Core Elements of Islamic Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Core Elements of Islamic Finance - Essay Example This aims to ensure that the target and purpose of the Islamic finance industry benefit the society by balancing spiritual needs with material pursuits, as well as social and individual needs. This paper will discuss ways in which Islamic finance can be seen as an innovative way that could substantively redefine finance and also why it is substantively different from conventional finance. Core Elements of Islamic Finance Islamic finance is different from conventional banking and the core notion behind it is that God (Allah) owns all the wealth in the world, over which man is only a trustee. Humans, therefore, have an obligation to manage the wealth in accordance with the commands of Allah that prohibit activities which do not promote justice (Rammal & Zurbruegg 69). One major reason for imposing Islamic ethics and law on finance is to promote and uphold social justice, since Islam is deemed to be inseparable from social justice. Islamic finance is based on the core perspective that p rohibits the practice of usury, which means lending money to earn interest, also known as riba. Sharia law defines it as an excess compensation that has no due consideration. Effectively, this underlying factor redefines finance from the Islam point of view. However, it does not expressly preclude an agreed-upon return on investment by the transacting parties, where any reference to interest only sets standards for the return on investment for transparency purposes. The implication is that interest is not used in the transaction, although capital is not just provided to investors without a return. This concept stems from the fact that Sharia law does not recognize money as having intrinsic value, but rather, only as a measure of value whose use should not be paid for. This makes Islamic finance an asset based industry, in contrast to the currency based conventional finance system, and investments are structured on the ownership or exchange of assets, with money only acting as a paym ent medium to effect transactions (Rammal & Zurbruegg 73). Innovations of Islamic Finance Islamic financial institutions have taken advantage of some of the misgivings of conventional finance and launched innovative initiatives that have supported their steady progress. Deficiencies have led people to seek alternatives and move away from the conventional system. The strong ethical orientation, on which Islamic finance is based, as well as the connection of the movement of Islamic finance with the modern resurgence of Islamic civilization, is appealing even to non-Muslims. Islamic finance has the potential to establish a closer link between financial and real segments of the economy. Innovative products like Musharakha and Mudaraba, which mean equity participation and partnership financing respectively, ensure profit sharing that is based upon partnership principles (Timur 791). Another Islamic view of finance is that it emphasizes on risk and profit sharing, rather than the notion o f risk transfer as seen in conventional finance and banking. For example, the Murabaha product (which refers to a cost-plus sale) and other trade-based finance modes undertake trade with a mark-up and facilitate financing on short-term basis in a similar fashion to purchase finance in conventional finance. However, the difference is that a bank may buy an asset from a seller and agree on the

Apple with Porters Model and Core Capabilities Essay Example for Free

Apple with Porters Model and Core Capabilities Essay Introduction Apple Inc was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak with another 20 employees, the company started in Steve’s garage. Apple inc and its subsidiaries or collectively Apple is a manufactures, design and owner of variety of high technology included media player, portable music player, personal computer, smart phone, tablet as well as selling the related digital products like software, network services, third party digital content and application for Apple’s products. Apple first announced new innovated laptops called the Mac book and the most important step for further success is the accessing the MP3 player with their own iPod in 2001. Moreover, they even entered the recently mobile phone industry with the Smartphone- Iphone in 2008. Apple has been changing the entire of the market with the position of the world’s largest producer of PC’s main marketshare holder. The featured products of Apple in the recent years include Iphone, Ipad, mac, Ipod high reted platform and its application for consumers in the iOs and Mac Os. From being Pc producer at the beginning of 80’s, with controlling a small share of industry, after several circumstances it changed to be the success organisation due to its Mac computers and other products are profitable. But there is only temporary issues for Apple to claim its market lead position in the PC industry. Apple success analysis with Porter’s strategies and Core Capabilities Goal and