Pricing Strategy of Coca-Cola Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Pricing Strategy of Coca-Cola - Research Paper Example In this pricing strategy, prices are kept low in order to penetrate more into the target market (Armstrong, Marketing). As a part of this strategy, prices of most of the products that are currently in the market will be lowered by 1-2 units. Furthermore, the quantity of the content can also be increased keeping the price range unchanged. In case of the brands that are about to be introduced, prices will be maintained at the lowest possible range so that competitive advantage can be gained. Prices of those brands that have sufficient market share in most of the major markets can be brought down by 5-10%. However, the price of the sports drinks brand which has been struggling to gain enough popularity would not be made lowered more than 2-3%. Penetration pricing strategy is likely to be more effective in the developing countries like India where people are significantly concerned about the prices of the product. In developed countries, direct cut in price may not work and hence in thes e markets, more features can be added in terms of content and packaging without changing the price. In some cases, prices can be reduced slightly. The main reason behind choosing penetration pricing strategy is increasing the sales by penetrating deeper into the markets. In most of developing countries, the volume of the target market is increasing significantly. Almost everyday a new market is getting created. In order to, gain enough market share in these markets it is very important to keep the price at a lower level for the initial period. The sports drinks sector in the emerging markets is becoming bigger. However, it is dominated by the competitor’s brand. As a result, bringing down the price without the changing the quality is likely to be an appropriate strategy for Coca-Cola. The situation is quite different in the developed markets where consumers have become more health conscious.  

Prostitution in Dutch Flemish Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Prostitution in Dutch Flemish Art - Essay Example They captured each emotion and took care of every little detail that could change the subject of the painting. These artists were meticulous enough when it came down to the choice of color palette and how to convey the message they bear in mind in a stabilized yet innovative manner. The different themes that represent the most notable era for the world of art and culture were historical paintings, portraiture (both group and single entity), genre paintings, landscapes and still life paintings. Historical paintings presented the real heroic scenes from the history with a touch of religious and national background. Portrait paintings included famous groups of people and their luxurious lifestyle and royal structures of various landmarks. Genre paintings on the other hand, gave a visionary meaning to mundane life along with an illustration of many Dutch quotes, proverbs and moralistic messages. Landscape paintings beautified the Dutch landscapes with the innovative imagination that made these artists produce such classic works of art. Still life paintings provided the Dutch painters to experiment with different textures and surfaces along with a merit of creating magic by the help of lighting effects. The socio-economical, political and religious position of the Netherlands helped in the emergence of a lucrative environment for the sphere of art. A great number of pictures and artists emerged during the 'Dutch golden age'. The popularity of genre paintings increased in between the span of 1600 to 1650 that well-preserved the scenes from everyday life while capturing the rhythm and thought provoking life back in the sixteenth century. Dutch genre paintings particularly in the sixteenth century were an excellent source of inspiration when it comes to the portrayal of family values, gratitude, social and moral responsibilities and duties. The mid-century genre paintings mostly portrayed women busy in indoor activities and taking care of the household. However, paintings which had depictions in them of women who were busy in any of the outdoor activities were often questioned and strongly criticized on moral grounds, specifically indicating towards the provocative character of a woma n. Dutch Culture and Prostitution: It is believed strongly that prostitution as per the Dutch culture is an expression of art and ingenuity which clearly predicts the existence of prostitution as a part of their culture and custom. Amsterdam, the Dutch capital is using prostitution as an instance to make way for artistic excellence along with cultural values and a representation of the Dutch people since it became a part of the global map. The Dutch culture and the candidness to prostitution within it has compelled the Dutch people to accept it as a legal part of their constitution which distinctly states that prostitutes can pursue their profession legally along with the payment of mandatory taxes. This quite evidently means that prostitution is acknowledged as standard and treated just like any other job that provides an individual with a monetary outcome. Therefore, the Dutch society who always fairly accepted the notion of prostitution because of its evident existence in their antiquity now has accepted prostitute s as legal workers having a legal job moreover, a contributing part of the society. In the

YouTube increases company Essay Example for Free

YouTube increases company Essay Introduction Nowadays, numerous people spend a lot of time using the Internet. Therefore, many companies invest substantial capital onInternet advertising to increase their revenue. YouTube is a useful method to advertise company produce, because 3 billion people watch YouTube every day (Henry. 2011). There are different typesof customer, so many companies focus on YouTube for this market. However, some people think YouTube is not a useful method for advertising; because many people may ignore the 15 seconds mandatory video advertisements or may not concentrate on the video advertisements (Fisher. 