My project explores the practicality of biodiesel. It researches the argument of food versus fuel, compares the energy efficiencies of petroleum diesel and biodiesel and studies the effect of temperature on biodiesel. To study the effect of temperature on biodiesel, I blended biodiesel with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel blends are represented by the letter B, and the percentage of biodiesel. I used B5, B10, B20, and B50 blends, as well as pure biodiesel. I then observed the reaction of the biodiesel blends with cold weather. My pure biodiesel and B50 blends gelled to an unusable point within 15 minutes outside at -20oC. The B20 blends didn’t gel until about a temperature of -20oC. I have concluded that the B20 blend would be best for the summer, and the B10 or B5 blends would be the best for winter in northern climates, where I live. Although the B10 blends gelled slightly around -30oC, this would only be a problem for northern climates. As I predicted, more energy is produced by biodiesel than is consumed in the production process. The process of making biodiesel uses 0.31 units of energy to get 1 unit of energy out. More energy (1.2 units) is used to produce petroleum diesel than is yielded (1 unit). Although B20 isn’t as energy efficient as B100, the energy factor is still only 0.98 units of energy in for every 1 unit of energy out. When I started this project I thought that Canada would have enough farmland to produce the canola needed to run the country on biodiesel. This is only partly true. Canada would have enough farmland, but only a fraction of that land is actually used to plant canola. By my calculations, Canada has enough canola to generate enough B20 for a year. This may seem like a drawback but realistically, a higher blend would be impractical due to the gelling factor. Also, if a B20 blend was used, land would be available to grow canola for other markets. If B100 was used, there would only be enough diesel for about three months consumption. By using all of the land for biodiesel feedstock, canola would become unavailable for other markets. If canola exports ceased, the countries that depend on our canola will be in a lot of trouble. Canada already produces a lot of canola and vegetable oil. Most of it goes to the fast food industry. The United States produces over three billion gallons of fryer oil yearly. This could provide Canada with a B50 blend for a year. Utilizing used vegetable oil in making biodiesel actually reduces emissions even more. This is accomplished by using a product that would normally go to waste and decompose, producing more carbon dioxide emissions. During this project, I have found that biodiesel is a practical alternative to petroleum diesel, if it is used in a blend. My experiment proves that biodiesel is a fuel alternative that could be implemented immediately, and one that does not require the research needed for other fuel alternatives such as hydrogen or electricity.

這是一系列關於水蒸氣冷凝為極細微水珠的實驗。其中可以歸納為三大部分，第一部分是基礎實驗，將水蒸氣導引至親水性介面上，觀察冷凝水珠的結構。雖然看似簡單平常，但是卻發現：不同溫度的水蒸氣，其冷凝最初始的細微珠粒，尺寸相同；爾後溫度高者，堆疊速率較大，以至於最後同時呈現的水珠大小不一，尺寸不同！ 第二部分，是針對冷凝水珠自我組裝機制的探討。實驗是將水蒸氣導引至密度小於1的高分子溶液上，並藉由揮發性溶劑快速揮發，將水珠粒「分層保留」以便更深入了解「解構」後的水珠群聚機制。在這組實驗中得到兩張有趣的圖片： 在討論時，我是從對流機制切入，嘗試解構上面兩張圖。 第三部分的實驗，是將水蒸氣導引到磁場及靜電場上，觀察冷凝的機構。這部分呈現出來的結果，推翻了一般「水分子為電中性應該在電場與磁場中不受影響？」刻板觀念，實驗呈現水分子：不但在電磁場上不易長大同時也有固定的散佈模式(assembly pattern)。同時也觀察到：水分子在正電場形成的凝結水珠較為均勻，在負電場則表現出較大親水性特質。這部分的實驗對日後研究細胞膜上水分子通道應有助益。 I have tried to ask a famous math professor if he can create a formula describing the ordered array of water droplets. “Then, I should study Physics first!” He said. Condensation is the thing we live with, being found everywhere, passing without notice. But we never know when it dose start? By coalescence, water droplets grow bigger, but are not round again. We used the polymer film as template and designed the solution lighter than water, so the minute droplets will sink to the bottom and layer by layer. After seconds we may have multilayers of ordered array. This experiment presented here is actually the diary of the growth of water droplets through condensation, upon volatile fluid, magnetic field and electric field. Through convection, it discusses the self assembly mechanism of water droplets and peep into the uniformity of the size of water droplets. In this experiment, convection and magneto-electric force did play important roles in the self assembly mechanism of water droplets. The topic is mostly concerned as we are surrounded by magneto-electric waves in today’s world. This is the first step in discovering the homogeneous state of water droplets, providing insights into the self assembly mechanism of water droplets with nano sizes.