structure of this report In this report, a review of the current situation of personal computer industry and Apple’s PC Business and discuss: Review the of Apple by giving a brief introduction of the organisation and history of the products that are developed by Apple. Critically evaluate Porter’s five forces model and Porter’s generic strategies and discuss the extent to which these ideas by giving our strategic advice to aid the company in attaining sustainable for competitive advantage within the PC industry. Critically discuss the concept of core competencies and explain how the Apple could build on its core capabilities to enhance their further strategy. We end this report with our recomendation and our conclusion on the subject. Business background Apple several times confirmed to bring the best user experience to their consumers thourgh their innovative products. Besides, Apple’s strategy creates a unique power to develop its own unique platform with superior quality with the simplest design and easy to approach. Apple continues to invest in research and development and marketing to maintain their products’s positions in markets. As a part of plan, Apple has been expanding its platform to delivery of third party digital content and applications via the itune which allows customers to download applications, books, music through either iOs’s products namely iPhone, iPad or Mactonish as well as Windows computers. Apple also has been supporting the information technology community in the world for the development of third party software and hardware products. Apple’s strategies in plan include both expanding its sale market to close reach more consumers and serve a superior before and after purchases su pport experience. Porter’s Five forces Competitive Force 1: Rivalry among Existing Firms Apple mainly get involve two field in the hardware industry are the personal computer and portable devices markets. According to the Credit Suisse First Boston, it is estimated that personal computer growth in 2005 will be approximately 8%, which is 3% lower than 2004. And concentration in this market which is controlled by a few very large competitors who have a great deal of capital invested in the firms, namely, Dell, HP Compaq, Gateway, and Apple. In 2005, Dell and Apple are speculated to have the most potential to increase market share in the PC market due to lack of new product introductions by other firms and the anticipation of Microsoft Longhorn in 2006. If Apple is able to increase its market share by a few percentage points, its profits and ability to spend on marketing, and research and development (RD) could allow them to become a much more serious player. Currently, Apple dominates the portable music industry music market with an estimated 90% for hard disk based players, and 65% of the total portable music market. In both the personal computer and portable music markets, component costs are large part of the total hardware costs, but through Apple’s product differentiation and higher pricing they are able to counteract the price wars that usually ensue under such conditions. Finally, there are little to no exit barriers in either market, which could be advantageous in ousting some of Apple’s competition in the future. Competitive Force 2: Threat of New Entrants There are no many large companies that take the huge shares in market, who these are Dell, Hp, Compaq. There are large economies of scale in PC market, and it limits the new threat of entrants. The threat of entry, therefore, puts a cap on the profi t potential of an industry (Porter 2008 p 4). A new entrant have to create advantages to compare the old strong ones in computer market. And that is not the only one barrie which limits new entrant, patents of forms are legal barriers where late rival can not be competitive giant. The more patents on personal computer designs, the more competitive the leaders can get, which is not an easy for new entrant and get over with out huge amount of start-up capital in the modern market. Moreover, basically, there are two main operating systems for PC: windows and Mac OS X, and the second one is impossible to get license for new entrants. Apple is comfortable with enjoying the one of first starter in hardware manufactors of creating innovative products include Iphone, iPod while numerous portable devices in markets in last five years which are not different from others or the advantages are not enough to controll the market like Apple has been doing. The threat of a counter of consumers who eventually are being shy away from company’s dominace. The fact is the phenomenon when Microsoft is on the top of OS market and some of consumers are heading to another ocean and Mac oS and Linux are samples. Eventhough it is not an immediate threat, Apple could be aware of that. Competitive Force 3: Threat of Substitute Products On the side of PC, Apple’s market contains a huge number of products from above rivals. Especially, each of competitors possess a wide range of products in term of designs, prices, functions. It would