nucleus of each cell, the DNA molecule is packaged into thread-like
structures called chromosomes. Each chromosome is made up of DNA
tightly coiled many times around proteins called histones that support its
structure.’’

-Source: MedlinePlus

Essentially what the source is trying to say is that in each nucleus of a cell,
DNA is tightened well into ‘thread-like structures’ which go by the name of
chromosomes.

The relationship between DNA and chromosomes is that DNA is made from
two connected nucleotides which are connected to two strings of
alternating-sugar phosphate backbone which twist around with the
connected nucleotides in different orders, repeating and reproducing
copies of itself millions of times. Then DNA keep twisting and repeating
itself to such a miniature level where it starts to become ‘thread-like’,
proportionate to the previous size of the DNA. This new structure seems
weak and unbalanced, so it wraps around proteins called histones. This
‘fine DNA structure’ wraps around eight histone proteins which provide
structural strength as a benefit to stability and balance. After the DNA has
wrapped and submerged itself around the eight histone proteins, we
identify it as a nucleosome.

Many of these nucleosomes creates a long and thick, compact chain of

nucleosomes which turn into a ‘fibre’ for chromosomes. The many
nucleosomes create a domain of strings called ‘supercoils’ which slowly,
just as DNA did to Chromosomes; turns into Chromosomes through the
twisting of thick coils. These thick supercoils slowly turn into the special
word we have been throwing around in the last hundred words.
Chromosomes are the special as they are thread-like structure made out of
nucleic acids and protein found in most living cells, carrying genetic
information in the form of genes.

The chromosome looks like an ‘X’ or two pairs of socks which meet at the
top and bottom and twist. These chromosomes carry genes which decide
and configurate the child’s characteristics from his nose, skin, eyes, teeth,
and hair! Chromosomes and genes are fundamental in biology and serve a
purpose to determine characteristics of a early child during fertilisation.
Genes are what do that and chromosomes, made up of coiled and
supercoiled histones, wrapped in DNA actually serve a purpose to be the
home of the gene, where it is randomly placed on the chromosome.

To summarise: DNA consists of four nucleotide options which two are

bonded together and these successive two nucleotides connect to two
strings on each side called a phosphate backbone, a alternating-sugar
phosphate backbone where covalent bonds connect the two nucleotides
and successive nucleotide twins to ‘glue’ to the phosphate back bone
which spirals as a ‘twisted ladder’ into finer and finer ‘thread-like’
structures and slowly we find ourselves at a disproportionate angle
compared to the previous state of the DNA in size. This string has merely
any structure and is a loose string, so it uses proteins called ‘histones’ to
wrap around for the benefits and structure and stability to balance and
stabilise the weight of the DNA. The DNA keep wrapping around the eight
histones, (four at top and bottom) to represent coils. These thick ‘spheres
of coil’ roll itself in DNA to become thicker domains and start to identify
themselves as ‘supercoils’ which are much thicker versions of coiled up
coils. These ‘supercoils’ then start to find optimal structure into
chromosomes. And the once DNA string turns gradually into chromosomes.

Chromosomes contain the characteristics of the child from hormone

production, melanin, face shape and more! Chromosomes carry ‘genes’
which encode for ‘proteins’, such as histones. More fundamental genes like
‘alleles’ find themselves two on each chromosome.

One chromosome is given to the child from each parent and find
themselves on the 23 pairs of chromosomes everyone has! Genes are
especially important for distinguishing traits; however, as mentioned one
paragraph ago, alleles are fundamental for characteristic determining.

Alleles can either be dominant or recessive. Dominant alleles are the most
common and inherited by the parents to the offspring. Do remember that
viruses, inherited disabilities, and diseases can also be sent from the
parent to offspring as hereditary information.

As we have two alleles per chromosome in our body, where we have, in a

normal human body, 23 pairs or 46 chromosomes. When we have two
alleles per chromosome, we can either be ‘heterozygous’ or ‘homozygous’.
To be ‘heterozygous’ it would mean that your alleles are different – so one
of your alleles would be dominant and the other would be recessive or one
would be recessive and the other would be dominant. If you are
heterozygous, you must have the combination, ‘dominant and recessive’ as
when writing alleles out in pregnancies and for scientific or educational
purposes, the dominant allele goes first in the form of the allele code
(letter) and if it is upper or lowercase, (B or b). Dominant alleles are capital
while the recessive allele is lowercased. If you are heterozygous then your
dominant allele will be overpowering to the recessive allele and your
recessive allele will be hidden. However, if you are ‘homozygous’, where
two of your alleles are the same, thus the root word ‘homo’ – then either
your trait for the two alleles is dominant or recessive. So, if my recessive
allele from my father is blue eyes, (b) and my dominant allele from my
mom and her side of the family for generations are brown eyes, (P) – then
if I did theoretically get one allele from my mom and dad each, making me
heterozygous, I would have the dominant allele as heterozygous allele
pairs always result in the dominant allele being visible, so brown eyes it
would be and my blue eyes would be hidden as it is recessive and the
family may lose it over generations as it ‘fades out’.

If I was homozygous, then if one of my alleles are recessive in the family,

then the recessive allele will show; however, if one of alleles are dominant,
then the dominant allele will show. Remember that there are different
alleles for different characteristics, mostly physical, acting as your biology
and appearance decider.

The ‘genotype’ is what we were just talking about, the genotype being the
configuration of your alleles. So, are your alleles homozygous? Are they
heterozygous? If so, then are they recessive? No? Are they dominant?
These are the questions which concern themselves near the topic of your
Genotype. Moreover, your ‘phenotype’ is the ‘expression’ of your
genotype. So, you do have a dominant allele for brown hair? Your
genotype, if your theoretically had a dominant allele for brown eyes and
recessive allele for eyes in an allele pair, then your genotype would look
like this: (Bb) and your (b) recessive blue eyes allele would be hidden and
at chance of being hidden for generations of the family as they act as a
‘carrier’ behind the dominant trait. Your phenotype is the way and
expression of these genotypes. So, what I mean is if you had this genotype
of (Bb) then your actual phenotype would be having brown eyes.
Phenotypes do not concern themselves with the hidden allele in the
genotype as the recessive allele in the heterozygous allele pair will always
be hidden and if not visible; can not be identified as a physical
characteristic!

Genes Topic - Inheritance & Heredity

This is an ‘introduction’ to the Inheritance and Heredity topic. To

understand the topic there are subtopics we must acknowledge and
understand. These fundamental squad of topics are Traits, DNA, Genes &
Chromosomes. Let’s start by understanding what Inheritance or Heredity
are.

‘Heredity is the term used where traits from the parents are passed down
to their reproduced offspring during fertilisation to determine
characteristics, usually physically such as eye colour, hair colour, melanin
levels, diseases and disabilities, nose shape and more!’

However, ‘Inheritance is the term used as a more technical and advanced

term which depicts the pathway your genetic data has taken to determine
your actual physical body characteristics’. An example of ‘inheritance’ can
be defined where nucleotide order is altered from generation slightly to
reproduce different organisms or where alleles are either homozygous or
heterozygous, recessive, or dominant. ‘Heredity is a broader term which
covers an array of areas in biology and marks the definition for the action
of passing of traits from one generation, the parents to the offspring.
Traits are the physical or mental characteristics which either alter
appearance or your bodily function slightly or majorly. Traits are passed
down and the passing of traits are known as ‘inheritance’. Traits depict a
person’s personality and appearance, his length, body fat percentage, nose
shape, mental health and more. Traits can either be positive or negative.
Do remember that Inheritance, Heredity, Traits, DNA, Chromosomes, Allele
and Gene principles apply to organisms other than the human. Traits in a
snake could be the colour of scales, length of tongue, roughness of skin or
the length of the body!

Gender or ‘sex’ can be determined during fertilisation, confirmed during

birth, and passed down by inheritance; however, there are traits that can
either slightly or majorly alter due to ‘environmental changes’ such as UV
radiation from the sun or habitat conditions, such as humidity,
temperature, space, and more variables which determine how optimal an
organism’s habitat is. An organism’s habitat effects many conditions
environmentally which in the long term can slowly be passed on as an
inheritable trait, from parent to progeny. Environmental conditions which
can slowly and gradually be passed down as inheritable traits link more
strongly with the topics of variation, however we will get down to that
after the heredity and inheritance topic.

To conclude and summarise what the sub-topic of ‘traits’ are; ‘traits are
the physical or mental features of an organism’s characteristics which
make up the phenotype of an organism. Traits can be passed down as
inheritable traits due to the heredity of the family and the parent’s
genotype which will be expressed as a trait or a bodily feature as a
phenotype’. Ok, lets take a quick look about what actual relation ‘Genes,
DNA & Chromosomes’ have within and how that relates to the inheritance
and heredity of an organism’s parents to progeny.

Let’s create a ‘theoretical creature’, for simplification’s sake, call it ‘spike’.

Spike is a rattlesnake, an actual ‘copperhead’ rattlesnake. Now, we know
how Spike looks like; how can we determine the appearance of his parents?
Well spike was reproduced in a different type of reproduction. Now we all
know what ‘sexual reproduction’ is, the act of sexual intercourse to
reproduce offspring due to fertilisation of the female and male gamete,
changing chromosome count. However, ‘asexual reproduction’ is the act of
where offspring is created without sexual intercourse and the chromosome
count is not altered in any way. Asexual reproduction usually happens
where an organism starts to develop of the physical outer appearance of
the parent to create the progeny and this organism of offspring starts to
grow and develop features of size and the end becomes fragile to a point it
extends off, becoming an independent organism without the nutritional
need of the parents.

We can determine the rough idea and features of the parents of Spike
using his DNA to make a rough sketch of how the parents looked like. DNA
is a wonderful and long word which has paved the way for many
generations of youthful science and many innovations from solving-crime
devices to studies which have been fuelled by the works of many infamous
scientists who have discovered great discoveries and from these
contributions are we here today with the efficient tools we have...

DNA stands for ‘deoxyribonucleic acid’, this ‘acid’ is a type ‘nucleic acid’
and ‘nucleic acids’ are a type of ‘biomolecule’. If you think hard about your
favourite food for me, Sushi? Macaroni? Pizza? Chips? They all are made
from molecules which in a finer reference are made from ‘biomolecules’ as
we have slightly mentioned. In advanced biology, there are four major
types of biomolecules to focus on, these being: Carbohydrates, Lipids,
Proteins and ‘nucleic acids. Let’s break what each of them are:
Carbohydrates are our biggest food source for energy, Lipids are a fancy
word for ‘fats’ and ‘fatty acids’ and proteins are what genes encode for
and are all unique. However, ‘nucleic acids’ are large biomolecules which
play fundamental roles in all cells and viruses. A major function of nucleic
acids involves the storage and expression of genomic information.
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, encodes the information cells need to make
proteins. Ok now, lets remember a key word, ‘monomer’. A ‘monomer’ is a
key term used across various areas of biology. Monomers are the building
blocks for something, say the wall is the building block for the roof or the
cement is the building block for the wall. Being more technically realistic
and biologically advanced, monomers are molecules of any class of
compounds which by being put together can create larger structures of
itself. From ‘monomer’, meaning one to ‘dimer’ to oligomer and finally
polymers. Larger structures made from the same monomers which when
put together, create larger and more advanced versions of itself. Take the
English language, the building blocks of linguistic communications are
letters. Which form a foundation for words, which form a foundation for
sentences and paragraphs into chapters of these monomers of the
example. ‘Homopolymers’ are lots of these chapters put together which
make complex meanings, however in DNA, nucleotides act as the
monomers to build more complex functions.

