Science around us
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Prof. Lutfor Rahman
The driver goes to CNG filling stations every day to fill up the cylinder of my private car. He avoids certain CNG filling stations though the stations are nearer to my residence. When he was asked the reasons of avoiding those stations, he said that the gas in those stations was not good. His statement raised my curiosity about the CNG stations and I talked to some other drivers. They replied almost in the same language. After lots of questions and answers, it came out that those filling stations provide gas along with air. As a result, the vehicle runs less distance with the gas filled from those stations in comparison to the good ones, though the amount charged for the gas is same.
The transport drivers in our country are not scientifically literate and they are not supposed to know scientific formulas or rules and regulations. But there are many owners of private cars and other transport vehicles in the city who are scientifically literate, qualified and experienced. They might have heard this type of complains from their drivers too. But without sufficient proof, nobody should be blamed. I take interest in scientific complexities or scientific ignorance that cause disasters or accidents every day.
It is my assumption that at least five million people who have passed higher secondary with physics or obtained diploma in science trades are aware of laws of gas, particularly the Charles's and Boyle's laws. The scientifically literate persons must agree that those laws are applied to the CNG filling stations not only in Bangladesh but also all over the world. According to Charles's law, pressure remaining constant, the volume of a given mass of gas increases or decreases by the same factor as absolute temperature (i.e. gas expands as temperature increases) and the Boyle's law states for a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, pressure (P) and Volume (V) are inversely proportional (that means while one increases, the other decreases). From the description it is clear that there is a lot of scope to cheat the customers in a society where most people with scientific skills and knowledge remain silent in all respects. To overcome this type of problems, not only the government but also the scientifically conscious citizens should come up and take responsibilities. A CNG filling station, if handled carelessly and inefficiently, can create disaster in an area any moment. The whole system is based on science and technology. As such, a scientific environment, including strong protection arrangement, must be maintained in the stations and its surrounding areas for safety.
Normally the drivers in our country are illiterate or poorly literate. They don't understand the scientific laws but they are entrusted with grave responsibilities, even more than a justice who gives physical punishment to the culprits or hangs them on specific ground. The drivers kill innocent people mainly due to their ignorance. But they are not severely punished like the other killers of human beings.
It is observed that most of the accidents occur due to scientific ignorance of the drivers of the heavy vehicles like the loaded trucks or buses. When a man or a woman falls in front of a speedy truck, according to Newton's laws of motion, the momentum MV (product of mass M and velocity V) of the moving vehicle become very large. In the circumstances, it becomes impossible for the driver to stop the heavy vehicle immediately on the spot. In most such cases the driver fails to stop the vehicle in a distance of one or two meters. As a result, not only the man in front dies, but also the passengers inside the vehicle die. If the scientific reasons of such accidents are explained to the drivers, passengers and common people who cross the roads without care and fear, the percentage of accidents will come down significantly.
(Prof. Lutfor Rahman is Chairman of the Computer Science department at Stamford University Bangladesh. e-mail: lutfor@agni.com)
The driver goes to CNG filling stations every day to fill up the cylinder of my private car. He avoids certain CNG filling stations though the stations are nearer to my residence. When he was asked the reasons of avoiding those stations, he said that the gas in those stations was not good. His statement raised my curiosity about the CNG stations and I talked to some other drivers. They replied almost in the same language. After lots of questions and answers, it came out that those filling stations provide gas along with air. As a result, the vehicle runs less distance with the gas filled from those stations in comparison to the good ones, though the amount charged for the gas is same.
The transport drivers in our country are not scientifically literate and they are not supposed to know scientific formulas or rules and regulations. But there are many owners of private cars and other transport vehicles in the city who are scientifically literate, qualified and experienced. They might have heard this type of complains from their drivers too. But without sufficient proof, nobody should be blamed. I take interest in scientific complexities or scientific ignorance that cause disasters or accidents every day.
It is my assumption that at least five million people who have passed higher secondary with physics or obtained diploma in science trades are aware of laws of gas, particularly the Charles's and Boyle's laws. The scientifically literate persons must agree that those laws are applied to the CNG filling stations not only in Bangladesh but also all over the world. According to Charles's law, pressure remaining constant, the volume of a given mass of gas increases or decreases by the same factor as absolute temperature (i.e. gas expands as temperature increases) and the Boyle's law states for a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, pressure (P) and Volume (V) are inversely proportional (that means while one increases, the other decreases). From the description it is clear that there is a lot of scope to cheat the customers in a society where most people with scientific skills and knowledge remain silent in all respects. To overcome this type of problems, not only the government but also the scientifically conscious citizens should come up and take responsibilities. A CNG filling station, if handled carelessly and inefficiently, can create disaster in an area any moment. The whole system is based on science and technology. As such, a scientific environment, including strong protection arrangement, must be maintained in the stations and its surrounding areas for safety.
Normally the drivers in our country are illiterate or poorly literate. They don't understand the scientific laws but they are entrusted with grave responsibilities, even more than a justice who gives physical punishment to the culprits or hangs them on specific ground. The drivers kill innocent people mainly due to their ignorance. But they are not severely punished like the other killers of human beings.
It is observed that most of the accidents occur due to scientific ignorance of the drivers of the heavy vehicles like the loaded trucks or buses. When a man or a woman falls in front of a speedy truck, according to Newton's laws of motion, the momentum MV (product of mass M and velocity V) of the moving vehicle become very large. In the circumstances, it becomes impossible for the driver to stop the heavy vehicle immediately on the spot. In most such cases the driver fails to stop the vehicle in a distance of one or two meters. As a result, not only the man in front dies, but also the passengers inside the vehicle die. If the scientific reasons of such accidents are explained to the drivers, passengers and common people who cross the roads without care and fear, the percentage of accidents will come down significantly.
(Prof. Lutfor Rahman is Chairman of the Computer Science department at Stamford University Bangladesh. e-mail: lutfor@agni.com)