2011). This research considered whether YouTube is a good advertising method to encourage people to buy new products, to help company to increases revenue. Aims Find out how YouTube increases company revenue Find out whether YouTube changes people’s shopping habits Find out if YouTube is a useful advertising tool for a company 1.2 Objectives Give advice to companies as to how YouTube may be used to increase company revenue Offer advice as to ways in which YouTube may influence changes in shopping habits Method of Research The project is based on secondary research and primary research. Secondary research information was used to gain information about YouTube and Internet advertising from academic books, journals, newspapers and websites. A survey was conducted in order to discover the attitude and opinions of the general public. A questionnaire was used as, according to McFedries (2008) questionnaires are considered to be the most effective and efficient way of conducting this type of primary research because it allows primary data and information from the interviewees directly. The respondents consisted of 20 international students attending LSI school in Portsmouth. It was conducted on the 20th May 2013. Findings from secondary research YouTube is one of the most successful websites in the world. Many people may watch and listen to this website. As a result, YouTube can be an effective advertising medium in marketing. Therefore, many companies spend a lot of  money on YouTube to increase their revenue. It is possible that this form of advertising can change people’s shopping habit as, while they are looking at YouTube information, they are exposed to the advertising clips, which accompany the information. However, it may be the case that people have the choice to ignore the advertising and just focus on the information they want to watch. In this case, there is debate about whether the advertising is wasted. Nevertheless, there appears to sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the money spent on such advertising is profitable. Firstly, YouTube net revenue was $2.6 billion in 2012 an increase of 35% compared to the second quarter of 2011 (Larry. 2012). From this result it can be seen that many companies spend a lot of money on YouTube advertising, because in this generation, time spent on computers is increasing and many people find some entertainment from YouTube. 3 billion people watch YouTube every day (Henry. 2011). Many companies can see that YouTube has different types of customer. So it is a potentially useful tool to promote their company. For example, VEVO is the only company that has legitimate music channels on YouTube and it has many subscribers. So, when people watch a music video, it will include advertising about that music or other products. When people are interested in that music or products they can get more information and buy them. Secondly, YouTube will make an analysis of every user, such as what they often view. Then YouTube will handle the data and will propose some similar video to users. Also, YouTube will give the data to some companies which are related to that video to do some research inform them about user habits. Then, some companies will add advertising in that video let users know their company has some products that are suitable for them and change customer’s shopping habits (YouTube. 2013). Finally, many people do not believe YouTube advertising feasibility, because many people may just watch the 15 seconds then ignore it. So, many people question YouTube advertising. With the increasing availability of advances in technology, the advertising strategies have improved and may encourage more visitors to watch the adverts rather than to ignore them. According to a recent research carried out by Fisher (2011), only 30% of YouTube advertisements are skipped. Findings from Primary Research This research used a sample of 20 people, those are LSI students and  teacher,20 questionnaires were returned and the interviewees answered all questions. According to the results from the first question which asked people which website they usually use to find out new music videos, it can be seen from appendix (b) that 80%chose YouTube to find out new music videos, also 15% used Google and just 5% used QQ Music, but nobody used Yahoo and Facebook to find out the new music video. The second question researched how much time do people spend on average on YouTube everyday, it is shown by appendix (c), that near 35% of interviewees spend 3 to 4 hours on YouTube everyday.Likewise, there were 25% of interviewees who spend 1 to 2 hours per day and the number of interviewees who spend less than 1 hour and over 4 hours was the same, and it was 20%. The third question asked people about their habits from before the changes in 2012, how often did they watch a full advertisement on YouTube, it is shown in appendix (d), that 60% on average, they justsaw it between 2 to 4 times, the number of people who saw it between 5 to 7 times and once every ten times was the same, it was 20%. The fourth question researched the changes that happened after 2012, and how oftenpeople watched full adverting on YouTube, it is shown in appendix (e), that 35% of interviewees saw the advertisement that appeared between 5 to 7 times. 30% of interviewees saw it between 8 to 9 times, the number of respondents who just saw it between 2 to 4 times and people who watched it every time is the same – 15%. The fifth question, participant agreed that mandatory video advertisements are useful for them, is shown in appendix (f), the number of participants who think are sometimes very useful and rarely very useful is the same – 35%.Likewise, there were 25 % of participant think are usually very useful and it just had 5% of participant think are very useful. The sixth question, people agreed that mandatory video advertisements can increase your interest and as a result buy advertised products, it can be seen from appendix (G), 40% of the interviewees agree YouTube mandatory increase their interest and encourage them to buy the advertised products, whereas only 5% strongly disagree this point. However, nobody strongly agree that mandatory video advertisements can increase them interest and as a result buy advertised products. The seventh question, people agreed that YouTube could change their shopping habits, it can be seen from appendix (H), the agree rating score of 4 is 35% and the disagree rating score of 2 is 20%, representing that more  interviewees YouTube can change their shopping habits. Since the percentage of people strongly agree and strongly disagree are the same of 5%, a conclusion cannot be drawn. The eighth question, have they ever bought a product advertised on YouTube after watching the video, is shown in appendix (I), that 60% of interviewees have bought a product advertised on YouTube after watching the video and the remaining 40% said they did not purchase the product. The last question is what factors will make them interested in the online video advertisements, is shown in appendix (J), that 40% of participants said they are already interested in the product, also 20% of participantssaid because the pop stars advertisethe product. Thenumbers of people who think are sound effects and they need the products is the same – 15%, there are just 10% of participantsare interested in the online video advertisements due to gift vouchers. Discussion of Findings The survey was designed to find out how YouTube increase company revenue, whether YouTube change people’s shopping habits and find out if YouTube is a useful advertising tool for a company. Firstly, the findings demonstrate that 3 billion people watch YouTube every day (Henry. 