There are many nucleic acids. These are DNA, (deoxyribonucleic acid),
which we already have covered and ribonucleic acid, (RNA). RNA is a
nucleic acid present in all known living forms of life and possessing a
similar structure to DNA. Unlike DNA, however, RNA is most often single-
stranded. An RNA molecule has a backbone made of alternating phosphate
groups and the sugar ribose, rather than the deoxyribose found in DNA.
Let’s talk about the structure of these four major biomolecules.
Understanding these biomolecules’ structure can help predict their
properties and easily identify them.

Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins & Nucleic Acids all are made from three to
five of the ‘CHONP’ group. The ‘CHONP’ group consist of five of the majorly
essential monomers for the four major biomolecules. The CHONP group
consist of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen & Phosphorus, where
sometimes ‘sulphur’ is of the group as ‘S’ at the end. The group of these
five compounds are fundamental to a biomolecules structure and form
layouts for enzymes in proteins too!

Carbohydrates and Lipids are all only biochemically made from the first
three of the CHONP group, Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen while the
biomolecule ‘protein’ is made from Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and
Nitrogen! Finally, the complex biomolecule, nucleic acids, are made from
all five of the CHONP group; that being: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen,
Nitrogen and finally Phosphorus. These compounds, some organic and
many inorganic, make up the biomolecules of Carbohydrates, Lipids,
Proteins and Nucleic Acids!

Just like DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, RNA is made from four major
nucleotide monomers which make up DNA’s core function. RNA is made
from three of DNA’s nucleotides where its fourth is unique and special.
DNA is made from the four nucleotides: Thymine, Adenine, Guanine and
Cytosine whereas RNA is made from Guanine, Adenine, Cytosine & Uracil.
Did you also know that nucleotides are also made from nitrogenous bases.
Nucleotides are made of three major parts: Nitrogenous bases, a five-
carbon monosaccharide (aldopentose) and a phosphoric acid. RNA uses
uracil rather than ordinary thymine which is used in DNA because thymine
has a higher resistance to photochemical mutation and makes the genetic
code more durable, DNA uses it instead of uracil.

In DNA there is a sugar called ‘deoxyribose’ which is majorly used in the

core structure of DNA, acting as a fundamental to its structure. This sugar
is found on the alternating-sugar phosphate backbone of DNA and holds
nucleotides and the phosphate-backbone together.

As a definition of deoxyribose:

‘The Deoxyribose definition is a pentose (5-carbon sugar) biological

molecule. Deoxyribose sugar, along with phosphate, makes up the sugar-
phosphate backbone in deoxyribonucleic -acid (DNA).’

-Study.com

Deoxyribose is made from five sugars, thus the name pen-tose.

Deoxyribose finds its home as a fundamental to the stability and structure
of DNA connects with phosphate and nucleotides. Between two successive
nucleotides is a covalent bond called a ‘phosphodiester bond’.

Deoxyribose alternates with other phosphate groups to form the

‘backbone’ of the DNA polymer and binds to nitrogenous bases. The
phosphate and sugar groups of DNA are important in maintaining the
structure of the molecule. Without deoxyribose, the DNA molecule would
be compromised and unable to carry out its function.

Without such ‘components’ DNA would have not stable structure and act as
it does! However, in RNA, the sugar which acts as deoxyribose in DNA is
‘ribose’. An RNA molecule has a backbone made of alternating phosphate
groups and the sugar ribose, rather than the deoxyribose found in DNA.
Attached to each sugar is one of four bases: adenine (A), uracil (U),
cytosine (C) or guanine (G). Without these sugar-groups in both RNA &
DNA; these compounds would not be able to code, decode, regulate, and
express genes! Did you also know that your entire DNA code is in most of
you body cells, 99% in your nucleus, called nuclear DNA and the other
minor fraction of DNA being in your ‘mitochondria’, called mitochondrial
DNA or mtDNA? Also, do you know the reason for the double helix
structure? The reason for the double helix structure is to maximize the
efficiency of base-pair packing, the two sugar-phosphate backbones wind
around each other to form a double helix, with one complete turn every ten
base pairs or five successive base pairs.
Nucleotides are made from three monomers. These three building blocks of
nucleotides are a sugar, in the case of DNA is deoxyribose, a five-carbon
pentose, one of them is a phosphate, that is why we sometimes say ‘DNA
has a sugar-phosphate backbone’ – and the nitrogenous base. The
nitrogenous bases are the most important of three monomers because the
order and complexity of these nitrogenous bases can code for different
traits. Let’s also remember that these nucleotides are split into two
different groups. Purines & Pyrimidines. The purine group of nucleotides
are larger than the pyrimidine group because they have a two-ring
structure while pyrimidines only have a single ring.

Now what I am about to say will be a large and major fundamental in DNA
coding. Certain bases will only pair with certain bases, and it is the
sequence or number of these bases in each twist or in a sum which will
encode for different traits as the genotype and phenotype. Adenine will
always pair up with either Thymine or Uracil in RNA and Guanine will
always pair up with Cytosine. Each human cell has these bases in its DNA
and in total of the human body; a human has three billion! DNA and RNA
have the abilities and capacity of power and function to build cells,
assemble organs, grow and reproduce!

Hydrogen bonds hold together the nucleotide pair from Adenine to

Thymine and Cytosine to Guanine, including Adenine to Uracil. It is because
of these significant bonds that a DNA’s core bases are held together,
providing structure to code for traits.

‘Phosphodiester Linkages’ or more commonly referred to as

‘Phosphodiester Bonds’ are special and unique bonds that are fundamental
to hold the backbone of deoxyribonucleic acid together, from the
nitrogenous base to the ribose pentose sugars to the phosphate groups!
Due to Hydrogen Bonds & Phosphodiester Bonds, can DNA recreate itself
and be the only cell to make more copies of itself. Genes are small parts of
DNA which encode for unique proteins. Genes typically consist of
thousands of nucleotides! Let’s talk about your eye colour. Many of these
nucleotides make up genes, which are sections of DNA which include
nucleotides and although many of this has no relation to why you have
brown eyes, these thousands of genes encode and create proteins which
can produce levels of melanin to depict the colour of your eyes.

Proteins act much more than just for the structure of DNA. They are
involved in transport, structure, enzymes ‘lock and key theory’ and
protecting the body! Remember that not all
genes encode for protein and genes can be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ by a variety
of mechanisms, we call that ‘gene regulation’. Gene regulation is the
process used to control the timing, location and amount in which genes are
expressed. The process can be complicated and is carried out by a variety
of mechanisms, including through regulatory proteins and chemical
modification of DNA. Now we have a lot of DNA and when it is compacted,
as we described in high detail before, turns into a chromosome. You
mother with her egg cell has 23 chromosomes while your father’s sperm
cell has the other 23 chromosomes to give you your 46! And your 46
chromosomes are essentially your ‘genetic code’. Ok, lets recap: We have
46 chromosomes, on these chromosomes we have genes which encode for
protein and genes can also be alleles which are genetic material for your
genotype and phenotype, these genes are short portions of DNA which are
made out of usually thousands of nucleotide pairs of Adenine, Guanine,
Cytosine and Thymine and Uracil, which is another nucleotide found in
RNA to replace Thymine; your nucleotides are connected with hydrogen
bonds and all of this is connected to a ‘backbone’ which is made of
deoxyribose or ribose in RNA, a five-carbon pentose, phosphate groups and
nitrogenous bases which twist and wind around the other side of the
backbone to create a double helix structure; and in these bases – in the
sequences of these pairs and amount of them that encode for proteins and
traits from the production of melanin levels and other variables which all
follow certain procedures to recreate itself, apart of a complex system
which DNA & RNA follow to create your genotype and phenotype.
Understanding this foundation is essential to acknowledging heredity.

Some traits are decided when many genes work together to work out
certain and more complex traits like eye colour. Remember from
paragraphs ago that chromosomes are condensed and compact versions of
DNA, like DNA in a can! Your whole genetic code is represented by these
chromosomes in which we have 46 of. We have 23 pairs; each pair of
chromosomes have one chromosome from the mother and one from the
father. Genes are found in random places on chromosomes where on
certain places in DNA we can find them. Remember that chromosomes are
just compact versions of DNA. Alleles are variants of genes which encode
for traits. Let’s focus at one pair of chromosomes from our 23 pairs. We
have two chromosomes in each pair, one from mom and one from dad.
Chromosomes are compact versions of DNA. In DNA there are genes which
encode for proteins and are usually made from thousands of nucleotides
from DNA! Genes find themselves in DNA and alleles are variants of genes.
Alleles determine traits in a finer reference. Our alleles from our
chromosomes from our mother and our alleles from our chromosomes from
our father find themselves working together at a ‘genetic locus’. These
specific alleles, versions and variants of genes find that they have the trait
for bodily features which alter appearances from men to women, men to
boys and girls to women. Although alleles don’t directly change your
appearance; alleles are types and variants of genes which encode for
protein, where proteins can produce different types of cells in our body
which may make the difference of long and short hair. Say that you have
stronger tongue receptors due to certain alleles which encoded certain
proteins that enable you to taste certain flavours that an average human
finds that he cannot taste and that these certain proteins have the
theoretical choice of receptor strength in your tongue and can change the
difference of your phenotype if you can taste a certain rare taste or not.
Alleles are typically represented by letters, your alleles as mentioned
before, can either be dominant or recessive. Dominant alleles will be
represented as capital letters whereas recessive alleles will be represented
as lowercase letters in ‘punnet squares’, diagrams often used to determine
traits during pregnancy using alleles from the mother and father. To
conclude alleles and genes: if you are homozygous and have a dominant
allele from either your father/mother’s chromosome, then your dominant
allele will only be visible and your phenotype’s trait will be of the dominant
allele as phenotypes do not concern with hidden and recessive alleles
where the dominant allele in the heterozygous pair overpowers the
recessive allele and the recessive allele is ‘undermined’; however if you are
homozygous and have a recessive allele, than the recessive allele will
overcome the dominant allele possibility as there is none as it is
homozygous, meaning that there is no dominant allele which will empower
the pair of recessive alleles - if it was a theoretical situation where your
chromosome pair has alleles of heterozygous origin and you have a
dominant and recessive allele, than you will express the dominant allele
only as the recessive allele is undermined due to the overpowering
dominant genotype. Ok, let’s talk about what on Earth, ‘punnet squares’
are.

‘Punnet squares measure the probability of a genetic outcome’. They do

not tell you a confirmed outcome but what could be a potential outcome
due to a genetic cross. Simple punnet squares cross two genotypes; lets
create a theoretical situation:

Saying that the father has the allele pair of dominant green eyes, and the
mother has the allele pair of recessive blue eyes, then that would mean
that the father’s genotype would be ‘Gg’ and the woman’s genotype would
be ‘gg’ – to display this in a punnet square, it would look like this:

Like this:
DOMINANT By having the data of each parent’s
RECESSIVE genotype for the specific trait we
can put parent 1’s genotype on the
top of the top left and top right
squares and we can put parent 2’s
genotype on the left of the square
on the left side of the top left and
bottom left squares. With these
instructions we are one step closer
to finding the eye colour probability
DOMINANT RECESSIVE of the specific offspring. We must
put the two letters that align with
the specific quadrant of the 2x2
gridded square to get a pair of two
letters, the capital letter coming first
as the dominant letter and the
lowercase letter coming last. After
we have four pairs of letters, we
must determine the phenotype
from the genotype. If there is a
dominant allele or capital letter of
From the knowledge that we know the of the
the genotype than it must have a
genotypes, which is either a dominant/recessive; then
dominant phenotype but if there
can we determine what chance and percentage
are two recessive alleles or two
probability the offspring’s eye colour or any trait in
lowercased letters than the
general will be! So, from this theoretical situation,
phenotype is the expression of the
where the father has heterozygous and dominant
recessive allele’s trait. If we find the
Green Eyes, and the mother has homozygous and
phenotype from all the four
recessive Blue Eyes; we can determine that the chance
genotypes than we can determine
of the offspring’s eye colour from either green/blue is
the percentage of each eye colour
a 50/50 probability. This is because there are two
for
So, the offspring.
these are punnet squares, 2x2
dominant and two recessive alleles which are made
gridded squares which when filled
 Complete overview of ‘punnet squares, DNA, chromosomes, genes, alleles, traits, heredity
& inheritance’ topics.

