Friday, January 24, 2020

The Character of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Da :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

The Character of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell In the Authorain legend, Sir Gawain has great nobility, honesty, loyalty and chivalry. Sir Gawain is the nephew of King Arthur and a member of the king's elite Round Table. In the texts of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell," Gawain is portrayed as a hero who exemplifies the characteristics of an honorable knight. He is viewed by many in King Arthur's court as a noble man who is loyal to the king, and who will sacrifice his own life to protect his lord. Sir Gawain represents an ideal knight of the fourteenth century. Sir Gawain's inner values and character are tested to the fullest and are clearly defined in the text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The unknown author describes Gawain and the other knights as "Many good knights" (Norton 159), and he is referred to as one of the "most noble knights" (Norton 159) in King Arthur's land. This claim by the author is solidified by a challenge presented by the evil Green Knight, who enters the court of King Arthur and asks him to partake in a Christmas game. Sir Gawain, after hearing this challenge, asks the king if he may take his place. This represents that Gawain is very loyal to his king. Sir Gawain is also an honest knight in the text because in a year's time he ventures out in search of the Green Knight to endure a blow with the ax as the rules of the game were stated. He very easily could have not have carried out his end of the bargain by not traveling to the Green Chapel to meet the evil being, but Gawain is an honest knight who is true to h is word. Another trait of Gawain that is tested in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is his loyalty. While in search of the Green Chapel where he must face the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is tested by the lady of the castle he is lodging at. The lady tries to seduce Gawain, but he does not fall into her trap by sleeping with her. Instead, Sir Gawain remains loyal to the lord of the castle whom he has promised to be honest with, and the lady describes him as the "noblest knight alive.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Absorbance and Spectrophotometry