seem as Apple PC can be replaced anytime in case of Apple’s products do not against the same level products. When the threat of substitutes is high, industry profitability suffers (Porter 2008 p7). In the last few year, Apple has reduced the concentration in PC and portable music player, it is not only because it do not create economical benefits or lack of competition. Apple recently focus on the smart phone side because it is now more competitive and provide more profit than others. The new smart phones have annouced in every season with new design and function, in term of price and level, Iphone always stays on top luxury phone while Nokia, Samsung or HTC still take pole on the low price phone to get more customers. They could be out of perform of Apple in both speed and quality, the company has set apart from other by keeping core capilities and be unique in the market. Apple would have to stay on the old road to be innovative and price- quality in conscious of loyal users as well as leading the market as the strategy against rivals. Competitive Force 4: Bargaining Power of Buyers Apple since start-up moment, always concentrate on differentiation itself from rivals by keep inside of unique way. Apple’s product represent for the symbol of innovation, luxury and high technology, by the feature of innovation, Apple sets them apart from market. The buyers less concern in term of price when give decision to purchase a product from Apple’s stores. In market, Apple create their own position for their products as it is difficult to get the same products with similar functions as well as stylish look. Moreover, customers of Apple have low relative bargaining power to consider buying a high volume of Apple’s products. Businessess are much more concern bargaining power when it end up purchasing PC or devices of Apple, in the other side, individual buyers are not literally controlling over Apple to their prices. Once Apple sells to end consumer, it has basically secured future purchases of the related products due to a lack of substitutes and third party replacement. It is more likely monopoly and give customers less relative bargaining power and substitutes to shop for better options or their demands of software and hardware upgrade. Competitive Force 5: Bargaining Power of Suppliers The company applied the strategy to take partner with various suppliers for manufacture Apple’s components for their products. In fact, Apple does not apple any limit for single supplier for process of assemble final products. This is an ace for Apple to deal with suppliers and give them less bargaining power concerning price. It is not rare in modern business, Apple used to be an alliance with Foxconn to assemble most of products, especially new Iphone and Ipad. Besides, they uses both Nvidia and ATI for video cards in computers to avoid any negative bargain in price negotiation. According to Apple report, This is the same for its motherboards (ASUSTeK and Ambit Microsystems), Display units (Samsung, Toshiba, International Display Technology), storage devices (Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Western Digital, Seagate), and CD/DVD drives (Samsung, Hitachi Global, and LG. Phillips Co.). Powerful suppliers capture more of the value for themselves by charging higher prices,limiting quality or services, or shifting costs to industry participants (Porter 2008 p5). Porter’s Genetic Cost Leadership Strategy Cost Leadership corresponds to the â€Å"no frills† experience, like the low-cost airline carriers, who choose the cost leadership strategy to achieve competitive advantage. Differentiation Strategy Apple make differentiation by making products feel uniquely from those companies or more appealing to customer demand. It is count on your several impacts, like industry, market, consumer demand, and the nature of organisation and services. This is known as differentiation strategy (Grant 2005:241-242).The key success factor of the differentiation strategy is to make it either very difficult or high level of price for rivals to replicate Apple’s ones. To achieve that, the companies have to focus on: * Research Development; * Production and delivery of high-quality and unique products or services; * Marketing and sales to create awareness and desire for it’s unique products. Focus Strategies Apple is playing on niche markets. Companies pursuing Focus Strategies have a deep understanding of a particular market and the unique needs of it’s customers. They can therefore develop unique lower cost or differentiated products or services for that specific market. These companies usually have a very strong brand loyalty amongst their customers and tend to monopolize that segment (particularly in smaller markets), making it less attractive to competitors thus mitigating the risk of attack from other niche players, new entrants or broad market competitors looking to enlarge their customer base through product or service specialization. Steve Jobs and Apple’s Core Capabilities Core Strengths For one, Apple has a powerful footing in the personal