Genes – Biodiversity

‘Biodiversity is the natural world around us, and the variety of all the
different kinds of organisms - the plants, animals, insects and
microorganisms that live on our planet. Every one of these live and work
together in ecosystems to maintain and support life on earth and exist in
delicate balance.’

-ClientEarth

Essentially what the source is attempting to say is that Biodiversity is the

variety and great and unique assortment of life from certain ecosystems
and biomes to the incredible evolutionary, ecological, and cultural
processes that sustain life. Biodiversity is a marvellous scheme of life
which seems to stay relevant to such a late date in the 21st century.
Biodiversity marks its brilliant name across many sectors of biology, in
ecosystems, in genetics and in variation!

When looking at plants we find two certain areas and categories which split
certain plants up. Vascular and Non-Vascular. When we are talking about a
vascular system in plants, we mean the ‘Xylem & Phloem’ the tissues of
the plant. The ‘Xylem’ carries water as a passage for the essential
inorganic compound to flow throughout the bodies of plants. Water is
fundamental for plants and serves as many of the pillars which hold them
together, alive. From the roots of vascular plants, we find that they find
their function is to absorb water from the soil; where soil absorbs water
when it rains, allowing the unsaturated soil to ‘soak up’ water. Water may
come in the form of rain from the clouds or from ‘water-runoff’; where
water is unable to penetrate saturated soils so it ‘glides’ over to find its
home in unsaturated soils, ready to absorb water. Now can the roots,
which are buried deep into the soil, absorb the water. Roots have adapted
to stretch there length as efficient as possible to absorb the most optimal
amounts of water.

Roots help ‘anchor’ plants and absorb the essential compound of water,
which allows them to stay alive and photosynthesis. The roots absorb the
essential amount of water it needs to the Xylem which stretches up to the
stem to the leaves and carries on the path of water transportation in the
body of the vascular plant. The stem has the function of providing support
to the leaves. Ok, lets talk about the other vascular tissue, the ‘Phloem’.
Recall that ‘glucose’, a sugar substitute is made in the leaves during
photosynthesis as a product. Leaves trap solar energy with the help of
brilliant chlorophyll structure they have, which can be found in
chloroplasts. Leaves have adapted to have the most optimal surface area
to allow the highest amount of sunlight to be absorbed. This glucose sugar
is the plants food source which is created during ‘photosynthesis’, the
complex process which plants use to: utilise solar energy to absorb water
from the roots and carbon dioxide from the stomata to produce oxygen and
mainly glucose as products of photosynthesis, glucose being the main food
source for the vascular plant. All the plant cells will need this sugar, so the
Phloem carries glucose sugars from the leaves, where it is produced,
throughout the plant. That is the structure of vascular plants, let’s
summarise vascular plant structure. Vascular plants have roots which are
deep and firmly planted in the soil which is unsaturated, so it absorbs
water from rain or water-runoff from other saturated soils into the
unsaturated soil which quickly absorbs the water. From the roots in the
soil, the water is absorbed as a reactant for photosynthesis. Carbon
dioxide is also at play and is absorbed by the stomata, tiny pores in the
leaf at the bottom. After water is absorbed through the roots and carbon
dioxide is taken in by the stomata, then the plant needs one last reactant
for photosynthesis to take place. Solar energy is absorbed through the
chlorophyll which is in the chloroplasts of the plant cells and only then can
photosynthesis take place. Solar energy or sunlight is less of a ‘reactant’
but more of a ‘factor’ or ‘helper’ which allows the two true reactants to be
‘converted’ into products for the plant to eat and ‘excrete’ and dissipate
oxygen as its waste product of the photosynthesis reaction.
Photosynthesis is used for plants to make food for themselves to survive.
So, after photosynthesis takes place, a product of glucose is made in the
leaves. Now this sugar and food source can not only stay in one area as the
other areas will remain unbalanced while the leaves are saturated with the
food source, so Phloem carries glucose around the leaf to required areas.
Phloem acts as a passage to spread glucose around the body of leaves, a
vascular tissue. Phloem uses ‘translocation’, which is essentially a method
of transporting sugars around the body of the plant to growing areas to
survive. However, Xylem acts as the ‘intake’ of the reactant ‘water’ which
causes photosynthesis. Xylem, another vascular tissue, continues the
journey of absorbed water through the roots, up in the body and
throughout the plant. Xylem, the intake of water and Phloem, the spreader
of glucose and water – ‘glucose’ being the plants primary nutrition; work
together as a ‘duo’ of complex vascular tissues to transport sugars, water,
and food in and throughout the body of a plant. Xylem only has a ‘one-way’
structure to allow water and minerals to come in through its thick walls
while phloem has a ‘two-way’ system which allows water and food to
spread across the body of the plant instead of remaining saturated in one
area of its production, in the leaves. Let’s look at non-Vascular plants then.

If a plant is ‘non-Vascular’ it does not have vessels like xylem or phloem,

however it still needs water and still produces sugar and if they are non-
vascular, meaning they don’t have vascular tissue such as xylem and
phloem then water can not be brought upwards because there are no
vascular tissues to aid that, so non-vascular plants are usually limited in
size. Unlike trees for example which have to carry water up far into the
higher leaves from the xylem and roots, non-vascular plants use a
technique or method called ‘osmosis’ to carry water around the body of the
plant. These non-Vascular usually live in places with lots of moisture and
do not have any true roots, stems or leaves although they can have
structures which resemble them. Non-Vascular plants need efficient
adaptations which have boosted their rates of survival for many centuries.
Let’s talk about the structure of plants. The structure of plants is critical
for photosynthesis, the major process plants take out for food.
Photosynthesis is the ability to make glucose, the sugar which is the plants
main food source – sometimes converted to starch for easier and simpler
storage. The recipe for photosynthesis requires three main ingredients,
carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. However, it would be impossible to
achieve this without the plants unique structure which allows Xylem and
Phloem to function as intended. Let’s start with water. Water can be
obtained in different ways, depending on if the plant is vascular or non-
vascular, a vascular plant will absorb it from Xylem and spread it
throughout the body using Phloem – while non-vascular plants use a
‘sponge-absorbing’ technique called meiosis. Second ingredient, carbon
dioxide. Many plants have these fascinating holes in them, pores really
which allow Carbon Dioxide to be absorbed, these stomata cells are in the
epidermis layer and protected by guard cells which submerge it. Stomata
have a major role in ‘gas exchange’ where Carbon Dioxide will be absorbed,
and oxygen will be dissipated as waste. To carry on we must talk about a
very important topic of ATP.

ATP, which stands for adenosine triphosphate is a biomolecule which falls

into the class of nucleic acids and has its major role in plants for plant cells
to communicate and much more. Just as we covered, nucleic acids have
three major monomers which build them. Phosphate groups, a five-carbon
pentose sugar and a nitrogenous base. However, in ATP there is three
phosphate molecules which make it up. Adenosine triphosphate is made up
of three parts in its etymology. Its nitrogenous base is ‘adenine’, a
nucleotide in DNA and RNA. The ‘tri’ part in ‘triphosphate’ means three and
continues with phosphate – meaning ‘three phosphates’. So, from this
breakdown we can conclude that the origins of the word come from
‘adenine’ and its three phosphate molecules! Additionally, the sugar of ATP
is ‘ribose’, the reoccurring sugar found in RNA, whereas DNA has
deoxyribose for its sugar. That is the ‘what?’ of ATP; now let’s look at the
‘how?’. All cells need ATP so they need process that can generate it. There
are many types that create ATP, such as aerobic respiration or anaerobic
respiration, even fermentation! The first needing oxygen and the 2 nd and
3rd methods do not. Organisms make glucose to feed upon, however in
‘cellular respiration’ organisms break this glucose into ATP. ATP is a
requirement for small organisms especially as they can not photosynthesis
due to its size, so they have glucose which they have stored in the form of
portable ‘starch’ to be crushed into the energy source of ATP. The
conversion from glucose to ATP is a complex conversion from a range of
chemical reactions which break glucose down, especially fundamental for
organisms that can not yet respirate. So, lets summarise, plants use
photosynthesis to harness the power of carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight
to make oxygen and glucose, glucose is the primary nutrition source. This
glucose can sometimes be stored as starch which is especially important
for tiny organisms. This can not always be eaten up though so after
photosynthesis, a process called ‘cellular respiration’ breaks down this
glucose into ATP, which is a biomolecule, falling into the category of
nucleic acids, having adenine as its nitrogenous base, ribose as its five-
carbon pentose sugar and three phosphates which are power filled for the
operations plants must take out. Just imagine that plants must make
glucose and break it, that is incredible! I can not emphasise enough how
fundamental the process of making ATP through cellular respiration is for
cells. Through cellular respiration and photosynthesis can a plant survive
the difficulties of nature. Oxygen is needed during cellular respiration to
break down glucose into ATP as oxygen is required in the electron
transporter chain. However sometimes it makes more than it needs. While
gasses can flow through the stomata, there is usually a little problem –
they can not stay open all the time.

When the stomata cells are open, they can let water escape which is also
equally as fundamental to carbon dioxide as carbon dioxide is to water. So,
the plant must determine whether to open or close the stomata cells at the
right time, so it is optimal not to let water escape but to also allow carbon
dioxide to be absorbed at sufficient levels. So, to aid this problem ‘guard
cells’ come into play. If the guard cells allow the stoma to be open then it
absorbs enough carbon dioxide, but loses water; however, if the stoma is
closed – it can keep and maintain water levels yet lose the significant
ability to absorb carbon dioxide. However, at night plants can make
exceptions to close their stomata as they are not doing any photosynthesis
because there is no solar energy to fuel the operation. So, the plant
maintains water levels while not having the intake of carbon dioxide, which
is not necessary because it would be very hard to photosynthesis without
sunlight.

Plant cells have organelles called ‘chloroplasts’, these amazing cells are
not found in animal cells. Chloroplasts also have pigments called
chlorophyll in there which are the reason for nature to be submerged in the
colour green. These chloroplasts help absorb as much light as possible. The
cell can also contain other pigments which expand the wavelength of light
that can be absorbed. Leaf structure is important for capturing light
energy. The size and shape of leaves allow optimal amounts of solar
energy to be captured due to increased surface area. For some
environmental conditions such as hot weather or dry biomes which are not
optimal for water, plants must adapt to live in such conditions or will die
out due to inappropriate features which do not aid the plant in absorbing
water. Such as cacti, cacti have adapted and evolved for the scorching and
unforgiving environment they live in with their long and lengthy roots
which allow the most amount of water to absorbed, even from ranges far
away. These plants also have a very special ‘waxy cuticle’ to prevent water
loss. Plants may have a lot of access to water but might be shaded by taller
and more dominant plants in the ecosystem may prevent sunlight to
absorbed, preventing the plant from photosynthesising as optimal if it did
have access to solar energy.

Adaptations in plants and even animals have stayed prevalent as the

method to survive and have changed the game for survival. Plant
structures are great ways plants have altered their chances of survival.
Remember, plants have no emotion just purpose. So, to adapt to living
conditions will boost their survival chances, they seem that survival is the
only purpose with no other desire. Adaptations allow a plant to adjust to
the environmental conditions they are forced to live in, so instead of crying
over spilt milk, they clean it up! They see what they can change and
gradually overtime, it is changed due to the longing requirement that it
must have it to survive, the purpose of life.

