Nature, the teacher
- POSTED ON: 15 Dec, 2022
- TOTAL VIEWS: 185 Views
- POSTED BY: Jagadeesh Kanna | Article: Madhumitha Srinivasan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 100 Points
Sugriva can’t believe that electricity can be transferred through air, as the Tesla coils would make possible.
Sugriva: How is it possible? I still cannot believe it!
Vali: Every science “magic” we do is already being done by Nature over millions of years.
Sugriva: What do you mean?
Vali: For example, lightning travels from the ionised clouds for three to seven km towards the ground.
Sugriva: Oh yes! Nature does it 1000 times better! Perhaps, it’s possible to provide electricity to all houses directly from the clouds?
Vali: Some scientists on Earth tried doing exactly that!
Sugriva: So humans are learning science from Nature?
Vali: Right from the creation of the universe and the planets to the movement of animals, there is science behind everything. Humans study these phenomena and try to replicate them.
Sugriva: Have they been successful?
Vali: Yes! Much of their scientific knowledge and inventions have been the result of studying Nature. Aircraft control system was inspired by birds; humans learnt to swim and developed the ship control system by observing fish, and they came upon the creation of alloys by studying volcano eruptions.
Sugriva: Basically, they learnt how to use and master air, water and heat to their advantage.
Vali: What humans really learnt is the “Law of Conservation of Energy”.
Sugriva: What does that mean?
Vali: Let me explain that in a simple way. Right now you can walk, jump or run with a certain level of energy. Can you do them with the same energy level after a few hours?
Sugriva: Yes, if I eat and rest in between.
Vali: Exactly. Food is a source of energy that gets converted into muscular energy or kinetic energy, which you use when performing any mechanical work like using a bow and arrow or gathering water from a well. So what the Law basically means is “Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed; it just transforms from one form to another.”
Sugriva: Can you help me understand this a little better with an experiment?
Vali: Sure. Since you are familiar with using the bow and arrow, let me show you my version of a bow and arrow where elastic energy is converted into mechanical energy or potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. (Refer to experiment below)
Sugriva: That is interesting! I am going to try it on a bigger scale like some spherical mountain structures.
Little did Vali know that Sugriva would use this device against him in the near future.
Rubber band-powered cannon
Materials required:
Tape
Pencil
2 rubber bands
Scissors
Paper or small plastic ball
The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech startup that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.