Inertia :: essays research papers

Centuries of thought and experimentation by several of the greatest minds to ever walk the earth have contributed to the awareness of this property of matter known as Inertia. It all began with the investigation of an ancient Greek scientist and philosopher by the name of Aristotle. Through countless observations and hypotheses, Aristotle grew almost certain of a few things involving motion. Aristotle’s findings suggested mainly that Earthly objects seek their natural place at rest. This natural place related to earth, water, air and fire respectably. He also believed that motion must be subjected to unnatural force, meaning motion could not come about without it. In order to maintain this motion, Aristotle stated that force must be applied to the object constantly. These four statements were considered concrete in the world of physics for nearly two thousand years after Aristotle’s passing. It would take an Italian physicist and astronomer named Galileo to eventually disprove his thoughts on motion. Galileo proposed his formulation of the concept of inertia, which is the property of matter that causes it to resist any change of its motion in either direction or speed. In other words, if an object in a state of motion possesses an â€Å"inertia†, it causes the object to remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts on it. Galileo figured this out by first meticulously observing Aristotle’s concept of motion. By virtue of a series of experiments, Galileo realized that the analysis of Aristotle was incorrect because it failed to account properly for a hidden force, the frictional force between the surface and the object. For example if one were to push a block of wood across a table, there would be two opposing forces that act, one of them being the force associated with the push and the other, the force that is associated with the friction, which acts in the opposite direction. Galileo realized as the frictional forces were decreased the object wo uld move further and further before stopping. An English mathematician and physicist by the name of Sir Issac Newton would later develop Galilieo’s idea of inertia into one of his three scientific laws. Aware of other factors that played a roll in the theory of inertia, Newton proposed two other laws that supported it. They are included in his famous three laws of motion. The first law of motion states "a body in motion shall remain in motion moving with a constant speed and direction, unless acted on by an outside force".

Jack Kerouac’s On The Road - The Impact of Dean on Sals Identity Essay

Impact of Dean on Sal's Identity in On the Road       In part I, chapter 3 of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Sal arrives at Des Moines and checks into a cheap, dirty motel room. He sleeps all day and awakens in time to witness the setting sun. As he looks around the unfamiliar room, Sal realizes that he doesn't understand his own identity. Identity lost, he states "I was half way across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future." He has lost the calming influence of his aunt, and Dean and partners are not around to feed his wild streak. The only clues to his identity are to be found in the strange motel room. This appeal to emotion gives the reader personal hints to identify with.    Many people have become lost in the context of their life and do not understand what they have been doing or what the purpose of existence is. The manner in which Kerouac relates his own feelings to the dark, soothing atmosphere of the room gives the reader a clear idea as to what he is experiencing. This appeal to style lulls the reader into contemplation concerning their... ... of my life you could call my life on the road." Sal needed Dean to have an identity. In fact, as much of a driving force that Dean was, in the end, Dean and Sal needed each other to balance out the holes in their personalities.       Bibliography    Charters, Ann. Kerouac: A Biography. New York: A Warner Communications Company, 1973.    Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. United States of America: Penguin, 1976.    Tytell, John. Naked Angels: the Lives and Literature of the Beat Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.      

Modern Racism Essay

An Asian friend once had experienced racism while he was out in a fast food restaurant in the city. He shared how he was the third person in line at the time, but when it was his turn to order his food, the food attendant, who was a 20-something white man, simply blew him off and serviced the person next in line to him. He said that his attempts to plead his right to order fell to deaf ears for a while, until the attendant exclaimed, â€Å"Whites first. You’re Asian. † Of course, he felt shock and embarrassment at the time the racism incident happened. He mentioned he couldn’t believe that racism is still prevalent up to this day. Though the said incident may be an isolated case, it still is alarming that these things still happen. Clearly, racism still isn’t a thing of the past, rather, it still lingers on to the present day, hence, the term, Modern Racism. One of the laudable explanations on prejudice that explains the food attendant’s attitude towards my Asian friend is the concept of In-Group Bias. This concept states that â€Å"humans have a powerful tendency to favor over other groups the group to which they belong† (Bordens & Horowitz, 2002). True enough, the food attendant chose to give his services to whites first because they have the â€Å"same color†, implying they belong in the same group, and tended to completely ignore his Asian customer because he is not white. If one must find justification to what the food attendant did, then one can only assume that because the country is at present extremely multiracial and multicultural, people tend to hold tightly to those in the same group as they are, because only then they can feel safest and strongest. This is due to the assumption that the other members of the group will also tend to value him/her more than other members of the outgroup, in the event of a conflict. This is explained in the Social Identity Theory, an underlying theory to explain In-Group Bias. The Social Identity Theory explains that â€Å"human beings are motivated to positively evaluate their own groups, in order to maintain and enhance self-esteem† (Tafjel, 1982). When a person derogates a member of the outgroup, it enhances the ingroup and in turn, promotes positive self-evaluation (Schneider, 2004. ) The racist remark and deed of the food attendant aims to please his group, which are the white people, and this event gives a positive effect on his self-evaluation. The food attendant’s hostility towards my Asian friend may also be explained by the Scapegoating Theory. This theory states that â€Å"frustration is a major instigation of aggression, and when this can’t be directed at the direct cause, it may be displaced onto a scapegoat† (Dollard, Miller, Doob, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939). In this event, the frustration of the food attendant is from his economic status, and because he is threatened that an outgroup, who in this case is my Asian friend, has a better economic status than he is, he displaced his anger and aggression by making a racist remark and deed against my Asian friend. Now, whether it is Ingroup Bias or Scapegoating Theory which explains the racist deed best, it cannot be justified that the deed was done in good taste. Of course, racism is what it entails, it is an unjust means of categorizing people, and yet it still prevails in the modern times. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way that one can prevent racism from happening. The next best thing to avoid conflict that results from stereotyping and modern racism is to keep an open mind. References Schneider, D. J. (2004). The Psychology of Stereotyping. New York: The Guilford Press. Bordens, K. S. and Horowitz. (2002). Social Psychology. New Jersey: Lawrence Elbaum Associates Inc. Fisher, E. M. (1992). â€Å"Modern Racism and Academic Librarianship in a Period of Diversity. † Conference Proceedings, Sixth National Conference. Chicago, IL: Association of College & Research Libraries.