Let’s talk about the cellular structure of leaves. The leaf is made from
many complex functions, lets talk about each and its function/purpose
quickly. The cuticle protects the leaf as an extracellular hydrophobic layer
which protects the leaf from water loss and deadly pathogens, it can be
very thick in dry conditions were water is obligatory. The cuticle is covered
in ‘cutin’, a water repelling layer. Also, it is made to be very thin to allow
maximum sunlight. Let’s talk about the upper epidermis. The upper
epidermis is a protective layer of cells with little to no chloroplasts but a
very transparent structure to allow sunlight to penetrate easily to the
actual chloroplasts which do the photosynthesising. The function of the
stem is to provide stable support and structure to transport the product of
photosynthesis around the body of the plant. The upper epidermis is a
single layer of cells which act more as a protective barrier yet transparent.
Acting also as a layer between the outside and inside of the leaf. Below the
skinny and transparent upper epidermis is the palisade layer. The palisade
mesophyll layer is one or a few layers which contain cylindrical cells of
many chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are an important part of cells because they
allow photosynthesis to happen. The palisade mesophyll is usually
interpreted as the most important layer as chloroplasts are highest in
quantity there, therefore photosynthesis happens there most. Palisade
cells have the highest number of chloroplasts making them an active site
for photosynthesis. In the palisade cells there are vacuoles which are large
blobs in the cell which take up most of the area in an interior cell and store
water and nutrients; furthermore, maintaining cell acidity. Secondly there
is the nucleus which stores genetic data and information. The plasma
membrane, or the cell membrane, provides protection for a cell. It also
provides a fixed environment inside the cell, and that membrane has
several different functions. One is to transport nutrients into the cell and
to transport toxic substances out of the cell. However, the cell wall is
outside the cell membrane and is the last layer of the cell. Acting as a
complete ‘case’ or protective barrier to the outside conditions of air and
pathogens/viruses. Cytoplasm. The cytoplasm is the gel-like fluid inside the
cell. It is the medium for chemical reaction. It provides a platform upon
which other organelles can operate within the cell. All the functions for cell
expansion, growth and replication are carried out in the cytoplasm of a
cell. The jelly portion of cytoplasm is called cytosol which submerges
organelles, (miniature organs in a cell like the vacuole or the nucleus). The
cytoplasm is more than a jelly-substance but provided structure and
dissolves waste products before it is passed out of the cell membrane into
the atmospheric environment. The palisade cells are arranged in cylindrical
format to make sure there is as much in a certain layer as possible, an
excellent adaptation!

Now that we have talked more about adaptations, plant structure and
purpose, cellular respiration, photosynthesis, ATP, and glucose – we can
move on to a more detailed revision over biodiversity and answer ‘why is it
important?’, ‘how can we help?’, ‘why do we need it? and a general
summary and conclusion over biodiversity for this topic.

Humans have spent hundreds of years documenting life on Earth, and we

have so far discovered a great ‘catalogue’ of around 1.6 million species on
Earth; however, they may be 7 or 8 million more we do not know about and
remain unknown due to the limits of science. We have a rough idea on the
largest species on Earth like the African Elephant or the Blue whale –
however, the smaller we go, we find that there are more undiscovered
species that branch out. As the ‘human impact’ on the planet intensifies
(climate change), scientists fear that many species may be lost before we
even discover them… So, why is it so important to protect our planets
biodiversity? When we think about protecting wildlife, we think mainly
abut the superstars of the food chain, such as the great white sharks or
even the fastest mammals on Earth – However, the smaller insects which
make up the larger portions of the global ecosystem are vital to supporting
the food chain and insects to the largest mammals rely on each other to
survive, from food sources to sustaining the environment! Many of these
smaller insects and creatures or organisms find that they help keep the
Earth together as a stable union between ecosystems. Take the spiders of
Earth, although we despise them in every way imaginable – the ‘eight-
legged-freaks’ are a key component of forest ecosystems, occupying a
unique position in food webs. As predators, they are important in the
regulation of invertebrate populations, which include pest species, and as
prey they provide food for other invertebrates and birds. This ‘biodiversity’
provided us with the food we eat, from the micro-organisms that enrich the
soil to the pollinators that give us fruits and nuts. Fish is the main source
of animal protein for around one billion people world-wide and if we carry
on polluting the oceans, seas and rivers, we may not have the luxuries we
have today in a few decades. Taking care of wildlife and the ecosystem is
key to preventing such international catastrophes which will leave the
Earth in an ‘ecological coffin’ for generations to come. To sustain future
and subsequent generations we must protect what we have today to see it
tomorrow…

Many of our medicines originate from our plants and fungi and many more
may lie ‘undiscovered’ to our limited assortment of current medicine today
and we are limiting chances of finding this undiscovered medicine due to
the impact humans are having on planet Earth. For instance, there is a
fungus that grows on the fur of sloths that could help treat some various
forms of cancer.

The natural world shelters and protects us too, trees, shrubs and
rocks/stones prevent floods by reaching villages and cities and act as
blockages to slow down the velocity of floodwater and prevent majority of
it from even touching civilisation, preventing natural disasters and major
and minor destruction. Take reefs and mangroves, together the coral reef
and mangrove ecosystems form a barrier that protects shorelines from the
destructive forces of wind, waves, and driven debris. These living
structures decrease the erosion and physical damage that can often
impose significant economic and environmental costs on coastal
communities. That is not to mention the spiritual and cultural value nature
holds for human beings. Despite the healthy and brilliant benefits nature
and biodiversity hold for our planet, many human actions are destroying
biodiversity on a catastrophic magnitude. Deforestation is a major loss in
biodiversity as trees act as the producers of oxygen and hungry consumers
of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas of planet Earth. For instance,
take Cambodia. 1993 Cambodia had much more trees than recent years
and deforestation rates have increased dramatically! The destruction of
habitats has increased extensively in recent decades for grazing, mining,
and crop production, including the use of harmful fertilisers have had a
humongous impact on land and seas. Furthermore, fertilisers are ruining
biodiversity. Before taking a swift look at animal cell structure, let’s take a
summary and key points on 13 of the main key specialised structures of
the plant cell.

PLANT CELL STRUCTURE

CELL WALL:

- Rigid structure made of cellulose.

- Provides strength and structure to the cell and plant.
- Cell wall is ‘permeable’, (allows fluid and substances to move
freely through it.

CELL MEMBRANE:

- Separates the cell from the outside environment.

- AKA the ‘phospholipid bilayer’.
- Has structure for flow of water in and out, (semi-permeable)

CYTOPLASM:

- The cytoplasm is everything enclosed within the cell membrane

excluding the organelles.
- Not to be confused with cytosol which is the ‘soup’ liquid which
organelles in a cell move around in to fill up empty space.

CENTRAL VACUOLE:

- Used for storage of nutrients and water which a cell can use to
rely on for survival. They also store the waste from the cell and
prevents the cell from contamination. Hence, it is an important
organelle.
- Plays a large role for shape and stability.
- The central vacuole is most of the fluid in a cell, therefore it
applies ‘turgor pressure’ against the cell wall to keep the
integrity and structure of the internal cell.
- Turgor pressure is pressure applier by fluid which pushes
outwards onto the plasma membrane (cell membrane) to the
cell wall.
- This is why plants that don’t have central vacuoles look ‘weak’
and ‘sinking’ because the petals of ‘hanging’.

RIBOSOMES:

- Responsible for translating RNA (ribonucleic acid) into proteins

- Made from RNA and proteins.
 NUCELUS:

- Genetic data and material which contains DNA and controls

genetic information and instructs cells what to do.
- Brain and core of the cell.
- Most important organelle.

MITOCHONDRIA:

- Where cells and organisms get their energy from and acts as
the powerhouse of the cell.
- Mitochondria are highest in quantity in the human body in
muscles as they are used in aerobic and anaerobic respiration
where glucose is broken down into ATP (adenine triphosphate)
or energy.
- ATP is the main currency of energy in a cell.
CHLOROPLASTS:

- Converts energy from the sun (solar energy) into glucose using
chemical reactants such as photosynthesis.
- Source of usable energy for nearly all cells.
- Traps sunlight to be photosynthesized.
- Contains chlorophyll which is a green pigment for nature.

Finally, let’s talk about the actual structure of a cell in one last final
summary. The cuticle is the top layer in a leaf which covers and encloses
the top part of a leaf. The cuticle is covered in waxy layer of ‘cutin’ which
creates a glazy texture and shine on some plants. The waxy cuticle’s
purpose and function is to be a thin layer for light to pass through and to
be hydrophobic, minimising chances of water loss which is a fundamental
in biological survival.

The upper epidermis is also very thin and the layer above the palisade
mesophyll which is the layer with the most chloroplasts and an ideal site
for photosynthesis to peak. The upper epidermis acts as a protective layer
of many skinny and horizontal cells that protect the leaf’s structure and
are specialised to be exceptionally thin compared to the cells in the
mesophyll.

Swiftly moving on to the ‘palisade mesophyll’ below the upper epidermis.

The palisade layer contains the category of cells which each contain the
most chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are the largest helpers of photosynthesis
as they allow sunlight to be captured and used to create glucose in the
leaf. The palisade layer is one of two layers contained in the large category
of ‘mesophyll’ which takes up the palisade and the ‘spongy’ layer which we
will talk about. The palisade is the most special as it is the ideal active site
for photosynthesis due to its high quantity of chloroplasts which each
individually contain chlorophyll, the pigment of nature’s green tint.

Then we have the spongy layer of the mesophyll, entering the lower
structure of the leaf. The spongy mesophyll has been specialised to have
wide gaps between the cells to allow space and movement for gas
exchange, a key part of photosynthesis. Gas exchange is the term used
when the reactants of carbon dioxide are exchanged for the products of
oxygen. This is happening in the cartilage of a human tissue when
ventilation occurs. The spongy mesophyll is key when working with the
stoma as the distances between the spongy layer’s cells are ginormous
which help the movement of gases during absorbing the reactants of
carbon dioxide for essential photosynthesis.

The stoma or the stomata (plural) is a ‘pore’ at the bottom of a leaf which
allow carbon dioxide to be ‘inhaled’ into the leaf as a reactant for
photosynthesis. The stoma allow photosynthesis to happen as it is the key
to the door which hides the reactant that allows photosynthesis. The stoma
is more of a ‘pore-structure’ which allow gas exchange to be possible.

The stoma cells are surrounded or more realistically ‘submerged’ with

guard cells which protect the precious stomata and are incredible.
Regulating the choice to open or close the stoma cells. The plant must
decide if it must lose water or carbon dioxide when ever levels are high or
low for both circumstances. Remember that both water and carbon dioxide
are reactants for photosynthesis, so both are equally significant. The guard
cells must decide to open or close the stoma; if the water levels are low, it
must keep the stoma pores closed or else it will die due to water
deprivation. If carbon dioxide levels are low, it must decide if it must open
the stoma cells as it needs to extract it from the atmosphere.

Lastly there is a lower epidermal layer which acts as the protective layer
just as the upper epidermis and is lastly also protected by a cuticle just as
the one on the top of a leaf, however it is not covered in cutin like the
cuticle at top which has the function to retain water levels.

To finish, the xylem and phloem take their place in a leaf as a very
important specialised structure. The xylem makes sure that water is
transported around the leaf after it is absorbed from the roots, the xylem
is structured as a ‘one way’ system. The phloem on the other hand
transports nutrients such as glucose around for the plant to eat and acts as
a two-way system where nutrients are not concentrated in one area.