2011), the VEVO music company channel has the most subscribers and has different types of customers. So it is a potentially useful tool to promote their company. From the questionnaire, it can be seen from appendix (B)that clearly there are 80% interviewees usually use YouTube to find out about new music. Therefore, YouTube is a succeedmethod to advertise company produce. Secondly, appendix (D) and appendix (E)investigate whether YouTube advertising strategy improvements increase the number of viewers. Appendix (D) represents pre advertising strategy improvements, when interviewees just usually (60%) see on average, between 2 to 4 times the advertisement appeared. On the other hand, it can be seen from appendix (E) that after advertising strategies improved,the same group of them will seethe full advertising, on average, between 2 to 4 times the advertisement appeared decline to 15%. Likewise, the same group of interviewees will see on average, between 5 to 7 and 8 to 9 times the advertisement appeared increase to 35% and 30%. Also it can seen from appendix (G) thatonly 5 % of interviewees strongly disagree that mandatory video advertisements can increase interest and as a result buy advertised products. This result of this questionnaire is similar to the  secondary research, which supports that advertising strategies improved in 2012 encouraged more people to watch the full adverting on YouTube and also increased people’s interest to buy advertised products. Thirdly, it can be seen from appendix (F) that nobody thinks the mandatory video advertisements are never useful. As shown from appendix (H), only 5% of interviewees strongly disagree the YouTube advertisement cannot change their shopping habit. Likewise, YouTube can increase company revenue, because it can be seen from appendix (I, where 60% of interviews had bought a product advertised on YouTube after watching the video. So YouTube it can influence people’s shopping habits. Limitations of the Research This is the project allocated and the lack of experience is the biggest problem to be faced. Moreover, there were just 20 respondents of the questionnaireand the survey covers only the students in LSI. In addition, due to the time constraint,findings from secondary research contain limited academic resources. Finding more information on books and asking more respondents may improve further research. Conclusions Recommendations To sum up, it is clear that there is 80% of interviewees used YouTube to find out new music, so YouTube had many different types of customers and so it is good for advertising companies’ products. Moreover, the improved YouTube advertising strategies in 2012 had raised the number of intervieweeswho watch more the mandatory video advertisements and it can change people’s shopping habits. These findings demonstrate that YouTube canincrease people’sinterest and as a result encourage them to buy advertised products. According to the questionnaires, it is suggested that companies can employ Pop Star to advertise the product and put more sound effect to make people interested in the online video advertisements. Also YouTube may conduct more research to find out customer’sshopping habit and to show the most suitable advertising for increase in viewers. References Chaffey, D. (2003). Internet marketing: Strategy, implementation and practice. Harlow [u.a.: Financial Times Prentice Hall. England, E., Tinney, A. (2002). Managing Multimedia Project management for wed and convergent media. Harlow: Addison- Wesley. Fisher, L. (2011). Only 30% of YouTube Users Skip Pre-Roll Ads. The Next Web: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/06/12/only-30-of-youtube-users-skip-pre-roll-ads/Geiger, S. Martin, S. (1999). THE INTERNET AS A RELATIONSHIP MARKETING TOOL -SOME EVIDENCE FROM IRISH COMPANIES. Irish Marketing Review Volume 12(2) Henry, A. (2011 May26). YouTube hits 3 billion views per day, 48 hours of video uploaded per minute. Geek News.Retrieved from: http://www.geek.com/news/youtube-hits-3-billion-views-per-day-48-hours-of-video-uploaded-per-minute-1383495/How were cashing in on YouTube: Thousands are pulling in SIX-FIGURE incomes with home-made videos (2012- August31). Mail Online News. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-219611 0/THOUSANDS-people-making-SIX-FIGURE-income-home-YouTube-videos.htmlInstitute of Practitioners in Advertising: National Readership Surveys. (1965). Lond.: I. P. A. Jarboe, G. (2009). YouTube and video marketing: An hour a day. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub. Nakashim, R. (2013-May07). YouTube Said Set to Soon Launch Pay Channels. abc news. Retrieved from: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/youtube-set-launch-pay-channels-weeks-19120837#.UYjV3JXN7dkLarry, P. (2012 June30). Google Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results. Retrieved from: http://investor.google.com/earnings/2012/Q2_google_earnings.htmlMcFedries, P. (2008). Macs. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley. YouTube. (2013). YouTube Analytics. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/yt/advertise/youtube-analytics.html

Impact of Globalisation on Nation Borders

Impact of Globalisation on Nation Borders Globalization has had its impacts on world cross-border flows e.g flow of capital. There has been an increase in international economic activity which has expanded world trade and general capital flow. Goods are flowing across national borders easily through reduced trade barriers and new transportation methods. However, it cannot be stated that the world has become borderless. The aim of this paper is to show (through examining the U.S’s border and trade between Canada) that borders still exist and impact daily trade. In fact, it can be anticipated to see that there are new types of borders or divides being formed within countries such as the U.S. Borders are being used to reinforce protection, define territories and influence prices of material imported from other countries. Borders can be viewed differently depending on their purpose and distance from which the border is being viewed. From those different perspectives we can see that the world still has borders, they just c hange in their function depending on different aspects (Globally, Transnationally or Realistic). Economies of nations are correlated through trade of goods, services, information and even migration. Economic integration reduces barriers between national economies through governments lowering tariffs and other trade barriers strengthening trade and helps create a borderless world. Technological advances in communication have also promoted integration in the way that they ease access to knowledge of further consumers and products. Borders still have