Product life cycle Essay

Identify and assess the relevance of the ‘product life cycle’ to the notion of employee engagement. Employee engagement can be viewed through the four stages of the product life-cycle Step one is the introduction of the concept of employee engagement, its principles, strategy for enhancing engagement and involving employees, process of change to ensure engagement is fully embedded into the organisation. Step two is growth and growing the concept of engagement through a number of mechanisms: * Support from senior and line managers * Development of line managers in engaging staff * Clear communication and involvement strategy * Involving staff in organisational and job design * Encouraging self and career development planning * Identifying mechanisms for continuous staff feedback * Evaluating and adapting engagement strategies. Step three is reaching maturity and embedding and maintaining the above factors through continuous involvement, participation, communication, evaluation and action And finally, step 4 is the inevitable decline, even though there is a decline it is still important to retain key employees, and their skills and knowledge, and therefore to continuously involve them in managing the change and future strategy. The employee engagement life cycle is an important tool for HR professionals to use to assess how the engagement product fits with the business’s objectives and strategy. Evaluate the future for employee engagement in the UK and global economic context. Future action plans include: * Involving workers in identifying factors that will engage them further * Consideration of the demographic data and identification how to engage staff from all backgrounds at different levels * Further evaluation of the link between engagement practices and performance * Development of managers that can motivate and inspire staff Monster (2011) the online job advertising website conducted an international survey on employees’ views of their line managers and uncovered the following results: * Only 10% described their manager as ‘brilliant’ * 73% feels their manager does not invest in their self-development * 70% believe that they could do their manager’s job to a higher standard * 41% of UK workers felt their managers were totally incompetent Line managers are pivotal to enhancing engagement through empowering, motivating, inspiring, coaching and helping the employee develop themselves to enhance performance. Key areas where managers require further development include: * Responding to grievances and confronting issues * Empowering and involving workers on decisions that impact on them * Treating all team members equitably and with respect and providing constructive feedback * Recognising and appreciating efforts (particularly discretionary effort) * Being driven to deliver on commitments and promises made. Assess the future role of the HR professional and the HR function so far as the sustainable implementation of employee engagement practices is concerned. In order for HR to become more strategic, they need to ensure the HR strategies and the business strategies are aligned and both contribute to the overall business aim and objectives. If this is achieved then HR can be a driving force for creating an organisational strategy for competitive advantage. HR practitioners can determine organisation capability and engagement levels to flexibly adapt to changing environmental and customer needs through an evaluation of: the current resources in terms of skills, knowledge and behaviours; and organisation design and development. Once the HR practitioner is vertically integrated within the business, they will be able to take advantage of future opportunities by becoming a key player in the strategic decision making process through providing extensive knowledge in terms of organisational capability in taking the opportunity to grow into new markets, or determining future strategies and actions required.