computer market by being â€Å"different† with its innovative style and ease of use. Its operating system is developed in house, leaving it free from the tangles of the dominant like Microsoft operating systems. Central to an approach to strategy is organisation core capabilities which explains how company creates values and achieves superior performance, it also is the proven strength that it is different from other organisations in the market because of tacit knowledge, historical investments over time, relationships, human capital, and its culture (Lynn Perry Wooten p 7).In most of cases, there are include customer service, brand value, quality of products, organisational culture, human resources, and financial strength. Since the return of S. Jobs, Apple’s core capability approach the definition of innovation and easy to use for every end users, and digital products stick to lifestyle of consumers via functions and designs. Apple concentrate on development and sales of its core products include OS, software to hardware and portable devices. Market Opportunities Since Apple is already recognized as one of the main leaders in the portable music market they have the ability to further increase their company image and quality image reputation. This will allow Apple to maintain their already well established clientele as well as attract new customers. The closed system is sealing the core of Apple’s strategy since Mac Os or iOS will not give license , only accept music and video through iTunes and recently the only partner of Apple in the US is ATT for sale of iPhones. The begin of Apple is starting dominating in the market, it creates a concious in typical consumers’s mind that the design of Apple’s one is technically symbols of art of simple and fashionable. Apple engineers and designers figure that the products shoul have to look like and designate its features, and they bring that to life, wrapped with a user-friendly interface. Recommendation for the company to build based on core capabilities Use SWOT Analysis to determine your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in each Generic Strategy scenario; Use Porter’s Five Forces to assess the balance of power and how it might affect your company; Use the Congruence Model or the McKinsey 7S Framework to determine what performance drivers your company would have in each scenario; Cross-analyze the results of each finding and work out which Generic Strategy provides the strongest set of options. Reduce cost across the value-chain by engaging with specialist suppliers; Make smart investments in specialized technology to increase production efficiency; Eliminate activities in the value-chain that are superfluous in you target segment; Adopt JIT production; * Limit production to specialized products for your target segment. In a Differentiation Focus Strategy companies can: * Make its products or services increasingly specialized; * Increase differentiation through innovation and your specialized knowledge of your target customers’ needs. Conclusion From our analysis and research we can lead the following statement: eventhough with superior products, Apple still stay on top with a bewared threats from rivals in their sides of markets of high tech products and digital contents. This can be explained by their own success in last ten years with the counters from both consumers and competitors. Futhermore, the bigger the company is, the more innovative and responsible the structure of Apple needs to be maintain the values of culture in organisation as well as speed of growth in development of Apple in future. By being opposite the side of strength inside the company, competitors have been learning from them and concentrate on the weakness of the core capabilities of strategy which Apple stays on the unique nature beyond the market. Reference 1. Building a Company the Steve Jobs’ Way: A Positive Deviance Approach to Strategy- Lynn Perry Wooten, PhD 2. Comprehensive Business Analysis 3. THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES THATby Michael E. Porter SHAPE IN ESSENCE, the job of the strategist is to under-STRATEGY 4. http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/09/12/apples-new-foxconn-embarrassment/ 5. http://www.apple.com 6. http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/01/21/0121automarketscan05.html 7. Porter’s Genetic strategy http://thousandinsights.wordpress.com/articles/on-strategy-planning/porters-generic-strategies/

Verification Of Faradays First Law Of Electrolysis