去年初，我們無意中發現一種新的資源一泥炭土，呈黑褐色，膠體狀，類似泥煤。近年來，有部分的農民以及愛好盆栽的民眾將之用來改良客土或用來做為肥料，效果甚佳。但是，它的成分如何？為何有此特殊效益？引起我們對此物質（泥炭土）發生了濃厚的研究興趣。因此便著手擬定計劃，進行各項調查與研究，以期對地區之泥崁土作進一步的了解。

By comparing eight different epoch images of the crab nebula taken through 1942 to 2004, we have calculated the expansion velocity of 27 optical bubble features and 60 filaments. The mean expansion velocity of bubble features and filaments is 0.173 arcsec/yr and 0.15 arcsec/yr, respectively. We also estimated the maximum radial velocity of the expansion by analyzing the emission spectrum of the nebula. The maximum radial velocity is 1385.5 km/s. Combining these measurements indicates that the crab nebular is approximately 5870 light year away. In addition, if we assume that the nebula has been expanding at a constant rate, our expansion velocity projected backward indicates the mean date of the supernova event as A.D 1124, more than 70 yrs later than the accepted date of 1054. The result confirms the well-known acceleration in the crab's expansion. Although we have analyzed eight images with a 62 yr baseline, the acceleration still can't be derived from this study. 透過量測由1942年到2004年之間八張不同年代的蟹狀星雲中爆炸後殘骸的位置變化，可以計算出蟹狀星雲爆發的擴張速度。本研究選定了27個包狀物和60個纖狀物，計算出的擴張速度分別為0.173 arcsec/yr.和0.150 arcsec/yr。再透過分析蟹狀星雲的光譜所計算出的徑向速度（radial velocity）為1385.5 km/yr，進而推得蟹狀星雲的距離分別為5430光年和6370光年，平均值為5870光年。 另外，如果假設擴張速度是等速運動，那麼把求得的擴張速度倒推出的爆發日期是在西元1124年，這比中國紀錄中超新星爆發的1054年晚了70年。這顯示出蟹狀星雲的確非等速擴張而是有加速度的狀態，才會造成以等速倒推發生日期時，晚了70年。雖然本研究中分析了相差62年之久的八張影像，仍然無法分析出星雲的擴張的加速度情形。

利用范式起電器將靜電導入蒸餾水、甘油、苯、環己烷、乙醇、正丙醇、正戊醇，以及HCl(aq)、NaCl(aq)、CuSO4(aq)……等不同溶液中，我們發現：非電解質溶液可以藉由極性分子的媒合作用"貯存”電子，而其中H2O效果最好，即水合電子是可以穩定存在的！但在水中若添加HCl、NaCl等電解質會提高容易導電性，以致於無貯存電子的效果。我們也發現苯雖不是極性分子，但因具有π共振系統，也能有效貯存電子。另外，從引入密度泛函數理論結合類導體可極化連續模型加以計算的結果，也能發現極性分子容易的溶劑電子親核能比非極性分子容易來的大，與實驗結果吻合。By using a Van de Graff Generator to put electrons into various solutions or solvents (such as water, alcohol, benzene, propyl alcohol, solutions of sodium chloride, etc.), we find out that nonelectrolytes can "store" electrons through hydration of polar molecules. And water has the best ability of keeping electrons among others. In other words, hydrated electrons can exist stably. However, if we add electrolyte into solvent, the solution won't store electrons because of its increasing electric conductivity. The experiment also shows that benzene can keep electrons though it is a nonpolar molecules. We infer that it is the " π resonance system " which contributes to its high ability of electron storage. In addition, by introducing the calculations of CPCM (Conductor-Like Polarizable Continuum Model), we find out that the electron affinity of polar solutions are stronger than those of nonpolar solutions. The computed results are in agreement with our experiment.

