Group+2+-+Archimedes

=Archimedes: Man & Myth= Group members: M. Curie / R. Bondar / N. Tesla

The Whole Story Solutions and Suggestions Related Responsibilities References Used __Biography__ = = =The Topic Outlined and Defined= Our group project is on Archimedes of Syracuse. Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, physicist, astronomer and engineer. He is regarded as on of the greatest scientists of the ancient world. He made discoveries in mathematics and geometry, he is credited with designing machines. He laid the foundations of hydrostatics, and explained the principle of the lever. His early advances in calculus included the first known conclusions of a method that is still used today. Archimedes' "Death Ray" will also be covered. The "Death Ray" was a way of burning ships (or anything else flammable) using a pane of bronze and sunlight.

Important Dates - Birthday was 212 BC in Syracuse Death was 287 BC, also in Syracuse.

After Death - whats named after him/where did he appear etc. There is a crater on the Moon named Archimedes, in his honor, and a mountain range, also on the moon, named the Montes Archimedes. The asteroid 3600 Archimedes is named after him too. Archimedes has appeared on postage stamps issued by East Germany in 1973, Greece in 1983, Italy in 1983, Nicaragua in 1971, San Marino in 1982 and Spain in 1963.

Death Ray
A man named Lucian wrote that during the seige of Sycruse, Archimedes repelled a Roman attack with burning glass. This device focused sunlight on the approaching ships causing them to catch fire and burn. That's how this device got the name "Death Ray". The Death Ray has been debated about it's credibility since the Renaissance.

Below, is a painting of how the death ray might work.



Modern day scienctists are trying to use the same resources that Archimedes had back then and they say it is possible to do with highly polished bronze shields. This would have used the principle of the parabolic reflector in a manner similar to a solar furnace.

The MIT group repeated the experiment for the television show //MythBusters//, using a wooden fishing boat in San Francisco as the target. Some charring occurred, along with a small amount of flame. In order to catch fire, wood needs to reach its flash point, which is around 300 degrees Celsius (570 °F). When //MythBusters// broadcast the result of the San Francisco experiment in January 2006, the claim was placed in the category of "busted" (or failed) because of the length of time and the ideal weather conditions required for combustion to occur. It was also pointed out that since Syracuse faces the sea towards the east, the Roman fleet would have had to attack during the morning for optimal gathering of light by the mirrors.

Below is a video I found on Youtube about two people who constructed a death ray! It's really cool. media type="youtube" key="0xfTl3Ugyjk&feature=related" width="425" height="350"

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