Verification Of Faradays First Law Of Electrolysis My research question How can Beers law be used to verify Faradays First law of electrolysis and to determine Avogadros number and Faradays constant by electrolysis of 1.000 mol dm-3 copper sulfate (CuSO4) solution using graphite electrodes? is an indirect question to the investigation. I was always interested in verifying laws and learning about interdependence between laws. I was so keen in finding how that how the nature of one law depends upon another law as chemistry a whole subject depends upon multiple concepts. So I took this opportunity to show how one law can be proved using another law. Here in my research I have shown how Beers law can be used to verify Faradays First law of electrolysis and I have also used Beers law to determine Avogadros number. This research clearly indicates that there is interdependency between laws. In the verification of Faradays First law of electrolysis of CuSO4, we generally focus on mass of Cu deposited, but not much on color. My focus was that how to use this phenomenon / property of change in intensity to calculate mass indirectly. The same concept of absorbance in Beers law applies while determining Avogadros number. I did the experiments to verify Faradays First law of electrolysis and to determine Avogadros number in indirect manner. Indirect methods have often helped scientists to get their results better and we also have good examples for Back titration and chromatography. So with the same expectation in mind, I came with such a topic for my research. Slight modification in the experiments can really help. I did use graphite electrodes because they are cheap, it is therefore widely used in electrolysis rather than platinum as it is costly. The disadvantage for graphite electrodes is, it flakes off and therefore mass readings of Cu deposited over graphite electrode are highly unreliable. So as the result is highly unreliable, we might not get the accurate readings of the mass of Cu deposited at cathode. But if we use the colorimeter technique to find out the deposition, the mass of graphite lose in the electrolysis process is not affected. I mainly focused upon the absorbance value by the diff erence of color. Once while performing an experiment on electrolysis during my school days, I was using graphite electrodes and I noticed that graphite particles were flaking off the electrodes in electrolyte solution during the experiment. The amounts of carbon particles lost from graphite were very less and so was neglected but later I thought that it might be affecting the result in some or the other way as in the experiment we were supposed to weigh the electrodes to find out the amount of Copper deposited on the cathode. I used to think that if graphite electrodes are themselves losing some mass, then how the electrode can give accurate readings or a reliable result. The copper deposit over cathode is not strongly attached to the cathode thus there are chances that copper deposited on cathode may be lost by mishandling of the electrode before taking direct mass reading; this made me think about an alternative method which would be more accurate as well as reliable, where in the electrodes will n ot have to be removed from the experimental set-up at all! 2. THEORY I would like to start by mention something about electromagnetic spectrum as my experiment deals with Beers law which can be obtained through absorbance value. Absorbance in the colorimeter is found by setting a particular wavelength and there is different wavelength for different objects, similarly there is a particular wavelength absorbed by CuSO4. Electromagnetic radiations have frequencies and all the possible frequencies are covered in the range known as electromagnetic spectrum. The property of characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by any specific object is the electromagnetic spectrum of that object. Electromagnetic spectrum has its range from low frequencies which are used for modern radio to the high frequency like gamma radiation. It covers wavelength from thousand kilometers to small fraction. The limit for the long wavelength is the universe itself and shortest wavelength is near to the Plank length even if the principal states the s pectrum is infinite and continuous which is truly acceptable. In the Vernier colorimeter we have option to select the wavelength from range 430nm, 470nm, 565nm and 635nm. According to the user guide for Vernier colorimeter CuSO4 will yield a good Beers law curve at 635nm. Therefore it says that the wavelength absorbed by CuSO4 lies in the range 635nm and I had used 635nm range throughout the experiment for finding the absorbance of CuSO4. In the study of light we have the Beer-Lambert law which is also known as Beers law and the law is related to the absorption of light to the properties of the material from which the light passes. Electrolysis is a process to separate bonded elements and compounds .The methodology followed is by passing an electric current through bonded elements and compounds. Electric current is passed through a conductor called as electrode. Electrodes are found in various forms like wires, plates, and rods. Electrodes are mainly constructed of metal, such as copper, silver, lead, or zinc. Electrodes can also be made up of nonmetal substance, such as carbon. There are commonly used Graphite electrodes which are made up of carbon. In my experiments as I have used graphite electrodes, I am indirectly using nonmetal substance having carbon. Inert electrodes do not take part in the chemical reactions for Examples, Graphite