Flow of Theory

Do you think an employee's productivity is affected by whether they are satisfied or unsatisfied as an employee? Explain your answer. Yes, I think an employee's productivity is affected by whether they are satisfied or unsatisfied as an employee. As employees spend most of their time at work, the employees' identity is closely linked to their Jobs. Employees have feelings; they must feel satisfied or feel that the Job is treating them fairly. When they feel that they are being appreciated, they become satisfied and hence they tend to outperform unsatisfied employees in terms of labor retention, attendance and work quality.However, satisfied employees are not always more productive than unsatisfied employees. 2. In general terms, describe strategic HRM and its importance in the organization. Strategic HRM is defined as the development and implementation of human resource processes to facilitate the achievement of the organization's strategic objectives. Strategic HRM allows an organiz ation to make informed and purposeful actions. Because of strategic HRM, the company now has a clear common vision of why an organization exists which enables better and more effective HRM decisions.HRM ctivities are now also able to expand awareness of possibilities, identify strength and weaknesses, reveals opportunities and points which are needed to evaluate the probable impact of internal and external forces. A strategic HRM plan which is well designed will allow the HR department to be prepared to cope with changes in external and internal environments. 3. In the past decade, there have been rapid, turbulent, and often strained developments in the relationship between employers and employees. Describe these developments and what they mean to HR managers.New trends and changes have occurred in telecommuting, outsourcing, HRM practices, family medical leave, child care, spousal relocation assistance, pay for skills, benefit cost-sharing, union- management negotiations, testing a nd many other HRM areas of interest. These trends arise due to the rise of new lifestyles and an aging population. Because of these reasons, HR managers need to use new and flexible approaches without jeopardizing the survival of the organization. HR managers in the current time have to cope with changes and still contribute to the organization.

