SRP Final Background Research Paper

Is it Possible to Grow an Avocado in Arizona?

Jay Don Scott

8th Grade Science

Mr.Oz

Sonoran Science Academy

               24th October, 2013

           The problem of growing avocados in Arizona is that avocados don’t like the heat and salty water and salty soil. Some types of avocados don’t mind the winter cold.Young avocado trees need afternoon shade in the lower Sonoran Desert and in June, July, and August you should cover the avocados with a cloth to protect it from the sun. The avocados will get enough sunlight during the winter.

           Planting an avocado is not hard. First you dig a hole that is at least twice the size of the root ball and make it two feet deep. Fill in the hole with the same native soil that was removed. After planting spread a thin layer of compost to help conserve moisture.

           The biggest challenge of growing an avocado in Arizona is salinity of the soil and water. Basin irrigation is the most effective way to move salt away from the root ball of the tree.

           Avocadoes do well with a grass watering schedule. A deep soak is beneficial if the leaves of the tree are showing signs of salt burns. Deep soaking is when you turn the hose on zery low and let it run through the base of the tree for several hours. Deep soaking helps wash salt to the edges of the soaked soil. You can often see a ring of salt after deep soaking.

           Avocados are very sensitive to salt. It is not the safest to use any chemical or organic fertilizers on avocadoes. A light layer of compost around the base of the tree is the best way to supply the tree with minerals.

           There isn’t any pests that bother avocados in Arizona.

Citations:

Growing avocados in pheonix,arizona. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/avocado.html

SRP-6 Background Research Rough Draft

Will Using Paradoxes in Diamonds Help Make a Better Quantum Computer?

                Jay Don Scott

8th Grade Science

Mr. Oz’s Class

Sonoran Science Academy                                                                    30th September, 2013

A quantum computer is a computer that exploits the quantum mechanical properties of superposition in order to allow a single operation to act on a large number of pieces of data(Mifflen, 2002).  Quantum Computers were discovered in 1980 by Yuri Manin and in 1892 by Richard Faynman.  Quantum computers are used to quickly crunch numbers that would normally take a person a life time (Warner, 2013).  For example, mapping trillions of amino acids in futuristic drug cures.  Quantum computers get used in places where you are trying to find an a huge number.  Characteristics of a quantum computer is that it uses quibits instead of bits.  A quibit or a quantum bit is a unit of quantum information(The Limits of Quantum).  

The quantum zeno effect was first observed in 1989 in laser-cooled ions trapped by magnetic and electric fields(Reich, 2013).  The person who found out about paradoxes in diamonds was Oliver Benson(Reich, 2013).  A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth(Reich, 2013).

.The researchers focused on nitrogen–vacancy (NV) centers, imperfections in diamond that arise where an atom of nitrogen and an empty space replace carbon atoms at two neighboring spots in the crystal lattice. The team used microwaves to change the magnetic spin state of an electron located at an NV center, and then used a laser beam to trigger red fluorescence that revealed which of two possible states the electron was in at any given moment. When they measured the NV center in this way, the researchers found that the oscillation between the two states was disrupted — just as would be expected if the quantum Zeno effect were operating(Reich, 2013).

    This concludes my background research rough draft.

Citations:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quantum+computer?s=t

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paradox?s=t

http://iqc.uwaterloo.ca/welcome/quantum-computing-101

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-paradox.html http://listverse.com/2010/05/28/11-brain-twisting-paradoxes/ Articles Eugenie, R. (2013, August 20). Quantum paradox seen in diamond. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=quantum-paradox-seen-in-diamond Adam, S. (2002). Doctoring adam smith: The fable of the diamonds and water paradox. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/history_of_political_economy/v034/34.4white.pdf