and Platinum electrodes. Active electrodes take part in chemical reactions where the anode itself produces metal ions which get discharged at the cathode for Example, Copper electrodes. I noticed that graphite rod was losing carbon particles on stirring, thats the reason why direct method to find mass of copper deposited was not adopted by me. The electrodes which I used for the experiments were Inert electrodes and I used graphite electrodes because platinum electrodes were not available and they were costly. An electrode passes current between a metallic part and a nonmetallic part of an electrical circuit. Most frequently, conductors that are metallic carry electrical current. In other circuits, however, current is passed through a nonmetallic conductor. In an electrochemical cell, an electrode is called either an anode or a cathode. An anode is an electrode at which current leaves the cell and oxidation takes place. For example, an anode is the positive electrode in a storage battery. Faradays 1st Law of Electrolysis states that, The mass of a substance altered at an electrode during electrolysis is directly proportional to the quantity of electricity transferred at that electrode. Quantity of electricity refers to the quantity of electrical charge, typically measured in coulomb. Throughout the investigation I had rounded off few of the readings to get correct significant figures. Using a colorimeter: This method is only useful if one of the reactants or products is coloured. It is a more satisfactory method than titration for two reasons: firstly, no sampling is needed, and secondly, a reading can be taken almost instantaneously. So quite rapid reactions can be followed, especially if the colorimeter is interfaced to a data logger or computer which can plot a graph of concentration versus time as the reaction proceeds. A colorimeter consists of a light source with filters to select a suitable colour (i.e. set of wavelengths) of light which is absorbed by the sample. The light passes through the sample onto a detector whose output goes to a meter or a recording device. The colorimeter usually needs to be calibrated and even I calibrated the Vernier colorimeter with distilled water before conducting the experiments. Calibration is done to establish the relationship between its readings and the concentration of the copper sulfate used. 3. INVESTIGATION My investigation was divided into three main sections, starting with verification of Faradays First law of electrolysis, secondly to determine Avogadros number and finally in determining Faradays constant. I had predicted that the results of investigating Faradays First law by direct method and indirect method will give almost the same result and I was successful in getting that. But according to my assumptions, more accurate readings can be obtained by the indirect method of colorimeter using Beers law technique. It is also useful to determine Avogadros number and Faradays Constant as the result which I got through the Beers law technique was almost near to the true value of Avogadros number and Faradays constant. 3.1 APPARATUS AND MATERIALS Beakers (250 cm3 ÃÆ'- 1) Volumetric flask (100 cm3 ÃÆ'- 5 and 1000 cm3 ÃÆ'- 1) Measuring Cylinder (100 cm3 ÃÆ'- 1) Digital Weighing Balance Graphite electrodes Copper sulfate (CuSO4) Ammeter (0-500mA) Rheostat (0-500 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦) DC variable voltage source (0 12 V) Vernier labquest colorimeter Cuvette 3.2 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF EXPERIMENTAL SET UP The above shown diagram represents the electric circuit diagram of the entire experimental setup. A DC variable voltage source (0-12 V) was used as a battery. Rheostat was use to control the current coming from the battery because I was recording the Ammeter readings and I wanted the readings on the Ammeter to be constant throughout the experiment. I used Rheostat because the Ammeter reading was fluctuating and not remaining constant. The positive terminal of the battery was connected to the one end of Rheostat and the negative terminal of the battery was connected to the cathode. The connections were made in series as it was suppose to be for this experiment. The experimental set up was not disturbed during the electrolysis. During the investigation, there goes a chemical reaction within the experimental setup for the electrolysis of copper sulfate. Below are shown the reactions using graphite anode inert electrode. At cathode: Cu2+ + 2e- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Cu At anode: OH1- 1e- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ OH x 2 [2OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ H2O + [O] ] 4OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 2H2O + O2 Product at anode: Oxygen gas 3.3 PREPARATION OF SOLUTION Preparation of 1 dm-3 of reagents: The salt which I used in preparation of solutions was Copper sulfate pentahydrate, we commonly call it as copper sulfate. The molar mass of CuSO4.5H2O is 249.68 gmol-1. Therefore, to prepare a 1.000 molar of CuSO4 