A quick fact on fertilisers: Fertilisers are artificial and concentrated sources

of plant nutrients which contain elements and minerals which can sustain
and boost a plants growth. Anyways, back to biodiversity.

We hunt animals for meat and prized body parts. More than 300 mammal’s
species risk being consumed to extinction. And then there is climate
change, these effects the whole world putting immense pressure on
wildlife. In 2016 and 2017 nearly half of the corals in the great barrier reef
died because of the warming of the seas. So, what can we do to prevent
this crisis from becoming even worse. In addition to cutting on carbon
emissions, we must find ways of using land and water that cause the least
damage to the environment, leaving enough space for natural habitats to
thrive. We must protect the so-called ‘biodiversity hotspots’ such as
rainforests and special biomes – equally trying to rebuild biodiversity
wherever and however we can. Sometimes this is as simple as simple as
giving plants and animal they space they need to survive instead of
causing deforestation rates in major rainforests to skyrocket, trees play a
huge role in natural resources and preventing global warming as it
produces oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide. Perhaps it may take ‘hands-
on’ management to control certain species and grow development. Thanks
to researching scientists in the south of England, scientists were able to
make the white stork eggs hatch for the first time in 600 years. We must
provide pathways that work with, rather than against the development of
nature. The benefits of biodiversity and caring for life are indispensable,
making human life both possible and worth living. If we do not sustain
what we have today, we can not expect to launch at monumental rates for
the subsequent generations to even exist if we do not regulate what we
use today with effective methods.

The biodiversity in our world is on the verge of a ‘extinction’. The beautiful

and most biodiverse places on earth are the coral reefs. Coral reefs are
home to the most unique ecosystems and species which are all so different
in physical appearance and features which make up the biodiversity in the
oceans. Biodiversity makes the difference between a strong ecosystem and
a weak ecosystem. When a dramatic change occurs due to cataclysmic
events such as asteroid or volcano attacks, including natural disasters - an
ecosystem may not be able to adapt as fast due to its weak biodiversity.
Adapting to a specific environment is fundamental for organisms to stay
alive as survival in the wild is a competition between all living mammals.
Biodiversity is split into three major categories, species diversity, genetic
diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Take the amazon rainforest, one of the
most biodiverse regions on Earth due to its complex ecosystems, huge mix
of species and the genetic variety within those species. Take liana vines.
Liana vines grow up from the bottom of rainforests to the top of treetops
to achieve maximum sunlight, the ecosystems around the world act as held
competitions which compete for the chances of survival. Many decomposed
insects enrich the soil internationally, producing elements and minerals
which boost ecosystem growth. The species which work with species,
including hosts and parasites of mutual parasitism for instance, make up
the biodiversity which concludes the fact that ecosystems seem stronger
where species entangle with each other for support. The amazon rainforest
as a biodiversity hotspot has many systems like this where different and
various species interconnect with each other to provide support and
stability to the ecosystem. Take oxpeckers which land on rhino’s backs and
necks to eat parasites which have grown across their bodies. This not only
prevents the rhino from disease or fatal infection but allows the oxpeckers
to have their own meal! Every link provides stability to the next. This
includes the genetic diversity which intermingles different species to
various other species that have opposite features.

Individual species can lack genetic diversity due to isolation or low

population numbers which can dramatically affect the chances of coping to
fluctuations caused by climate change, disease, or habitat fragmentation.
When a species disappears or goes extinct because of its weakened gene
pool; a knot is untied, and parts of the net disintegrate.

Theoretically say if we removed a one species from the ecosystems of the

rainforest or a biodiverse hotspot, would the ecosystem collapse? Well
probably not, this is because the connections of mutual relationships that
individual organisms and species have are so rich that such minor gaps in
the ecosystem would not cause it to unravel. A forest can remain resilient
and recover from change. However, that is not true in every case. In
individual ecosystems and extreme environments, taking one singular
component in the ecosystem can cause a major collapse. Take plankton in
major oceans. Marine plankton, found in all ocean ecosystems, play a
critical role in maintaining the health and balance of the ocean and its
complex food webs. The oxygen, nutrients, and biomass they produce also
sustain terrestrial life—from the food we eat to the air we breathe.
Sometimes a singular component in the whole ecosystem can allow others
to function and maintain an environment as other species rely on it. Also,
take coral reefs. Coral reefs are key in complex ocean ecosystems as they
provide shelter, microhabitats, and breeding grounds for the ocean’s
species! More to the point, ocean acidification or harmful fish practises,
even ocean pollution may destroy these special and limited habitats which
provide sustainability to humanities main resources and medicine! Not only
that, but these key habitats ad whole ecosystems could potentially be at
risk of collapse and without such key components, we could not possibly
sustain natural resources we have today for the subsequent generations
that pass us…

To conclude biodiversity: ‘Biodiversity is more of a beauty in nature than a

biological term, biodiversity is the beauty of nature and the variation and
special diversity that build the ecosystems present on Earth today, but why
biodiversity is so relevant to today is because we are destroying it at
monumental speeds and can lose it one day, limiting chances of finding
cures to many diseases such as cancer. Biodiversity is a fundamental in
biology and ecosystems and holds the key hotspots of Earth together as an
intermingling society of various yet diverse species!

Key completed overview of topic ‘Biodiversity’.

Genes Topic – Types of Variation

Variation is the genetic diversity within a certain group of species.

Variation is a relevant topic today as it supports the ecosystems of the
world. Variation helps certain species be more advanced and prepared for
large fluctuations in the ecosystem such as population drops or increases,
even natural disasters which may wipe out whole species. Variation is
fundamental for survival in the long-term of species as it prepares animals
for large changes which may affect a specific organisms survival chance
dramatically. Variation happens due to minor genetic changes (mutations)
in the gene pool. Mutations cause slightly different versions of the same
genes called alleles which alter certain traits which can make major
physical differences in your appearance, phenotype. Mutations in the gene
pool introduce new alleles to a population which can cause the species to
develop in various ways and can cause a large assortment and array of
different phenotypes which can develop over time. Variation can cause
genetic diversity as mentioned before and genetic diversity is the variety
of phenotype between a population. A larger genetic diversity increases
the likelihood and chances of survival amongst a population.

When a major change in the gene pool occurs such as a nucleotide position
swapping or an altered gene in anyways, this can cause the DNA to code
for a different genotype and the appearance of the population can change.
But if we think, only the selected individual’s phenotype changes, but
when this selected individual reproduces – its offspring has the same
alleles with the same change in genetic mutation. These generations keep
reproducing to expand the amount of these mutated individuals with the
altered genotype and this new group starts to become more dominant
every generation. This is how from a slight mutation a whole ecosystem of
a certain species can develop different and unique traits. If we though that
we all came from one ancestor, that ancestor must’ve been no where near
how we look and from that one ancestor came black people, Chinese
people, Irish people all from one ordinary person. This must’ve happened
due to gene mutations which can cause different changes, major or minor
in an individual which when they reproduce and a new generation of this
altered trait is created, the new altered trait carriers can expand and
become more dominant. There is a great deal of variation between species.
Different species can be distinguished because of traits and that is why
makes certain species different, sometimes certain traits can act as an
advantage in the conditions they live in. When we think of the conditions
they live in, we do not only think of habitat (where a species lives). The
conditions can be the temperature or the terrain or even the surrounding
difficulties from day-to-day! As an actual definition variation is the
differences amongst a specific group of species. Variation can happen due
to genetics, the environment, or a little bit of both. If a theoretical
situation where genetics is the answer, an action called ‘substitution’ will
take place that means where a specific nucleotide in the specific species
DNA is swapped for another, say if Thymine is swapped for a Cytosine
nucleotide. However, if the reason for variation is the environment, it may
be a little bit rougher than a genetic change. If it is due the environment, it
will be because the body has a ’urge’ for change. The species DNA may
seem the point to adapt to a certain lifestyle it does not have as it will fall
behind and seem like a disadvantage to have the disappointing trait which
limits and restricts the species from doing what they do to survive. In the
ecosystems of wildlife, we find that life is a competition of survival and
only the fittest win. To survive as the top of the species you must adapt to
the environment efficiently and be amongst a biodiverse ecosystem to be
prepared for fluctuations that may occur due to natural disaster or
economic change. Having these abilities makes sure that the species is
well-prepared for anything that may happen.

Different members of a population have different DNA and all their DNA is
unique unless they are identical twins. This means that their versions of
genes, alleles have opportunity to arise for different characteristics as they
are at risk to genetic mutation. Genetic variation may happen due to
‘crossbreeding’ where two species sexually reproduce and create new
versions of themselves as a ‘mix’ between species. The more alleles and
DNA that is shared creating more species creates a more extensive genetic
diversity in the ecosystem. This means that some individuals are better
adapted to the environment than others. For instance, take birds who have
cross breaded, and the offspring has a longer and more extending tongue
to the bird that does not, the bird that does not is at disadvantage and can
die to starvation, limiting the number of birds of the species category until
there are no more to reproduce from, thus the species has gone extinct.
The more dominant species that is at advantage will not die out and thrive
for generations as it has better adapted to its environment which is having
a longer beak to pick up insects.

Variation dissects the different categories of those in the species group

that have the advantage and those who do not, those who have the
advantage can thrive and live on for generations as they give it to there
offspring through sexual/asexual reproduction. However, those on the side
of disadvantage will not be able to adjust as well to the environmental
conditions, thus will go extinct which happens when there are no more of
the specific species to reproduce from, thus die out for ever. Extinction is a
serious problem but also clears out space and population for the more fit
and dominant species which will be able to adjust to extreme situations as
mentioned.

Take for instance a giraffe. Say that a genetic mutation in the gene pool
has occurred, causing a blue giraffe to come to life when the yellow giraffe
reproduces its offspring. This blue giraffe may also have a short neck. The
blue giraffe will not be able to eat bananas from tall trees and will starve
and die, just in time for reproduction. The next species will die but the
consequences will be more vigorous and damaging as the number of blue
giraffes over generations has decreased so dramatically that there are no
more to reproduce, so the giraffes that remained with the long necks will
survive. However, sometimes a species can make a comeback. If it can
adjust to the environment and fit in with the dominant species, it can
survive. The more dominant species that have the trait of advantage will
have a higher likelihood of surviving to reproduce, so the trait will stay
strong for generations as reproduction will become more easier as more of
the inherited species are alive to pass it on to the next generation of
offspring. This is how if a bad trait occurs due to a genetic mutation, it will
kill the generations that inherit it; if it is a good trait and acts as an
advantage, species will utilise it and pass it on to the next generation
successively because they have the likelihood of living until reproduction,
the trait will become dominant in the ecosystem and the species that
inherit it will have the advantage of survival.

If you have blood group A, it is because of your certain alleles you were
born with, and nothing can change it. Some variation will occur due to the
environment or the lifestyle the organism is familiar with. The environment
may affect the offspring of the parents who have the inherited trait like in
this theoretical situation: tall parents likely reproduce to have offspring of
tall children, but if the tall child does not eat, it will not grow to the
expectation. Fortunately, humans do not have to compete at such a level
as we have the advantage of technology and intelligence. Say in identical
twins, they will have the same DNA and alleles/genes which coded for the
same proteins which allowed them to produce the same melanin levels in
their eyes which allow them to have the same trait of eye colour. However,
their likes and dislikes may change because due to the environment of
social media.
Even in the same species there are different traits which differ, and this
may be because of the environment or because of genetics. The slight
altercations that take place in the DNA can be passed down as an
inheritable trait which a generation of offspring will inherit and that trait
will be passed down to more and more generations. Say lighter frogs to
darker frogs. The variation may create the biodiversity in the ecosystem
however they may cause a certain species to go extinct, or a certain
category within the species like the lighter frogs.