impacts on markets even close countries such as, U.S product markets and neighbouring country, Canada. The idea of having no borders and complete economic integration means having no trade barriers between countries. Canada and USA have eliminated numerous barriers of trade between them, CUSFTA and NAFTA had eliminated barriers to bilateral trade for numerous goods before the recent trade agreements (Ceglowski, pg 22). Geographically, these countries are in favourable locations for trade. Greater distances would lead to higher costs for transportation and services hindering the economic integration between them. USA and Canada share one long border which can easily be crossed through land or water. Over  ¾ of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the U.S border therefore the two countries share a number of social, political, cultural aspects. Majority of these countries’ population speak the same language which all together encourages bilateral trade and other cross border activities. They currently exchange approximately $1 billion goods and services per day, they’re the world’s largest bilateral trade flow. However, the border still affects economic activities between them. Research shows that Canadian provinces trade much more with other Canadian provinces than the U.S states of same economic size and distance. Ontario which is roughly the same distance from Br itish Columbia and Washington traded 7 times more with B.C than Washington in 1990. Despite Washington being a larger economy there was an apparent home bias in Canadian merchandize (Ceglowski, pg 23). There are other nontariff barriers such as licensing, health and safety regulations, gov’t procedures that often impact trade. For example, in early 1990’s Ontario established a 10% tax on all can beers with the aim to encourage container reusing. However, the U.S beer manufactures saw this as a protectionist rule because they mostly sell their beer in cans which meant the tax would have a huge impact on their product (Ceglowski, pg 24). If borders were non-existent and had no impact on trade, there would be no price difference or different currencies between same products in the two countries. In the case of USA and Canada, despite the distance being significantly lower than other trading countries, prices between a city in Canada and USA are higher than it would be between cities within the same country. Even between U.S.A and Canada, there is a difference in currency which is another indicator of a border. International transactions have risks which also act as barriers for international trade (Ceglowski, pg 25). Borders still play critical roles in politics. Some may argue that their functions are changing rather than them fading. Malcolm Anderson considers borders as a dynamic element of the state; they’re used as an instrument of state policy. When governments change the place and function of their borders, it’s for specific benefits for their state and citizens. The policies and actions of state authorities are determined by clearly defined borders and borders are used as national identities. Moraczeska compares the role and place of borders according to their perception, importance and actions taken to execute rules within the borders. In her comparison, Moraczeska compares these aspects from a realistic, transnational and global aspect: Figure 1.0: Table comparing border roles, perception and importance from three aspects (Moraczewska, pg 333) From Moraczeska’s table it is clear that from a realistic, technical view, borders serve as an element of nationality and separation. It acts as a barrier against threats, the border acts to fragment regions with the aid of infrastructure made for securitization purposes and militarisation at the borders. At a transnational perspective, borders still play the role of fragmenting regions but it’s not a solid dividing line. It’s considered permeable where there’s a gradual abolition of infrastructure which opens up flows of goods, money and people. Globally, the borders are perceived as international markets. They’re viewed as a â€Å"virtual line†, a line only seen on a map but don’t exist for global markets which reinforces the concept of the world as a whole becoming borderless. We can also see that globally, the importance of a border is downplayed. It’s not viewed as a barrier but as a unifier for international flows. The border functions as a mixed market system and legal system. So the border is still connected with a territory but its function changes in the way that it divides one zone (economically, monetary, politically) from another but it’s not related to a nation-state but to a market. Borders between these different zones can be sources of profits/benefits or losses therefore, the idea of a borderless world isn’t completely true even from a global perspective (Moraczeska, pg 334-336). Whereas borders seem to be more porous when it comes to trade, U.S borders are becoming more securitized when it comes to immigration. After the terrorist attacks September 11, 2001, the U.S (and multiple other states) has become determined to gain more control over their external borders. The USA has reinforced visa requirements and immigration procedures to control international movement of people. The US has also began construction of hundreds of miles of fencing along its border with Mexico. This process doesn’t only restrict material flow from Mexico to USA but also cuts off thousands of people who benefited from job opportunities (Newman, pg 149). Many other nations around the world such as Thailand, Uzbekistan, Iran, Brazil, Botswana, Spain have also strengthened their existing border barriers (Alexander and Hagen, pg 1197-1198). U.S.A’s border strengthened since the 2002 hearing. During this hearing, technology experts were asked to find a way to fight the war on terror using risk profiling techniques. Two years from this hearing, the US Department of Homeland Security announced a $10 billion project (US VISIT) to restructure and manage US air, land and seaport of entry security. According to Accenture, this project is designed ‘to operate far beyond US boundaries’ enabling Homeland Security to assess security risks of all US-bound travellers, preventing potential threats from reaching the US borders. This biometric border brings extends the government’s ability to examine and govern multiple aspects of daily life. The US VISIT programme acts against the idea of porous international borders that are open for business. It objectifies and categorizes people as subjects and breaks them up into predictable risk factors for him or herself (e.g gender is taken as a possible risk factor f or the subject) or to others (e.g illegal immigrants) (Louise, pg 339). This programme creates multiple boarders even within USA itself. In 2003, Accenture organized workshops for American citizens suggesting