Effects and Information

There are multiple different health problems that may result from the presence of infectious microorganisms in recreational waters. Epidemiological studies have shown a number of adverse health outcomes such as gastrointestinal and respiratory infections, to be associated with fecally polluted recreational water. Evidence from the World Health Organization (2003), suggests that the most frequent adverse health outcome associated with exposure to fecally contaminated recreational water is enteric illness, such as self-limiting gastroenteritis.Most of the pathogenic water-borne organisms are acquired by ingesting contaminated water because they affect the digestive tract. Pathogenic organisms in feces such as Salmonella, Giardia, Campylobacter and Cryptosporidium are known to cause gastrointestinal illnesses, skin, ear, and eye infections can also result from contact with contaminated water (Peeples, 2007). There has been a documented association of transmission of Salmonella paratyphi , the causative agent of paratyphoid fever, with recreational water use.Also, rates of typhoid in Egypt have been observed in among bathers from beaches polluted with untreated sewage (WHO, 2003). Other illnesses associated with recreational waters in the USA are listed below (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007): Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It normally lives in warm seawater because they require salt. Cryptosporidium is one of the most frequent causes of waterborne disease (drinking water and recreational water) among humans in the United States and can be life threatening in persons with weakened immune systems.Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans. V. parahaemolyticus naturally inhabits coastal waters in the United States and Canada and is present in higher concentrations during summer. Pseud omonas aeruginosa, often called Swimmer’s Ear, is frequently caused by infection with a germ. This germ is common in the environment and is microscopic so that it can’t be seen with the naked eye.Shigella bacteria may contaminate water if sewage runs into it, or if someone with shigellosis swims in or plays with it, Shigella infections can then be acquired by drinking, swimming in, or playing with the contaminated water. Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause the â€Å"stomach flu,† or gastroenteritis (in people. Noroviruses are found in the stool or vomit of infected people and people can become infected with the virus by eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with norovirus. Giardia intestinalis , a microscopic parasite which causes Giardia.Giardia causes diarrheal illness, and is a common cause of waterborne disease in humans in the United States. Current recreational water-quality guidelines are based on studies conducted in the 1970s a nd 1980s (Cabelli et al. 1975, 1979, 1982; Dufour 1984). The customary method used to measure recreational water quality require at least 24-48 hrs to culture fecal indicator bacteria colonies, such as Enterococcus spp. or Escherichia coli. The culturing along with counting the colony-forming units, makes it impossible for beach managers to assess the quality of waterwithin a single day. A significant drawback is that microbial water quality can change rapidly (Boehm et al. 2002). Guidelines based on indicator organisms that require almost two days to develop, the great diversity of pathogenic microorganisms transmitted by contaminated water, and the difficulty in addition to the cost of directly measuring all microbial pathogens in environmental samples (Wade, Calderon, Sams, Beach, Brenner, Williams, Dunfor, 2006), are likely to result in both unnecessary beach closings and the exposure of swimmers to poor-quality water.Also, current indicator microbes are based solely on fecal co ntamination and may not accurately assess the risk of disease due to countless other potential pathogens that cause skin, upper respiratory tract, eye, ear, nose, and throat diseases. A study done in 2004, estimated that up to 40% of beach closures are in error (Kim and Grant 2004). Earth911. com(n. d. ) provides the public with specific information regarding the most recent water quality conditions at local beaches. Beaches911 provides information generated and uploaded directly by local government agencies to include the type of bacteria detected, or why the warning is in place.Independent analysis or historical reporting of water quality is not provided by Beaches911. The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act) required EPA to develop and publish a list of discrete coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches or similar points of access that are used by the public that specifies whether the waters are subject to a monitoring and notification program. EPA's BEACON, Beach Advisory and Closing Online Notification has the latest information that states have sent to the EPA. BEACON is a breakdown of monitored and unmonitored coastal beaches by county and answers the following questions:†¢ How many notification actions were reported and how long were they? †¢ What percentage of days were beaches under a notification action? †¢ How do 2007 results compare to previous years? †¢ What pollution sources affect monitored beaches? States and local governments decide whether to open or close a beach. They report that information to EPA, but because the states vary in how quickly the information is sent, the EPA doesn’t always have real-time reports. If BEACON doesn't have up-to-date information, anyone searching for beach information would need to find their state's information by contacting the regional EPA office.Although there is a lot of information about which beaches are tested and when, the different monitori ng agencies do not give specific information regarding water test results i. e. – type of bacteria detected, warning information regarding those results, and information describing the health risks of any detected environmental hazard. References Boehm A. , Grant S. , Kim J. , Mowbray S. , McGee C. , Clark C. ,et al. (2002). Decadal and shorter period variability of surf zone water quality at Huntington Beach, California. Environ Sci Technol 36(18):3885–3892. Retrieved 12 January 2009, from http://pubs.acs. org/doi/pdf/10. 1021/es020524u? cookieSet=1 Cabelli, V. , Dufour, A. , Levin, M. , McCabe L. , Haberman, P. , (1979). Relationship of microbial indicators to health effects at marine bathing beaches. Am J Public Health 69(7):690–696. Retrieved 12 January 2009, from http://www. pubmedcentral. nih. gov/picrender. fcgi? artid=1619103&blobtype=pdf Center for Disease Control, (2007). National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Diseases. Retrieved 10 Ja nuary 2009, from http://www. cdc. gov/healthyswimming/water_illness_a_to_z. htm Earth911. com(n. d. ), Beaches911- Beach Water Quality.Retrieved 12 January 2009 , from http://www. earth911. org/waterquality/index. asp? cluster=0 Kim, J. , Grant, S. ,(2004). Public mis-notification of coastal water quality: a probabilistic evaluation of posting errors at Huntington Beach, California. Environ Sci Technol 38(9):2497–2504. Retrieved 11 January 2009, from http://pubs. acs. org/doi/pdf/10. 1021/es034382v Peeples, B. (2007). Why did my favorite beach close today?. Retrieved 10 January 2009, from http://earth911. com/blog/2007/07/19/beaches-july/ U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA(n. d. ). Beach Monitoring and Notification.Retreived 12 January 2009, from http://www. epa. gov/waterscience/beaches/technical. html Wade, T. , Calderon, R. , Sams, E. , Beach, M. , Brenner, K. , Williams, A. , Dunfour, A. ,(2006). Rapidly Measured Indicators of Recreational Water Quality Are Predic tive of Swimming-Associated Gastrointestinal Illness. Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol 114(1): 24-25. Retrieved 12 January 2009, from http://www. ehponline. org/realfiles/members/2005/8273/8273. pdf WHO (2003). Guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environments. Retreived 12 January 2009, from http://whqlibdoc. who. int/publications/2003/9241545801. pdf

Understanding the Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Understanding the Concepts - Essay Example A negative NPV means that the investment has limited chances of accessing its investment capital. NPV is the best approach that an investor can use to determine whether a certain project will be profitable or not. The payback rule is a method that tells the investor the amount of time that a project will take before it recaptures the cost of investment. This does not take into account the time value of money. In addition, cash inflows after the investment cost is recovered are not considered. Moreover, the value the project will offer to the shareholders is not considered when using payback rule (Rudolf, 2008). When comparing NPV and payback rule it has to be noted that NPV takes into consideration assessing of new investments and comparing them with the other investment alternatives. At the end of the day, the investment that presents the highest net present value is the one that the investor has to go for. This will ensure that the investor gets the highest return from the project. Net present value method is an easy process that presents straightforward explanation of the investment capital value because it expresses it in monetary units. Another advantage is the possibility of adapting the discount rates for different periods. The investment with the highest NPV is what is most preferred by any investor who wants to stay in the competitive world of business. NPV offers an easy way of interpreting investment because it assigns monetary units on the capital value (Rudolf, 2008). On the other hand, payback rule gives the time that an investment will get back the invested capital without assigning any monetary units to the capital. The investment that offers the shortest payback time is the most preferred by the investors. Comparison of alternatives is possible when using the payback rule because it is used to assess the risks of the investment. This method is highly applicable in large companies, which do