麵包的製作和酒的釀造，只要組成原料的成分和比例，及製作的過程能夠控制好，即可在一般環境的製造；但是，基因轉殖動物是指經過人工的基因轉植技術，把另外一個物種的基因轉移至另外一個物種的遺傳物質中結合，讓被轉殖基因的物種能表現出另外一物種的基因功能表現，如果此技術是轉移基因到動物身上，此動物則被稱為「基因轉殖動物」，因為基因轉殖技術無法在一般環境下執行，必須在控制環境中工作，且這個控制的環境，基因轉植所需要的儀器設備，主要在實驗室中。

小葉桑的葉片有心型葉、一裂、二裂及深多裂等多種葉型。心型葉在室外日照組水分的蒸散最多，一裂、二裂及深多裂的水分蒸散差異不大。室內控制組，則以深多裂葉型的小葉桑水分蒸散最少。心型葉表面毛孔數最少（平均14.2個），以深多裂較多（平均23.8個）。因淺一裂、淺二裂葉的初生葉都是心型葉，所以葉背氣孔數差異不大（22.2~27個），深多裂葉背的氣孔數最少（16.6個）。當小葉桑生長的土壤溼度太低時，新生葉便會產生葉裂。葉裂發生的位置與根部土壤乾燥的方位有關。如根部土壤全部是乾燥的，則葉型就會形成二裂或深多裂，一旦產生了深多裂的葉型，在同一樹枝的新生葉便是深多裂，即使此時土壤恢復溼度葉型也不會恢復。但若是另外的初分枝的新生葉則有可能會生成心型葉等其他葉型。淺葉裂的樹枝上的新生葉，若土壤溼度恢復足夠，葉型即會恢復為心型葉。

以六條瓢蟲為實驗對象，探討六條瓢蟲複眼對於色光的感受程度，分別採用藍、黃、紅、綠、紫單色的led燈，這幾種顏色瓢蟲都可看到，且感受能力大小為(紫>藍>黃>綠>紅) ，顯示瓢蟲對可見的光線趨向於短波長。利用色光(非制約刺激)與電擊(制約刺激)，做條件反射的建立，顯示出所有色光都能與電擊做有效的聯結，使瓢蟲選擇反向的色光。但短波長光(紫、藍)的聯結不若長波長光(黃、綠、紅)時間長久，顯見瓢蟲對於天生的趨性(趨紫光)有著難以改變的傾向，但選擇趨性(紫光及藍光)的時間變長，瓢蟲在選擇上有遲疑，顯示出趨光性跟制約反應雖選擇趨光，但制約反應有著一定程度的影響，而部份的學習聯結具有時距效應，隨著時間而遺忘。

Nd-YAG Laser 是目前最常被用來當作Pumping Source(汲發光源)，較早期是使用discharge lamppumping，但是閃光燈的發光頻率並非完全落在Nd-YAG 晶體的吸收帶上，因此大量的能量轉變為熱能，十分的浪費能源，且增加冷卻系統的負荷。因為discharge lamp pumping 是一種氣體放電的過程，每次放電的時間和能量都有很大的不穩定性。所以高效率、高穩定性的Laserdiode 便成為pumping source 的另一種選擇。在此實用價值下，便決心以一組Laserdiode Pumped Nd-YAG Laser的套件，使用AlGaAs Laserdiode 作為pumping source，來汲發Nd-YAG 晶體，所有物件被固定在同一個rail(軌道)上，從對光到汲發晶體(增益介質Nd-YAG 晶體)，到產生1,064nm 的紅外光雷射，及其倍頻532nm 的綠光雷射，正可作為一完整的雷射訓練過程。

去年教師節，我們到老師家駕節，發現老師家裡種了好多蝴蝶蘭。蝴蝶蘭的根蜿蜓的爬出盆外，像蟲一樣。有一柱擎天指向天空的，有垂掛下來像鬍鬚一般的，還有爬出盆外，溜達一陣又爬回自己盆內的，也有索性爬到鄰盆盆內作客去的， … … 各種怪模樣都有。我們於是要求老師：「我們何不觀察、實驗看看，蝴蝶蘭的根到底有哪些特性？為什麼總喜歡爬出盆外？和一般植物的根有何不同呢？」老師同意之後，我們就展開了這為期半年的觀察和研究。