that ‘well intentioned Americans should volunteer to help fight the war on terror’ however, insinuations of citizen profiling for the other ethnicities in America such as Arab Americans are never questioned for being more racial and ethnic targeting. This creates a divide between ethnicities within USA (Louise, pg 346). Even though the U.S and other nations around the world have become more open to trade, borders between nations still exist and impact trade flows. The border between USA and Canada has large impacts on the trade flow and prices between the two nations. It can be seen that if two neighboring countries such as these still have border impacts despite the banishing of a lot of barriers and tariffs, countries trading from further will be faced with border impacts as well. This proves the idea of globalization making the world borderless irrelevant. We also saw that borders can be viewed differently and can have different roles. Borders viewed from a global aspect tend to play an integrative role were as from a realistic and transnational perspective, they take on a dividing role. Borders cannot be viewed from a single perspective; they continue to function differently in different scales. Throughout this paper it was also established that borders aren’t just the markings or fences that separate one nation from another, virtual borders within countries (e.g USA) can be formed and are being formed. Therefore, it cannot be argued that the world is becoming borderless. Rather, borders are transforming. Bibliography: Amoore, Louise. Biometric Borders: Governing Mobilities in the War on Terror. Political Geography 25.3 (2006): 336-51. Political Geopgraphy, 2006. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. Ceglowski, Janet. â€Å"Has Globalization Created a Borderless World?’ Bangkok: John Stirling for The Nation, 1973. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. Diener, Alexander, and Joshua Hagen. Theorizing Borders in a ‘Borderless World’: Globalization, Territory and Identity. WILEY Online Library. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 18 Mar. 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. Moraczewska, Anna. The Chnaging Interpretation Of Border Functions In International Relations. Revista Romà ¢nă De Geografie Politică XII.2 (2010): 329-40. University in Lublin, 23 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. Newman, David. The Lines That Continue to Separate Us: Borders in Our borderless World. Progress in Human Geography 30.2 (2006): 143-61. Sage Publications. SAGE, 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. Newman, David. World Society, Globalization and a Borderless World: The Contemporary Significance of Borders and Territory. World Society Foundation, 2005. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. Sparke, Matthew. From Geopolitics to Geoeconomics: Transnational State Effects in the Borderlands. Taylor Francis Online. Routledge, 19 Oct. 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. Word Count: 1510 1

The Poetry of Paz Essays -- Literary Analysis

Literature possesses a multitude of forms similar to poetry. It adheres to the human emotion as well as the human senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. Poems have the ability to express a story whether it be literal or metaphoric regardless of its length text wise. However, through the author’s use of imagery and diction, the reader is subject to envisioning and capturing the image purposefully being conveyed. In the eyes of renowned poet and essayist, including many other occupation titles, Octavio Paz states, â€Å"words refer to another word† (6), therefore stories are independent to their length. Based on Paz’s past history it is evident that he incorporates his experiences as the basis of the structure of his poems and stories. Paz had two fatherly figures beside him as her grew up and writing became almost natural to him. Paz’s father was a journalist as well as a supporter of the Mexican Revolution. Paz’s grandfather was a novelist and a publisher, so evidently writing was in his gene pool. Through their work it is evident that Paz possessed more than enough knowledge about what to incorporate in his own literary works because Paz learned how to write passionately about what he believed in. In the year, 1944, he had earned the opportunity and obtained the Guggenheim fellowship in which he began living in New York and San Francisco. As a result he broadened his knowledge of North American poetry initiating his reflections on Mexico and the underdevelopment from the vantage point of overdevelopment. Paz lived in the village, Mixcoac, in Mexico City which had been impoverished by both civil war and the revolution. Paz remains loyal to his heritage and from time to time includes it in his work s uch as his poem â€Å"Return†. ... ...lity to respect it. His writing speaks to the reader on a higher note, consistently sticking to one theme. Works Cited 1. Academy of American Poets. "Octavio Paz- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1997. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. . 2. "Octavio Paz - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 26 Mar 2012 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1990/paz-bio.html 3. Bloom, Harold. Octavio Paz. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House, 2002. 4. Paz, Octavio. Alternating Current. New York: Viking, 1973. 5. Paz, Octavio, and Eliot Weinberger. The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987. New York: New Directions, 1991. 6. Paz, Octavio, Eliot Weinberger, and G. Aroul. Selected Poems. New York: New Directions, 1984. 7. Rahman, Shaifur. European Time. Kindle ed. Amazon.com, 2010.

Personal Narrative - A Hasty Decision Essay -- Personal Narrative Writ

A Hasty Decision When I turned eighteen I went out and began renting my very own apartment. The effort I put into this task at the time seemed sufficient. I went online, found a place I liked with good location and low rent. I asked my good friend Sean to live with me to help keep costs down. Then I took care of all the utilities, gas electric, cable, phone, internet, and all the necessities. My first apartment gave me some very rough times, but from that time I learned a little about apartments and a lot about life. Things were going great for Sean and I. we had been living on our own in Tera Vida Apartments for three months and we were getting along swell. The only occasional dispute was when we would rock, paper, scissors to see who was taking out the trash. Expenses were no problem. Sean had a job as a telemarketer and was getting weekly bonuses in excess of five hundred dollars for beating the quota. I was driving the zamboni and working in the pro shop of the local ice rink. The best part of all was no one was telling us to do anything at all. Almost out of nowher...