solution, I took 124.84 g of CuSO4 weighing upon a digital balance and then I diluted 124.84 g of CuSO4 in 500cm3 of distilled water. I had used distilled water to dilute the chemicals and to clean the apparatus rather using tap water because distilled water is more pure and using tap water can affect the result as it can indirectly react with the chemicals used for the experiments. It was very difficult to dissolve CuSO4 by using glass rod. Therefore, I had used magnetic stirrer to dissolve the crystals of Copper sulfate in distilled water. It was very time consuming in dissolving CuSO4 in distilled water but within few minutes the 500cm3 solution of 1.000 molar of CuSO4 was ready. From that 500cm3 of 1.000 molar of CuSO4, I prepared different 100cm3 solutions of concentration 0.8 molar, 0.6 molar, 0.4 molar and 0.2 molar. The volumes of Copper sulfate and Water in the different molar solutions are given in the below table: Concentration ( ±0.001 mol dm-3) Volume of CuSO4 ( ± 0.05 cm3) Volume of H2O ( ± 0.05 cm3) 1.0 mol dm-3 100 cm3 00 cm3 0.8 mol dm-3 80 cm3 20 cm3 0.6 mol dm-3 60 cm3 40 cm3 0.4 mol dm-3 40 cm3 60 cm3 0.2 mol dm-3 20 cm3 80 cm3 3.4 VERIFICATION OF BEERS LAW Beer in 1852 studied the effect of absorption of light on the concentration of solutions and found a similar relationship. Beers law states that when a parallel beam of monochromatic light enters an absorbing medium, the rate of decrease of intensity of the light with concentration is directly proportional to the intensity of radiation. Alternative statements can be expressed thus: When a parallel beam of monochromatic light passes through an absorbing medium, the intensity of transmitted radiation decreases exponentially as the concentration of the absorbing species increases arithmetically. Successive layers of equal concentration and thickness absorb equal fraction of incidental radiation. The readings for my Beers law experiments are as follows: Concentration ( ±0.001mol dm-3) Transmittance (%T) Absorbance ( ±0.001) 0.0 100.04 0.000 0.2 25.92 0.586 0.4 8.17 1.088 0.6 3.02 1.520 0.8 1.33 1.875 1.0 0.97 2.015 The graph which was obtained for Beers law: The graph was taken from vernier colorimeter using logger pro software to get the accurate readings for the absorbance of CuSO4. Here I observed a curve in graph and I felt that this abnormal for Beers law but later when I searched the reason for this, I got satisfactory answer as I was not gone wrong. Beers law is true for dilute solutions and therefore it is sure to obtain a straight line graph for dilute solutions. In the cases of highly concentrated solutions we get a curve which flatters if extended further due to the high concentration. This is the same case with my Beers law graph because the solution of CuSO4 was much concentrated. Deviations from Beer Lamberts Law: According to Beer-Lamberts law, absorbance A is directly proportional to concentration c. Thus, a graph of Absorbance v/s concentration should give a straight line passing through the origin. Often we find that the graph is not linear, and deviations occur. If the straight line curves upwards or downwards it indicates positive or negative deviations respectively from Beer Lamberts law. Deviations from Beer-Lamberts law a : no deviation; law is valid b : positive deviation c : negative deviation I got negative deviation for my Beers law graph. Negative deviation is shown in the above graph with option c. The Negative deviation in the graph was expected as the CuSO4 solution was highly concentrated. Deviations fromBeer-Lamberts law can be of three types: Real deviations: which are fundamental in nature. Instrumental deviations: which arise as a consequence of the manner in which the absorbance measurement is made. Chemical deviations: which arise as a result of chemical changes associated with concentration changes. The deviation which I got in my Beers law graph was Real Deviations and such deviation occurs due to Effect of concentration. The Beer-Lamberts law is valid for dilute solutions only. If the concentration of the solution is more than 0.01 M, Beer-Lamberts law does not strictly hold well, and deviations occur. At higher concentration, the molecules of the absorbing species come closer to one another, and due to this, charge distribution of neighboring molecules is affected. This results in an alteration in the ability of the species to absorb a particular wavelength of radiation. The extent of interaction depends on the concentration of the solution and therefore deviations are observed in concentrated solutions. The molar absorptivity à Ã‚ · depends on the refractive index of the solution. If the solution is too concentrated it refractive index changes and thus à Ã‚ · changes. This causes deviations from Beer-Lamberts law. This effect is negligible in concentrations

The Dominance of Biomedicine and Challenges to its Discourse Essay