-Although they may create biodiversity within the species, it can be at a

disadvantage trait which will cause the species category to die out.

-The species that has the trait of advantage is more ‘fit’ and will have the
likelihood of reproducing more offspring as it can survive in the ecosystem.

-Over a long period of time, you can expect to see a higher frequency of
frogs with the trait of advantage than the frogs with a trait of
disadvantage as the frogs of disadvantage have died out as they are not as
‘fit’ as the light frogs.

-The fittest frogs can now reproduce and create more generations of more
dominant members of the species.

-Over a long time, we can expect to see less of the frogs at disadvantage or
they might even go extinct as the predators or the harsh environment
conditions have wiped the potential frogs that can reproduce to make
offspring and new generations.

-When a species goes extinct, the alleles that created the category of
species that possess the trait of disadvantage is not always lost and just
can be a hidden trait, (recessive).

-A species has no choice over genetic mutation as it is random.

-Sometimes a genetic mutation can have no effect and still be passed down
to offspring

-A good trait that develops over time or through genetic mutation for the
advantage is an ‘adaptation’.

-When a dominant species has been reproduced with a trait of advantage

that makes them fit compared to the species with the trait of disadvantage
which will slowly die out killing the species of disadvantage so the
frequency of species at advantage is more dominant and higher.

Let’s summarise:

- If we look at a group of people in a population, we’ll discover

that they are all different as they have different traits. This is
because of variation.
- This will alter the phenotype of certain individuals; phenotype
is the observable characteristic of an organism.
- This can change because of two things, their genes, and their
environment.
- Genes code for proteins.
- Genome, all your genes, code for a whole organism.
 - Apart from identical twins, everyone in the world has a unique
genome.
- This means that they have slightly different combinations of
proteins inside them, which is why they look different and have
different phenotypes.
- The way we look, and function isn’t just because of our genes
but because of our environment too!
- For e.g.: a pair of twins may have the same genes because
they are both look-alikes, however they might have different
personalities for favourite food due to the environment.
- They might have the same skin and same eyes, but their hair
may be different as twin A could be dyed red or cut short while
twin B can have brown and long hair.
- Most of our characteristics are from the interactions within our
genetics and our environment, the environment and genetics
play as a ‘duo’ to make our personality and body phenotype.
- A man called Charles Darwin noticed that traits were being
passed down from parent to progeny and often the beneficial
ones.
- He called this ‘natural selection’ as the fittest were being
selected to survive.
- His most important discovery was evolution.
- Evolution is the theory that because of certain genetics that
have been caused due to mutations in the gene pool or
substitution within DNA, the parent will pass the trait to the
offspring which will reproduce again if it is a good and
beneficial trait which has given an advantage.
- Over the long term we will discover and realise that a whole
population can change due to the theory of evolution.
- Sometimes a development of a whole new species can occur.
- We can prove evolution through fossils and other records of
life for certain species to change from a disadvantage trait to a
trait which benefits them.
- Phenotypes will become better if the adaptations of traits are
beneficial.
- Adaptations are changes of something for the better and will
benefit something as it will adjust to the environment for the
better.

Completed overview of the topic ‘Types of Variation’.

Genes Topic – Extinction

Extinction may happen when a specific species can not adjust to the
environment as well as to another species which is better at adapting to
fluctuations in the ecosystem. Extinction is serious as there is no comeback
from it. When I say fluctuations, I mean population increases or decreases,
natural disasters or economic catastrophe. This can dearly alter a species
as the species will not be able to adjust to the new environmental
conditions as well. Sometimes a specific species will randomly have a
genetic mutation which can either be for the better or worse, however if it
is for the environment, which is common as fluctuating environmental
conditions are something organisms must be prepared for or will die as
they can not compete. The environment acts as a stage of competition
where organisms compete to survive. If an organism can not survive the
tests of the fittest it will live a few generations, decrease population
quantity at a monumental rate before dying out as they are no more
parents to reproduce asexually or sexually to new offspring of the trait.
The trait may die out or the whole species who unfortunately inherited the
trait will die out. The trait can also be better and allow species to be at the
top of the ecosystem as the dominant species; however if it so fatal, the
species will die as they can not adjust to such harsh conditions, this can be
to eat or to find shelter for an example – the species will find that it is a
struggle to survive although they cannot adjust, will gradually die out
overtime due to the species with the poor trait failing the test of the
fittest.

To recap on our last evolution mechanics:

Variation is the change and alter in the phenotype (physical and

observable characteristics) for either for the better or worse. Variation can
happen through genetic mutations in the gene pool (substitution) or due to
environmental conditions where an organism finds the requiring need to
adjust to the environment. EG: a giraffe with a long neck can one day
reproduce offspring that do not have a long neck like them but a giraffe
with a short neck as a genetic mutation, as it is a trait that will not allow
them to eat fruits on tall trees – they will die out and not be able to live
anymore due to the harsher conditions of the environment and the species
is not able to adjust. A species can compete for resources against other
species. If its death rate is higher than its birth rate than it is a sign that it
will go extinct. We have proof that pre-historic animals have gone extinct
because of fossils that archaeologists have discovered. A potential
extinction event may have taken place that could’ve instantly taken out all
organisms of the species or a gradual long-term effect which have caused
the species to go extinct as it can not adjust to the environmental
conditions.

Natural selection: Where nature chooses specific organisms in a species or

whole species to alter in the form of a trait which either gives an
advantage or disadvantage and can cause major or minor effects on the
organism.

Extinction: when a whole species dies out due to losing the test of the
fittest and other competitors that out-done them as they were put down in
some way because of a disadvantage that wiped them out gradually
because they could not compete against species with traits of an
advantage or an instant mass-extinction event on a larger magnitude.

Complete overview of the topics ‘Variation, Natural Selection & Extinction’ – May be
referenced in future topics.
Reactions Topic – Exothermic & Endothermic Reactions

Let me start with my current contextual knowledge on these reaction.

Exothermic reactions are reactions which let off energy and release it in
the form of heat, thus the thermic part in both words. Endothermic
reactions give off more energy and the environmental surroundings
increase in temperature. Examples of exothermic reactions are fire and the
sun. I chose these as they represent the properties of an exothermic
reaction, they release heat – inevitably making the surrounding
environment hotter. You will be asked in various ways in an exam to name
examples and distinguish both categories, so be prepared.

Next is endothermic reactions. Endothermic reactions are a type of

chemical reaction, just as exothermic but the opposite. Instead of energy
being transferred outwards from the site of experiment, energy is taken in.
Energy can be represented in diagrams and infographics as it is being
‘absorbed’ and ‘stolen’ from the environment, thus inevitably making the
environment colder. Endothermic reaction examples could be ice melting as
it required heat to melt and will take it from the environment around it,
like exothermic reactions. Endothermic reactions ‘snatch’ energy, or
sometimes heat, from the environmental surroundings to make the
environment around it usually colder. Remember, ‘exo’ means external
while ‘endo’ means internal. Both have thermic which relates to heat.

Fire relates to exothermic reactions and is also known as combustion which

relates as the ‘burning of an object’. Photosynthesis is a brilliant example
of endothermic reactions as they represent energy being taken from the
environment wherever it can find. Please note that both endothermic and
exothermic reactions are chemical reactions. I do believe we have finished
the topic and it may be referenced in the future.

Complete overview of ‘Exothermic & Endothermic Chemical Reactions’

topic.

Reactions Topic - Conservation of Mass

In physics and chemistry, the conservation of mass is the true concept that
in a chemical and physical reaction, no mass is lost or gained. Form may
change in a chemical/physical reaction, but no atoms were created or lost
in any way. The structure may remain the same or differ from the beginning
of the reaction, but the mass, which is the matter of the specific
circumstance, will remain equal from the reactants to the products. The
reactants are the substances that allow the reaction to take place as they
‘fuel’ it, whereas the products are the result or ‘aftermath’ of the chemical
or physical reaction. The Law of Conservation of Mass clearly states that
the mass of the reactants will equal out to the mass of the new products.
The product may change colour, fizz or be larger/smaller; the mass will
remain equal to the reactant(s). Let’s run through some examples:

Chemical Reaction photosynthesis: (not to scale in any realistic way)

Water + Carbon Dioxide ➡ Glucose + Oxygen

(10g) (2g) (7g) (5g)

The reactants all summed together on the left hand equal to 12g. This
must mean that the mass of the theoretical products of glucose and
oxygen ill sum to 12g too! Let’s do a more realistic exam question.

Sulphur + Iron ➡ Iron Sulphur Solve the mass of the Iron.

6g (?) 23.5g We could solve this my taking away

6g from the product

of 23.5g, this would get us 17.5g –

thus the mass of the

iron is 17.5g as (17.5g+6g) will

equal to 23.5g. To

conclude, the reactants of sulphur

and iron sum up to

23.5g and the products of the

reaction sum up to 23.5g.

This is an example of the Law of

Conservation of Mass.

Let’s do one more example to understand the Law of Conservation of Mass

and conclude the topic. The following question is not a realistic exam
question but has the same principles which you as a student can enforce
easily in a test.

Glucose + Oxygen + Iron + Sulphur + Carbon Dioxide ➡ Juicy Mango

Glucose – 3g

Oxygen – 2g

Iron- 98g ‘Work out the mass of the Juicy Mango’.

Sulphur – 7.2g

Carbon Dioxide – 16g

We must identify the reactant(s), this being the mixture of glucose,

oxygen, iron, sulphur, and carbon dioxide. We must identify the sum of
mass of the reactants. This can be calculated as (3g+2g+98g+7.2g+16g).
This translates to 126.2g. From this data we can confidently understand
that the product of the Juicy Mango is equal to 126.2g too! This method can
be used with other questions too to find out unknown values in equation
problems. In a reaction, mass does not increase or decrease from the
reactants to the result of the product, it only changes structure or form to
rearrange itself. I Believe I have explained the Law of Conservation of Mass
well, so I think I’ll end the topic here – hope you’ve understood the
concept.

Complete overview of ‘The Law of Conservation of Mass’ topic.

Reactions Topic - Pollution, Catalysts & Catalytic Converters

Let’s start with the sub-topic of ‘pollution’. I will try to describe pollution
to the best of my contextual knowledge. Pollution is the introduction of
harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called
pollutants. Pollutants can be natural, such as volcanic ash. They can also
be created by human activity, such as trash or runoff produced by
factories. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and land.

Pollution has many forms and is known for damaging the environment in
some way. Sometimes, pollution can be lethal and intoxicating! Pollution
contributes to many other issues the world is currently facing such as:
Global warming and Climate change. Pollution has different forms. These
forms can be seen as air pollution, ocean pollution, noise pollution, soil
pollution and radioactive pollution. These pollutions, though different, all
have equal consequences which are all slowly changing out Earth. Pollution
can cause smog which consumes mostly industrial areas such as Los
Angeles or dirty and contaminated areas such as New Delhi in India.
Pollution is usually caused by large industrial machines which may be the
combustion of certain objects. The largest cause of pollution is the burning
of fossil fuels such as coal or oil. This can cause large amounts of smoke
which can be trapped in the atmosphere. During combustion, carbon
dioxide is produced, this is a greenhouse gas that gets trapped in the
atmosphere so when sun enters the atmosphere – green house gasses
block its escape. Carbon monoxide is also produced during incomplete
combustion and is deadly for the respiratory system of humans. Carbon
dioxide is majorly produced by car emissions, especially older models
which emit dirty smoke that gets trapped in the air. Many advanced cities
prohibit this by not allowing older cars to enter. We are attempting to
transition into renewable energy, energy produced from sources that are
unlimited and clean. Renewable energy is the future and examples can be
seen as wind turbines and solar panels which allow solar energy to be
converted to usable energy for households.