Pumps & Physics Essay

What’s new? When I was thinking about which aspect of physics to investigate for my investigation, I knew it was a good idea to choose something that really interested me. At the time I was becoming more and more fascinated by subatomic particles. I liked the fact that much of it was new and not understood properly, unlike the classical physics that everyone associates the subject with. Unfortunately, high energy physics does not translate into good practical coursework. However, while reading Six Easy Pieces, a book adapted from Richard Feynman’s famous textbook The Feynman Lectures on Physics, I noticed that a very common everyday phenomenon is still not properly understood by physicists. Encouraged by the prospect of discovering something new, I read on. Chaotic ideas Feynman wrote (on page 66) â€Å"There is a physical problem that is common to many fields, that is very old, and that has not been solved†¦It is the analysis of circulating or turbulent fluids†¦No-one can analyse it from first principles† â€Å"Wow – something science can’t explain† I thought. I looked on the internet for further details and I found a poster from World Maths Year 2000 (http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/wmy2kposters/march/), showing just the type of unpredictable fluid motion that Feynman was writing about. It’s a new and exciting branch of maths called chaos theory and it is just beginning to be understood mathematically. The main idea is that simple systems can show very complicated behaviour that seems to have no repeating pattern. The sums that describe these systems are difficult to get your head round and appear to be way beyond my abilities as an A-Level maths student. Despite this, I felt something chaotic was an excellent phenomenon to look into for this task – it’s a chance to do some experimental work where there isn’t a perfect formula or a flawless explanation in any textbook. I couldn’t rely on distorting my results to fit a simple law, so my experimentation had to be rigorous. Limitations It was important to find a subject that was practical to investigate at school. While I was watching water swirl down the drain as I filled the kettle at home, I wondered how widely-used machines like ship’s propellers cope with the unpredictable world of chaos. Propellers have an unusual and distinctive shape designed to reduce turbulence. I wanted to investigate why this particular shape works so well – and if it can tell us anything about turbulent flow. Conveniently, water and propellers are easy-to-use in school labs (or so I thought!). Best of all, I thought, if I could model the situation but ignore the effect of turbulent water, I could look at the mechanics of the propeller, and then compare the theory with what happens in real life. It seemed like a good mix of fresh ideas and traditional physics problems. I talked about my plans to some of my teachers and one of them mentioned that his son had done a PhD degree in the formation of bubbles by marine propellers – an effect called cavitation. This encouraged me to continue with this project, knowing that it relates to current areas of research and is an important and worthwhile topic. Research It turns out that one of the most interesting applications of pumps is in fire engines. As fire services are public organisations they make available plenty of high-quality, free information online. Engineering sites were also useful. * The Physics Behind Firefighting American high-school physics project http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2003.web.dir/Matt_Taylor/Matt1.dwt * How Fire Engines Work General information http://science.howstuffworks.com/fire-engine.htm * Bedfordshire & Luton Fire and Rescue Service My local fire brigade, who I actually went to visit to find out more http://www.bedsfire.gov.uk/index.htm * American Turbine: Pump Calculations Web-based program for working out quantities in pumping http://americanturbine.net/formulacalc/pump.htm * Impeller Design The engineering that goes into pumps http://homepage.mac.com/mrbach/mixdesign.htm * Firefighting.com Useful data on pumps but uses frames so I can’t give a full URL http://www.firefighting.com * How Things Work A simple explanation of propellers and aerofoils Lesley Firth, Kingfisher, 1983 p13 * The Physics of Firefighting Some simple principles explained Physics Teacher, vol 28, p 599 * Firefighting Contains a bit of physics but interesting background information Jack Gottschalk, Dorling Kindersley, 2002, ISBN: 0789489090, p128 * Go with the flow Article about modelling granular and fluid motion New Scientist, 2 August 2003, p38-39 Preliminary Experiments I wanted to find the most efficient propeller design. From research I found out that propellers have different shapes for different tasks, so my first goal was to get a propeller up and working, and then look at what I could change to make it run more efficiently. These are the variables I aimed to evaluate for their effect on power transfer efficiency in preliminary tests: * The speed of rotation * The size of the propeller * Since speed of rotation is less time consuming to collect data for, I’ll look at it first. I intend to plot a graph of speed of rotation vs. output flow rate. Considering the shape of a ship’s propeller, I expected to be looking at these variables later on: * The number of blades on the impeller * The shape of the blades * The orientation of the blades (what angle they are in relation to the axis of rotation) The physics principles that are important here are mechanical ones. The efficiency of the propeller depends on how much of its power goes into pushing water outwards and how much is wasted on heating the water up or causing it to form whirlpools. New Scientist’s article Go with the flow mentioned the Bernoulli Effect, which is observed on aircraft wings and on propeller blades. Lower pressure Higher pressure A blade with a curved plane and a flat plane forces some air or water on a longer route over the curve, and the rest takes the shorter flat route. The longer journey over the curved plane causes a drop in pressure, which translated to lift in planes, and thrust in propellers. According to all the textbooks, the optimum number of blades, the blade angle, the speed of rotation and the size of propeller all contribute to the efficiency. It seems like I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’m going to concentrate on rotation speed and its effect on water flow rate outwards. Let’s