Experiment 2: Absorbance and Spectrophotometry ABSTRACT: This was an investigation into the effects of different wavelengths of light on methylene blue and carmine red on the absorbance value on a spectrophotometer. A spectrophotometer is used to measure light intensity by emitting a single light source through a cuvette of coloured solution. The particles in the solution, which are coloured, absorb the light depending on how concentrated it is and this produces an electronic reading from the photometer which is the absorbance value.The maximum absorption was found for both solutions and was used to calculate the molar extinction coefficient of methylene blue. An unknown concentration of methylene blue was calculated by using graphs produced in the dilution experiments prior. The results produced supported Beer’s Law because the absorbance was directly proportional to the concentration, and so, we can be assured that the concentration of the unknown methylene blue solution cal culated is relatively accurate. INTRODUCTION: A spectrophotometer is used to measure the absorbance of light by coloured solutions.The absorbance value is produced by a photometer that compares the light detected with a blank cuvette (a cuvette containing just water/clear colourless solvent, which should be 0), with the amount of light detected with a test solution – in this case, methylene blue or carmine red. Using Beer’s Law, we know that the absorbance is directly proportional to the concentration, therefore, knowing the absorbance of a solution can be very useful as the concentration of the solution can be find by substituting known values into the equation: Absorbance = k c t Where: k = constant c = concentration of absorbing molecules = thickness of absorbing layer The aims of this experiment were to use solutions methylene blue and carmine red to confirm that Beer’s Law is true by finding the maximum absorption value for each solution, and then using thi s, find the absorption of methylene blue solution at various dilutions. By plotting these results on a calibration curve (concentration against absorbance), this allows the experimenter to read the concentration at a particular absorbance directly, such as the unknown concentration of methylene blue. METHOD: A spectrophotometer was used throughout this experiment. RESULTS: After finding the absorption for 0. 005% methylene blue solution and 0. 0005% carmine red solution at different wavelengths of light, we plotted a graph to show our findings to make it easier to see what region of wavelength the maximum absorption would occur at. Please refer to figure 1. From this graph, we can see that the maximum absorption for methylene blue is around 650nm-675nm as the peak on the line for methylene is around these values; for carmine red, we can see that the maximum absorption for carmine red is 500-550nm. To obtain a more accurate wavelength value, I placed more cuvettes of methylene blue a nd carmine red around their regions of maximum absorption.After finding the absorption values around each region, I plotted the findings of each solution on separate graphs to show the maximum absorption value. Figure 2 shows that the maximum absorption of methylene blue is 665nm because this has the peak absorption of 0. 965. However, this is not as accurate a value as it could be because the spectrophotometer did not go to more accuracy than 5nm. From Figure 3, we can see that the maximum absorption of carmine red is 0. 207 at wavelength 520nm as this is the peak on the graph. |Maximum Absorption at 0. 0005% | Methylene Blue |Carmine Red | |0. 965 |0. 207 | After we found the maximum absorption for methylene blue, 0. 965, at 665nm, we made up various dilutions of methylene blue and put each solution through the spectrophotometer at wavelength 665nm to find the molar extinction coefficient. I plotted these results on a graph (figure 6) and did the line of best fit through the point s to find the gradient, which is the molar extinction coefficient. Figure 4. Graph showing dilutions of methylene blue and the absorptions each solution givesThe black line on figure 4 represents the regression line. We can use this to find the concentration of the unknown concentration of methylene blue solution by drawing a tangent to the regression line at absorbance 0. 262 (where the unknown absorbed) and reading down from that point on the graph to the concentration. The concentration of the unknown methylene blue is 4. 4 x 10-6 mol dm-3. We can find the molar extinction coefficient by substituting values of absorbance and the concentration of the unknown concentration of methylene blue into Beer’s laws equation.Absorbance = k c t k = absorbance / c t k = 0. 262 / 4. 4 x 10-6 x 1 k = 59545 mol dm-3 cm-3 Therefore, k, the molar extinction coefficient is 59545 mol dm-3 cm-3. DISCUSSION: The main objectives of this experiment was to find the unknown concentration of methyle ne blue by using a spectrophotometer. I found the maximum absorption for methylene blue and carmine red (please refer to figure 1) and using this I determined a more accurate maximum absorption value for each solution by taking further readings around the peak of each line to determine the maximum.However, the findings of maximum absorption for methylene blue and carmine red may not be as accurate as we think because there are extraneous variables that we can not necessarily control. One is that the outside of the cuvette may have been dirty (however, this was controlled to an extent as I wiped each side down of the cuvette with a paper towel before placing it in the spectrophotometer); another variable is that the dial on the spectrophotometer only measured in wavelength intervals of 5nm, and so, we could not get more accurate readings than the ones we concluded with.From figure 1, we can also see that high (maximum) absorptions for carmine red occurs at around 475nm-550nm. This is because the light absorbs most light at this wavelength, and therefore, reflects light at approximately 675nm-725nm which are the wavelengths of the colour red, so we see red solution. The same can be applied to methylene blue solution because we can see from figure 1 that high absorptions for methylene blue occurs around 600nm-675nm – the light absorbs most colours at this wavelength and reflects light at approximately 400nm-450nm which are the wavelengths of the colour blue, so we see blue solution.We could use the maximum absorption of methylene blue found to make dilutions of methylene blue with water to plot a graph proving that Beers Law is true – that the absorbance is directly proportional to the concentration. This is confirmed by the graph produced as the line of best fit is accurate and goes through the origin. APPENDIX: Finding the maximum absorbance: |Wavelength/nm |Absorption | | |Methylene Blue |Carmine Red | |350 |0. 33 |0. 156 | |375 |0. 015 |0. 018 | |400 |0. 015 |0. 046 | |425 |0. 018 |0. 048 | |450 |0. 006 |0. 127 | |475 |0. 029 |0. 093 | |500 |0. 041 |0. 65 | |525 |0. 040 |0. 186 | |550 |0. 077 |0. 144 | |575 |0. 186 |0. 068 | |600 |0. 476 |0. 039 | |625 |0. 622 |0. 028 | |650 |0. 800 |0. 005 | |675 |0. 95 |0. 013 | |700 |0. 102 |0. 004 | More accurate values of methylene blue: More accurate values of carmine red: |Methylene Blue | |Wavelength/nm |Absorption | | 630 |0. 623 | |640 |0. 679 | |655 |0. 885 | |660 |0. 929 | 665 |0. 965 | |670 |0. 913 | |Carmine Red | |Wavelength/nm |Absorption | |510 |0. 205 | |515 |0. 204 | |520 |0. 207 | |530 |0. 191 | |540 |0. 169 | Table below shows the dilutions and the absorbance values of methylene blue at 665nm: Tube |Water : Methylene Blue (ml) |Absorption |Concentration of methylene blue in | | | | |water/mol dm-3 | |1 |4:1 |0. 171 |3. 13 x 10-6 | |2 |3:2 |0. 376 |6. 26 x 10-6 | |3 |2:3 |0. 595 |9. 9 x 10-6 | |4 |1:4 |0. 762 |12. 51 x 10-6 | |5 |0:5 |0. 963 |15. 64 x 10-6 | |Blank |5:0 |0. 000 |0 | Unknown solution absorbance: 0. 262 Formula mass of methylene blue: 319. 6 Working out concentration of methylene blue from %: 1. 0. 0001% methylene blue so, 100/0. 001 = 1000000 so, 1/1000000 = 1 x 10-6 g cm-3 so, conc. = 1 x 10-6 g cm-3 / 319. 6 g mol-1 = 3. 13 x 10-6 mol dm-3 2. (3. 13 x 10-6) x 2 = 6. 26 x 10-6 mol dm-3 3. (3. 13 x 10-6) x 3 = 9. 39 x 10-6 mol dm-3 4. (3. 13 x 10-6) x 4 = 12. 51 x 10-6 mol dm-3 5. (3. 13 x 10-6) x 5 = 15. 64 x 10-6 mol dm-3 ———————– Figure 1. Methylene blue and carmine red’s absorption at regular intervals of wavelengths Figure 2. More accurate wavelengths to find the max. absorption for methylene blue Figure 3. More accurate wavelengths to find the max. absorption for carmine red