This is an extremely important topic and is extremely relevant to today as

it is causing live problems for the environment. Littering is often seen as a
reason the environment’s condition is weakening. Many advanced cities
like Masdar City are making large technical jumps to sustain their planet
 and enforce higher usage of renewable energy. I think I have covered
pollution enough to be relevant in the exam and we will smoothly move on
to the next subtopic, Catalysts.

A catalyst is something that speeds up a reaction in chemical and physical

reactions. Catalysts are especially significant in manufacturing process as
manufacturing producers aim to work most time efficient. Catalysts speed
up a reaction dramatically and do this by lowering the activation energy
(Ea). Activation energy is the minimum amount of potential energy
required for a reaction to take place as the particles don’t have enough
energy to collide and start the initial reaction to convert the reactants to
the products. Activation energy is used all over science and real life as it
measures the minimum amount of energy required to ‘ignite’ the reaction.
Catalysts speed up a reaction, the speed of a reaction is called the ‘rate of
the reaction’. We will talk about factors that effect the rate of chemical
reactions. Some of these circumstances could be Temperature, surface
area, the present of a catalyst or concentration/pressure. To understand a
chemical reaction, we must understand the ‘collision theory’, where
particles must collide for a reaction to take place and there must be
enough energy for these particles to collide. This sufficient energy is the
activation energy. If the particles collide with less energy than the
activation energy, then nothing will happen, and they will bounce together.

The more energy the particles carry, the more energy they can transfer
during the reaction, this means that it is more likely to pass the activation
energy. There are other factors which increase rate of a reaction such as
temperature for instance. If we increase the temperature the particles will
have more energy and are more likely to surpass the activation energy,
however if the temperature is too high – the particles will denature. The
more energy these particles have, the more likely they are to collide
successively and will collide more frequently.

Also, the concentration/pressure plays a part as it is more particles per

volume of unit meaning that there is a higher concentration of particles,
thus there will be more successive collisions to increase the rate of
reaction. Lastly, we have catalysts which will increase the rate of reaction
as a substance which is not used in the reaction.

Energy can be represented in a diagram as thermal energy/heat. We can

represent energy in diagrams called ‘potential energy diagrams’ which
measure and annotate the features of a reactions rate and energy
changes, which is key to understanding the relation between energy
changes. An energy diagram for the Y axis is titles with the energy level of
certain points within the diagram and the X axis is labelled with the rate or
progress of a reaction. I will upload an image to show how the energy
change, reactant energy, activation energy, product energy and transition
state are annotated.

90
80
70
60
50

The Reactant energy is the amount from the X axis which is at 0KJ to the
Reactant line. This tells us the reactant energy which is at 40KJ. We
calculate this by taking away the KJ amount from the X axis to the line of
where the reactant line sits which is 40KJ as the X axis should line up with
zero. This is what we call the reactant energy and is what our reaction will
start of with. Then the line will jump at a rapid rate and the peak of the
whole curve or the whole diagram is called the transition state or activated
complex and is the top line at the top of the curvature and will sometimes
be highlighted or annotated. If we draw a line from the reactant line
parallel to the X axis to the right side of the diagram and use that as the
foundation for our next step. We then from this dotted line find the amount
of energy distance to the peak of the curvature, (transition state) to find
the activation energy which is the minimum amount of energy required for
a reactant to start the reaction. Then the peak will vigorously slope down
to the products at the end of the reaction as an aftermath. If we draw a
dotted line from the product line parallel to the X axis to the left side of
the diagram like the reactant line, we can use this as a foundation for the
next step. The distance between the product line and the reactant line will
be the delta change which is the actual change of energy at the end of the
reaction. Then as our last annotation, the distance from the product line to
the X axis is the product energy which is measured just like the reactant
energy. Now I will tell you the actual amounts of energy, according to our
not-to-scale theoretical diagram.

So, for the reactant energy which is the point where the reactant line is
from the X axis is 40KJ. The activation energy (Ea) is 30KJ as the point in
which the reactant energy is, (40KJ) and the activated complex which is
70KJ make 30KJ when you minus the larger number from the smaller. 30KJ
is the minimum amount of energy required for the reaction to start, if the
reactants do not produce 30KJ, the reaction can not take place. The next
stop is the transition state which the peak of the curve. This tells us the
amount of energy the reaction has gotten to at its peak and the energy
required for the reaction to start. Do not mix the transition state with the
activation energy because the activation energy is the minimum amount of
energy from the start, from the reactant energy onwards; whereas the
transition state which is the peak of the energy in the reaction and the
actual amount of energy required to start from the X axis of 0KJ. Now we
have the delta change which is the change from the product to the
reactant and can either be positive or negative. The delta change will be
indicated as positive if it is an endothermic reaction as the product will
have more energy than the reactant which means it has absorbed energy
and increased energy or thermal heat which means that the change is an
increase, thus positive. However, if the reaction is exothermic and
releasing heat from the reactants, the products will have less energy and
the surrounding environment will be hotter as the product will cool down
from the reactant energy. The delta change will be negative as the energy
has decreased to a more stable state. Finally, we have the product energy
which is the distance from the X axis to the product line which we can
measure using a dotted line from the product energy level parallel to the X
axis and the distance in the energy measurement from the X axis to this
product line is the product energy. Now that we have annotated and
explained methods to calculate and indicate potential energy diagrams,
let’s talk on how we can indicate exothermic and endothermic diagrams in
a diagram which does not tell us such data.

We can tell this if the reactant energy is higher than the product energy
which means that the delta change will be negative as the reaction has
caused the reactant to decrease energy for the product to have lower
energy levels compared to the original reactants. If the reactant energy is
higher than the product energy at the end of the reaction, we can confirm
that the reaction was exothermic as it has lost energy and given it out to
the surroundings, thus the energy loss in the individual reaction. If the
reactant energy level is lower than the product energy level, we can
confirm that it was an endothermic reaction absorbing energy/thermal heat
from the surroundings to increase its energy level from the reactants to
the products because of the reaction. From these indicators we can confirm
if it is either endothermic or exothermic which is a well-known question
used in challenging exams. Be prepared. Anyways back to catalysts,
catalysts provide a quicker reaction time due to lowering the activation
energy. This lowers the amount of energy the reactants must achieve
which takes time, before turning into products and completing the reaction
from reactants to products. Catalysts are helpful and are used in many
uses. A catalyst finds a different pathway for the curvature of an energy
diagram to take, lowering the transition rate dramatically to lower the time
for the reactants to achieve this minimum transition rate into products, the
purpose of the reaction. Catalysts are extremely useful and are used in
many places you didn’t even know! Catalysts are essentially boosters to
reactions which decrease the time it takes for reactants to convert into
products by lowering the activation energy for the most minimum time to
be taken for the reaction to be complete. Let’s talk about what on Earth
‘catalytic converters’ are.

Catalytic converters are machines that are used heavily in cars to reduce
carbon emissions and are extremely helpful for the environment and the
air we breathe. The emissions in a car can be extremely fatal, especially for
a human to breathe. One of the emissions created during the combustion
of fuel in a car is Carbon Monoxide which is a deadly and lethal gas which
is especially dangerous for humans to inhale. The catalytic converter is a
box in the car that sits near the exhaust but before the exhaust. The
catalytic converters have particles and minor pieces of palladium, platinum
and rubidium as the most common elements used in catalytic converters.
These elements can be rare and expensive so only a little are placed into
and engine, but a little is enough. Gasoline is made from hydrocarbons of
hydrogen, oxygen and carbon can give us carbon dioxide and water during
combustion in the engine. But the engine is not perfect and some of the
reactions in an engine during combustion create carbon monoxide as
mentioned. Carbon monoxide is unhealthy and removes the ozone layer.
What’s in a catalytic converter? Well, there is a ceramic body which does
not react with anything but gets hot and stays hot so that chemical
reactions can happen. So, Platinum and Rubidium attract oxygen molecules
off nitrogen-oxygen mixtures so they can leave as nitrogen, as they came
in because 70% of the atmosphere is nitrogen. The freed-up oxygen is also
shot out but then gets attracted to the Platinum and Rubidium to attach to
Carbon Monoxide and turn them into Carbon Dioxide. This is how a
catalytic converter functions and stage one is called the reduction catalyst
whereas stage two is referred to as the oxidation catalyst. These catalytic
converters have the mission to reduce emissions and was discovered by a
French scientist named Eugene Houdery. I believe that is everything on
catalytic converters and the end of the Catalytic converter, Pollution &
Catalyst topic. I hope you’ve understood my writing and I will swiftly end
this topic and move on to the next topic of combustion which we have
touched upon in other topics including this one.

Completed overview of ‘Pollution, Catalysts & Catalytic

Converters’ topics.

Reactions Topic – Combustion

Combustion is the scientific word for burning. When something burns it is

combusted. Combustion happens to oil in cars in the engine to use the fuel
to drive the car. Combustion is used in everyday life and can be incomplete
or complete. Complete combustion is where something burns but the
reactants are Fuel + Oxygen ➡ Carbon Dioxide + Water (vapour) – also light
and heat will be given off as it is an exothermic reaction. Complete
combustion is less harmful than incomplete as the products are not so bad.
However, in incomplete combustion – the reaction is Fuel + Oxygen ➡
Carbon Monoxide + Water (vapour). Although the reactants are the same,
the reason Carbon Dioxide turns to Carbon Monoxide in incomplete
combustion is because there is an insufficient amount of oxygen with poor
quality. Carbon Dioxide is one carbon molecule and two oxygen; however,
the oxygen supply is insufficient meaning that not enough oxygen can
oxidise the carbon as the hydrogen was oxidised first, thus Carbon
Monoxide is made with one carbon and one oxygen molecule. Key fact:
hydrogen is always oxidised first! Also, in incomplete combustion a little
amount of soot is made and that is why all the smoke that is produced is
black and smoggy. Carbon Monoxide is lethal. I believe I have thoroughly
explained combustion and we will swiftly move on to the next topic; hope
you’ve understood.

Complete overview of ‘Combustion’ topic.

Forces Topic – Drag

Drag is physics is a force that is applied as a resistance force. Drag goes

strongly against thrust and other forces which propel an object forward.
Drag can be seen in aerodynamic forces where an object flies through the
atmosphere at 100mph, but due to drag its actual speed ay be 88mph due
to the air resistance. Drag falls under the category of forces which include
air resistance, in fact any resistance of that matter. Resistance is
something that goes against a driving force. Say a bullet through water,
the bullet in air is much faster whereas in water it can stop it from just
mere meters of water! Resistance however is usually in the never in favour
and desirable as it goes against our driving force. Drive or thrust is a
driving force that pushes an object or propels it forward. A resistance force
such as drag, or friction is a force that goes against driving forces as it
slows it down. Forces that apply principles in the atmosphere are called
‘aerodynamics’ as aero means air and ‘hydrodynamics’ are forces that
apply in liquids, usually water. Forces make sure the stage of the universe
is stable. Forces are so undermined in the modern world that we don’t
even know! Without friction, we would slip everywhere and would not be
able to stand for a second. Although resistance forces such as drag are
undesirable, resistance forces allow our world to remain stable. Resistant
forces like drag however are extremely annoying for car manufacturers,
especially automobile companies aiming to achieve top speeds. Drag slows
down objects that move through the atmosphere as the force of drive
increases. Car manufacturers aim to lower this by creating aerodynamic
body structures and shapes, even jumping to extents to move the engine
position to the rear end! The new and more sleek and curvy body shape
 allows fast wind to just ‘slip’ of the body of the car so it can cut through
the air like a bullet! Drag is also heavily used in parachutes and would be
impossible to function without it.