see what the preliminary tests show. Water flows in Axle Propeller Watertight casing Water flows out Planning Risk Assessment1,2 Apparatus or procedure Hazard Precautions All apparatus Accident or fire Supervise the experiment at all times and clear away at the end of the session. Store all equipment safely and securely. Boiling water for shaping polypropene propellers Risk of scalding Take care with boiling water, paying attention at all times. Stand well back from the saucepan and do not move it while the water is hot. Use a heat-insulating towel to manipulate the hot polypropene. Electric circuit in general Risk of fire from short circuiting etc. Use insulated wires, keep connections clean and dry, and always supervise the apparatus while current is flowing. Do not leave the set-up unattended without unplugging the mains supply. Use wires of appropriate diameter to prevent overheating resulting in fire. Rapidly rotating propeller Possibility of injury from contact with rotating blades of propeller Leave motor switched off until ready to record data. Take care to keep your distance from the propeller, especially fingers. Heavy equipment (power pack, retort stands) Falling equipment could injure Ensure stands etc. are sturdily placed and avoid placing equipment near the very edge of the work bench. Power pack Output: 13V 5A DC Input: 230V mains AC Risk of electrocution from mains input (risk of injury from output voltage is minimal) Keep power pack away from the wet part of the apparatus (to prevent conduction through water). In my experiment, I will keep all the electrics on a shelf above the level of the water-containing apparatus. Ensure all water-containing equipment is as waterproof as possible, and have towels to hand to soak up spills. Do not leave the set-up unattended without unplugging the mains supply. Preliminary findings In the research and rationale section, I identified variables I wanted to investigate. I conducted preliminary experiments to found out which variables were the most practical to focus on. The basic aim is to narrow my search down to one or possibly two variables and then find the most power-efficient value for each variable. Size of propeller was very difficult to control since I found that the propeller will only stir the water unless it tightly fits the container. Small propellers did not displace any water. Only propellers with a diameter 1 or 2mm less than the diameter of the container were effective in pumping water. As such, I decided not to consider investigating this variable. Angle of propeller blade inclination is possible to vary, but I found the range of angles possible with the materials I had chosen were too limited. I developed a method of cutting out rectangles of polypropene sheeting, boiling them in water and bending them to the right shape, but the blades often snapped and it was tricky to get the blades to remain at the chosen angle as they cooled and hardened. I decided to keep blade inclination constant. 45à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ might seem to be an appropriate angle of inclination to choose for all the propellers I will compare, but most propellers I found photographs of from my research showed shallower angles of blade inclination. I have decided that all my propellers will be inclined at 30à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ because it is easier to make the propellers this shape and I assume that this is a more efficient angle than 45à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ since many propellers are about this angle. Speed of rotation turned out to be very simple to control with the use of the variable voltage power pack. I investigated the effect of power input on rotation speed (or angular velocity of the propeller as I call it from here on in). Using a stroboscope, I determined the linear relationship between the voltage supplying the motor (V) and the angular velocity (?) of the propeller shaft in air. I adjusted the frequency of the strobe light until the propeller appeared not to rotate. At this frequency, the time between flashes of the strobe and the time for one blade of the propeller to reach the former position of the blade before it is equal. If you find the angle in radians (?) between two adjacent blades and multiply it by the frequency (f) of the stroboscope (the time between flashes), you are left with the angular velocity (?) of the propeller, i.e. the rate of rotation. ? = ?f In the table below, V and f were determined experimentally and ? was calculated by multiplying f by ?. Since the frequency is only known to two significant figures, the angular velocity can only be determined to 2 s.f. Angle between blades, ? degrees 72 Angle between blades, ? radians 0.4? V V 0 2.25 4.25 6.25 8.75 10.00 13.00 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.25 f s-1 0 13 26 36 50 57 74 0.5 ? rad s-1 0 16 32 45 63 72 93 0.5 Once the propeller is immersed in water the relationship between ? and V changes. The relationship is non-linear and, unlike the graph above, is different for every propeller. In light of the preliminary experiments I will modify this method to vary the power supplied to the drill that drives the propeller. It will not matter that the speed of rotation varies depending on how much the water resists the motion of the propeller. The only data that are needed to calculate the efficiency of the system are power input and useful power output. Efficiency At this point it is important to mention that I am concentrating on the efficiency of the propeller at displacing water. Percentage efficiency = useful power output / power input à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 100%, or rewritten in symbols, ? = Puseful out / Pin. Also, power input is proportional to input voltage since current is constant at 5 A in my equipment. P = VI and I = 5   Power (Watts) = 5 x voltage (Volts). Review of purpose of investigation The focus of this investigation is to determine the optimum number of blades for a propeller to have to maximise energy-efficiency. Experiments will compare propellers with 2, 4 and 6 blades. The energy efficiency of the three propellers when displacing water will be determined and compared. Their efficiency may not be independent of the rate of rotation. This too will be investigated and analysed. The analysed results will show which of the three propellers is most energy efficient in at each rate of rotation investigated. Extract from Eric Weisstein’s World of