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Is the Ghost in Hamlet Pure Evil Essay - 1181 Words

The Ghost in Hamlet is a widely controversial topic with arguments determining whether the Ghost is a â€Å"goblin damn’d† or a â€Å"spirit of health.† (1.4.40) â€Å"‘A spirit of health’ is one, which comes from heaven with charitable intentions, and ‘a goblin damn’d’ is one, which comes from Hell with wicked intentions.† The Ghost only has two appearances in the play and is a symbol for uncertainty, yet it is important as it catalyses the play into action and also Hamlet into madness. The Ghost in Hamlet is an evil spirit returning to revenge his killer Claudius; which is a questionable action for a Catholic person leading the audience to believe that the Ghost is evil. He pressures Hamlet into revenging Claudius while destroying Hamlet’s†¦show more content†¦Hamlet’s madness is questioned by many readers. The truth is that Hamlet portrayed madness before he came up with the plan of acting madne ss. This madness is an important characteristic in the play with Hamlet’s actions revolving primarily around the idea he has because of his madness. There are several occasions further in the play when the audience sees Hamlet acting mad even though there is no one else in the room that he was aware of. In act three, scene four, when Hamlet is in his mother’s chamber and hears a noise behind the arras the rash decision to stab the noise behind the curtain shows exactly how erratic and unstable Hamlet is. His rash behaviour to kill without seeing what he is doing shows that his madness is real and not something he is faking to have revenge for his father. In act five scene two, Hamlet announces that he has switched the letter that ordered Hamlet to be killed in England; instead writing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are to be killed. This is perhaps because he thought they were the ones who ordered his death when in fact they were just following Claudius’ inst ructions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Hamlet’s friends which show that he was perhaps paranoid in his madness. They were there to help yet his rash character after seeing the Ghost has yet again ended people’s lives. It is important to consider that in the Elizabethan era madness was defined differently than what theShow MoreRelatedHamlet by William Shakespeare714 Words   |  3 Pagesrevenge can turn a good heart into pure evil. It changes your personality, it corrupts the mind, it makes you blind, all revenge does hurt you and others, and nothing good comes from revenge. It makes you evil and before you know it has changed you into the person you vowed never to become, it kills your soul until there is nothing left but a soul full of hate and evil. 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