Parachutes use a specific structure to reduce speed as quickly as possible

to have a clean and smooth landing. Parachutes eject rapidly and due to
the structure, which scoops airs into it and acts as a major blockage to
flowing air, it dramatically reduces the speed of the falling person. While
talking about drag, we can highlight a general summary over forces,
resultant forces and how we solve force/resultant force equations.

Essentially what resultant forces are is the ‘overall force acting or being
exerted on a specific object’. This can be described as all the forces that
are acting upon it. If we want to find out a quick and simplified way to
understand all the forces of an object acting at once instead of how many
newtons are acting up, down, right, and left we use resultant forces. I’ll tell
you how to calculate the resultant force exerted on an object in a second.
By the way, a ‘newton is the measurement, magnitude or unit of force’.
Back to resultant forces which will be represented in this following image:

400KN

400KN 600KN

350KN
Welcome to the world of forces. This is a ‘free body diagram’ which are
diagrams used to label resultant forces or forces that are exerted onto
objects. Let’s define each major force. We must first split forces into
vertical and horizontal components which divide forces that act upon the Y
axis and forces that act upon the X axis. Drag forces are defined as the
force that is exerted against a moving object to slow it down. The
atmosphere is made of molecules which act to build the atmosphere,
however when an object moves through the atmosphere of molecules it
reduces the velocity as the molecules block the objects path as the whole
atmosphere is made of molecules. The molecules will get in the way of the
moving object and act to block it. This is how drag is created and is very
undesirable. Drag is measured in newtons; in fact, all forces are. Drag
works in the horizontal component on the left, also remember that after
labelling forces you must write the magnitude of the force in newtons and
show this by the length of the arrow.

Theoretically let’s say the drag force that is exerted on the airplane is
400KN, kilonewtons (KN) is 1000 newtons. Next is thrust which acts in the
horizontal component category alongside drag or air resistance. Thrust
propels the object and in our aeroplane, thrust is generated from the
engine. Certain drag-reduction devices and innovation can save the flight
and aviation industry millions a year with shark skin apparently on the
body of the plane. Thrust is the force which moves an aircraft through the
air. Thrust is used to overcome the drag of an airplane, and to overcome
the weight of a rocket. Thrust is generated by the engines of the aircraft
through some kind of propulsion system. Let’s theoretically say our thrust
magnitude in newtons is 600KN.

Swiftly moving on is ‘weight’ which is the force that pulls an object down
towards the Earth. Weight is a gravitational force that pulls the Earth’s
masses down to the surface. GFS (gravitational field strength) is the
gravity measured on an individual planet and is measured numerically as
(N/KG) such as the Earth’s GFS which is 10N/KG. Weight is the force which
pulls us down to the centre of gravity. We will theoretically say the weight
of the aeroplane is 350KN.

Finally, we have lift. Lift is a mechanical aerodynamic force produced by

the motion of the airplane through the air. Because lift is a force, it is a
vector quantity, having both a magnitude and a direction associated with
it. Lift acts through the centre of pressure of the object and is directed
perpendicular to the flow direction. Essentially what lift is, is the exerted
pressure on an object during flight and motion through a fluid which
includes liquids and gases. In this theoretical situation, I say that the lift is
400KN.

From this theoretical situation and aerodynamic concept, we can start to

explain visually how resultant force is calculated. Recall that resultant
force is the whole overall force acting on an object, thus the name. We
start with each vertical/horizontal component first. Let’s start with the
horizontal including drag/air resistance and thrust or drive. Knowing the
data that the air resistance is 400KN and the thrust force is 600KN, we can
calculate the horizontal component of the resultant force by taking away
the smaller component of 400KN from the larger component of 600KN
which equals 200KN. The resultant force of the horizontal component is
200KN. Now let’s swiftly move on to the vertical component. The weight,
which is the smaller component of 350KN is taken away by the lift
component of 400KN – where in a resultant force we can say that 50KN is
acting upwards in lift. 50KN is acting upwards in lift and 200KN is acting
forward in thrust. From these two figures we can calculate 50KN of lift from
200KN of thrust to get 150KN of thrust as it is the dominant figure. Not
only do we have to clearly state that the resultant force is 150KN, but we
must state the direction of force. To represent the magnitude of the force
visually we must use the length of arrows to visually show what we
indicate as the force’s strength. So. in here we could draw an arrow that is
longest in the direction of thrust. This is how we calculate resultant force. I
believe that we have covered resultant forces, how to label them, free
body diagrams and the meanings of each major force. I hope you have
understood drag and the other topics I covered, and you understood them
clearly, we will swiftly move on to out next topic.

Complete overview of ‘Drag’ topic.

Forces Topic – Hooke’s Law

As an overview, Hooke’s Law is an empirical law in physics which states

that the extension of a spring will be in a proportionate and constant ratio
with the extension and amount of mass applied. Say if 100 grams is added
to a spring at the bottom, we will call it ‘x’ in our theoretical experiment.
The formula for extension is final length – initial length. Once we find the
extension, we call it ‘x’. Now if we maintain our constant ratio if 100 grams
equals ‘x’ of extension, then if we added a theoretical amount of 500
grams, the extension of the spring would equal to 5x. Hooke’s Law states
that the X axis and Y axis of a diagram if were labelled extension : mass
applied on spring, it would have a proportionate and constant amount that
would maintain as mass is applied. Saying that if we added 30KG to a
spring and its extension was ‘x’, if we added 90KG, the extension would be
3x. Hooke’s Law is fundamental to understand in physics and can be found
hidden in extension diagrams. To identify Hooke’s Law in a diagram we
must understand that in a diagram where the X axis is labelled ‘mass
applied to spring’ in any interval and the Y axis is measured in the
extension of the specific spring, we would have a constant diagonal line to
the top right corner from the bottom left as Hooke’s Law implies a constant
and proportionate rate at which extension increases alongside the mass
applied. Hooke’s Law is not only applicable to springs but to a variety of
elastic objects like rubber bands. There is a limit to the proportionate and
constant ratio between the two axis we call this proportional limit. This is
the point in a line graph where Hooke’s Law stops and continues to have
no predictable ratio between the two axis where as before the point we
could see a constant and perpendicular line between axis. The limit of
proportionality can be visualised in a line graph were the straight and
perfectly diagonal line is no longer aligned with a constant ratio between
the Y and X axis and breaks the law, this is the ‘limit’ of proportionality.
The area which obeys Hooke’s Law should be annotated with two straight
and dotted lines to show your understanding.

The two axis in an extension diagram will be the force of newtons or mass
measured in grams for reasonable experiments alongside the X axis which
is labelled as the extension of the diagram measured in a metric system of
CM, we will see Hooke’s Law clearly and visually represented in the
following image which portrays the key points and claims of Hooke’s Law.

As we can see, the region of Hooke’s Law end where the right-angled
triangle annotates. The limit of proportionality ends where the
perpendicular line starts to deform and lose its property of a perfect
diagonal line to each axis. This visually shows us how Hooke’s Law works
and how the constant and perfectly proportionate ratio between force and
extension is maintained to a certain point. Hooke’s Law is also applicable
to other elastic materials as noted. We can also note and annotate in a
graph the area in extension where the elastic material/spring damages or
breaks which is called fracture, we can also label before it the time frame
where it is put past irreversible and permanent damage, such annotated in
annotated in following image which highlights the end of the topic of
Hooke’s Law and the physics of how Hooke’s Law works. Highlighting key
points in how a graph which demonstrates Hooke’s Law should be labelled
and how a constant ratio is maintained as a proportional and diagonal line,
perpendicular between both axis of Y & X. Now we will visualise this in the
following image:
This image highlights the end of the Hooke’s Law topic, concluding with
the summary of how Hooke’s Law is demonstrated and presented in a line
graph. This is the end of the topic and I conclude hoping you understood
my writing on the overview of Hooke’s Law.

Complete overview of ‘Hooke’s Law’ topic.

Forces Topic – Pressure

Pressure is the force applied in a certain area. Pressure is fundamental in

physics as it represents the amount of force in a area which can be used in
many areas across physics to understand how to overcome real-life
situations when manufacturing and designing certain tools. Pressure is
calculated by perpendicular force / area. Force is measured and denoted in
newtons (N), while area is measured in meters squared. For instance, use a
nail. Remember that a nail has a large and flat circle on top for impact and
a narrowing needle which is widest at top until it turns into a point which is
touching the wall, ready for impact to pierce it. The nail is about to be
struck with a hammer; the hammer first hits the round circle on top where
force is spread through oscillations until it gets to the point where it
pierces the wall. Theoretically say if we done this, but we used the sharp
point to hit and the large circle to penetrate the wall layer? It would be
much harder using the same force applied in test 1. Even with stronger
force applied, it would be hard or harder. Why? This is because the
pressure begins to become ‘concentrated’ as the area of the point
decreases. Remember the formula for pressure is perpendicular force /
area. The variable of force remains the stay through each experiment
however, when area us changed dramatically – the whole experiment
becomes much harder. Theoretically if we made the force applied onto the
nail from the swing of the hammer 50N and if 50N is not enough to pierce
the wall, the reason it can is because the variable of area gradually
decreases from the top of the nail to the point which touches the actual
wall, like a narrowing isosceles triangle. The narrowing of the nail
decreases area and volume in the nail and the force that was provided
remains, however the pressure increases due to the gradual reduction of
area, thus the wall which requires a theoretical 100N can be penetrated
with a nail which was struck with 50N due to the narrowing area of the
nail. This is how pressure works and can work in the opposite way. If you
are on thin ice sheet, bound to break soon – you can prevent it. This will be
possible if you spread you arms and legs across the ice to increase the
area applied on the solid. As you put you arms and legs on the ice, you
increase area of you body that is in contact with the ice sheet. The
pressure that is exerted as weight downwards on the ice sheet can be
reduced with this method of increasing area. In certain situations, force
cannot be changed, but pressure can with the power of altering area for
increase/decrease! This can also be applied to gymnasts and swimmers as
those who choose the career think carefully about the methods, they take
to reduce the impacts of excess weight and how to utilise it or reduce it.

Swimmers use the ‘pencil drop’ to minimise the amount of air resistance
when free-falling through air to reduce air resistance and drag as the less
amount of area will be touching the atmosphere molecules that block the
path which increases velocity. When plummeting into the water, swimmers
use the pencil drop to reduce the impact of water touching the body, the
less the area of the body that makes contact of water – the less amount of
impact the water must achieving the furthest distance from the surface.
This is why when falling ‘belly-flat’ into water it hurts most and you just
float like a corpse because you have to much area contacting the present
fluid which increases the impact of buoyancy strength and reduces the
ability to penetrate the top surface of water. By utilising the only provided
force with area to either minimise or maximise the amount of pressure that
is exerted, an object can change the ability to penetrate a surface. This has
been well explained previously on how we can utilise force by
decreasing/increasing area to maximise/minimise pressure exerted. I
believe I have explained the topic of pressure well and will end it here. I
hope you’ve understood the last topic of this colossal revision and I will
end the topic here.
 Completed overview of ‘Pressure’ topic.

Well, I believe that we have finished this epic 20K+ revision document. I
will complete the document with a note from the creator. Thank you for
reading and revising from this reliable and accurate source and this
revision was made over the span of less then ten days. Thank you for
reading and I will end the document here.

- Created by Mikaeel Khan

- Edited by Mikaeel Khan

“My unmatched perspicacity coupled with my sheer indefatigability makes

me a feared opponent in any realm of human endeavour.” ~ Emory Tate

Thanks to all for reading, this is the end of this tremendous document…