Physics http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Screw.html A screw is a simple machine that is actually a version of the inclined plane. The pitch of the screw corresponds to the inclination of the plane: a higher pitch (i.e., more threads per length) means less inclination, and thus easier turning, but also more turning that needs to be done to travel a given length. As with the other simple machines, the required force is reduced, but the amount of work done is the same. Apparatus 13V max. variable voltage power pack Retort stands and clamps 15 cm ruler Silicone polymer window sealant Garden hosepipe Expanded polystyrene for supports Multimeter (0.25V, 0.25A tolerance) Polypropene sheet for making propellers PET lemonade bottles (2 Litre capacity) Plastic funnel for filling Stopwatch Collection bottle with 2 litre mark ( 0.002 L) Cordless electric screwdriver/drill Steel axle Volumetric burette PET pudding basins to contain propeller Water Colour-coded wires and crocodile clips Saucepan, hotplate and tongs for heating and reshaping polypropene into propellers Scissors and craft knife for cutting out propeller shapes from polypropene sheet Apparatus set-up These diagrams show how I designed the equipment. The circuit diagram connected to the drill represents the power pack, and its voltage selector is displayed as a variable resistor. The plastic volute is the container that houses the propeller. To begin with, water fills the water tank and the plastic volute. Activating the power pack supplies an electric current to the drill, which rotates the propeller. Variables to control Variable How I will control it Viscosity of water Constant at constant temperature and pressure Power and speed of rotation of propeller Use a power pack instead of a battery to supply the cordless drill. Use the same power pack, axle and drill throughout the experiment. Rotation speed does not vary linearly with power but carefully designing the experiment can avoid problems. Room temperature and pressure Constant at 20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C due to central heating. Atmospheric pressure changes are insignificant to this experiment. Plan for laboratory sessions Session and duration Targets Before lab work begins Build the waterproof sections of the apparatus and seal them with silicone polymer. Buy a cordless drill. First two hours Set up all apparatus, construct the propellers and test the experiment to ensure it works as planned Second two hours Measure the time taken to raise 2 Litres of water through 50cm vertically by each of the three propellers, with 65W power input Third two hours Repeat the previous session’s experiment, but with the power set at 35W. Fourth two hours By considering the results collected before this session, decide which range of power input to investigate in detail Fifth two hours Continue gathering results for chosen range of power inputs Remaining time Investigate turning points and anomalies as necessary In between lab sessions Complete results tables, draws graphs as appropriate and start to analyse findings. Use analysis to modify strategy and to make decisions on how to progress. While I was designing which equipment to use and how to use it, I thought carefully about accuracy and sensitivity. The major difficulty with this experiment is the unpredictable nature of the propellers – unlike many other things physics, it is not easy to find a good estimate of what will happen in textbooks or online. One way of ensuring good results is to measure the variables to a reasonable number of significant figures. The multimeter I chose to use is quick to respond to changes in current or potential difference and has fine graduations on its scale, providing high sensitivity. It also has very tight tolerances as it is designed for use in high performance electronics, which contributes to the accuracy of the results I will gather. The multimeter is significantly more accurate and sensitive some of the digital alternatives at school. It responds to changes much quicker too. I have had to design and build quite a large amount of equipment just to make this project possible. To measure the volume of water pumped out by the system, I will calibrate the water collection bottle with graduations. To make sure they are very sensitive and accurate, I will use the high quality, high accuracy laboratory glassware available at school for use in chemistry and biology. The percentage error on the volume graduations on these pieces of equipment is very small (around 0.0003%). References for planning section 1. Cambridge University Department of Physics Physics risk assessment form http://www.phy.cam.ac.uk/cavendish/hands/forms/RAform.pdf 2. CLEAPSS Secondary Schools website http://www.cleapss.org.uk/secfr.htm Implementing Modifications to plan Problem Solution How to water-seal the entire system Careful application of silicone sealant and gaffer tape at all junctions. Apparatus tested underwater by pressurising with air using a bike pump. Leaks located by bubbles escaping where seals were incomplete. How to get water to flow from the water reservoir into the propeller cavity, without providing any extra pressure that would reduce the workload of the propeller Height of water reservoir bottle adjusted until water just reaches the top of the propeller cavity, without spilling out the output hole How to accurately measure the volumes of water used in each experiment Volumetric glassware borrowed from chemistry department Calculation of power efficiency of pumping system ?E = mg?h P = Et-1 Useful power output = power spent on raising water against the force of the Earth’s gravitational field Useful power output = (mass of water raised (mwater) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ strength of gravity at sea level (g) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ height through which the water is raised (?h)) / time taken (t) Pout = mwaterg?ht-1 The mass of water is proportional to its volume at constant temperature and atmospheric pressure. In these experiments, the temperature and pressure have been constant at 293K (20à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C) and 105 Pa respectively. Under these conditions, water has a density of 998.2 kgm-3 (according to the Nuffield Advanced Science Data Book, Nuffield-Chelsea Curriculum Trust, Longman, 1984). Therefore, the time taken to raise the water and the number of blades on each propeller are the only variables in my experiment.