Contemporary approaches in understanding health, illness and its treatment largely differ from the traditional way of treating people’s health conditions. For instance, before the â€Å"Age of Reason† beliefs about vindictive spirits, evil and divine intervention, and practices of sorcery and witchcraft were widely held (Porter 1997 as cited in Williams, 2003). Another example is the practice of Greek medicine; a more naturalistic approach used by the practitioner to tune the body through humoral theories of balance and lifestyle modification. Similarly, during this age, the combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual factors contributed to the development of the â€Å"sick man† (Williams, 2003). These medical teachings were authoritative until the eighteenth century. However, towards the nineteenth century, numerous discoveries such as Vesalius’ anatomical atlas and Harvey’s process of blood circulation challenged mainstream medicine, which p aved the way for the rise of a newer and more systematic form of medicine (Williams, 2003, p. 11), marking the growth and supremacy of scientific medicine. The evolution of scientific medicine is well documented in several literature (Gabe, Keheller, & Williams, 1994; Longino, 1998; Marcum, 2008; Morris, 2000; Quirke & Gaudilliere, 2008; Williams, 2003). A progressive shift from preference of either licensed or unlicensed healers to the legitimization of the medical profession and medicalisation of natural life experiences had occurred (Gabe, et al., 1994). With this, scientific medicine, commonly known as biomedicine, continued to dominate the discourse of health and illness from the end of the 18th century up to the present (Williams, 2003). Despite this perceived supremacy, scientific medicine... ...s of thi sTrial Apply? The Lancet, 365(9453), 82-93. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17670-8 Thorpe, R. D. (2008). Integrating biomedical and CAM approaches: The experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS. Health Sociology Review, 17(4), 410-418. Tonelli, M. R., & Callahan, T. C. (2001). Why Alternative Medicine Cannot be Evidenced-Based. Academic Medicine, 76(12), 1213-1220. Torgerson, D. J. (2003). Avoiding Bias in Randomised Controlled Trials in Educational Research. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(1), 36-45. Williams, S. J. (2003). Medicine and the body. London: SAGE publications Ltd. Xue, C. C. L., Zhang, A. L., Lin, V., Costa, C. D., & Story, D. F. (2007). Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Australia: A National Population-Based Survey. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 13(6), 643-650. doi: 10.1089/acm.2006.6355.

Preparation for Chinese New Year Essay

Preparations for the New Year begin a couple of weeks before the big day. This is a fun time full of anticipation and joy as we get ready for the thrill and excitement of the celebrations. According to the traditions, this is the time to clean the house, prepare food for the feast and make banners and decorations special for the New Year. A clean house to welcome the New Year Before the New Year comes, it is one of the Chinese New Year customs to clean the house from top to bottom to get rid off all the bad luck gathered in the previous year. And after the New Year comes, you cannot sweep during the first days otherwise all the new luck will sweep away! So one of your Chinese New Year activities will be to†¦ clean your room! Wouldn’t want all that accumulated bad luck for another year would you!! Cleaning house also means settling all your unfinished business to start fresh for the new year: Pay off all your debts, resolve all quarrels with friends, catch up with homework!!! Make some Banners and Decorations Red banners with New Year messages of good luck decorate the main entrance of your house/room. Red is a very lucky color and symbolizes vitality of life and happiness. You can make your own Chinese New Year decorations with bright red paper and markers or a brush if you prefer. Here are some instructions to make your own New Year Banners including the â€Å"Lucky Characters† stroke by stroke. Preparing the Chinese New Year Banquet On New Year’s Day, the families come together to celebrate and everything must be ready for this important fest. Food must be prepared ahead of time, as one of the popular Chinese New Year superstitions dictates that all knives must be put away. Using a knife during the first days of the New Year â€Å"cuts off† all the good luck for the coming year. The New Year’s feast takes many days to prepare. These are some of the traditional chinese new year foods served on New Year’s day and throughout the festivities: * meat dumplings for good luck * tangerines for good fortune * apples for peace * sweet rice cakes for more wealth every year * fish for plenty * veggies with long noodles for long life * chicken for wealth * mustard greens for a green year for farmers * soup means everything better than last year * oranges for money and wealth * shrimp for abundance Paying respects to the Ancestors The New Year Celebrations can only begin after paying respect to the ancestors. On New Year’s Eve, people will go to the temples and pray for good fortune for the new year. They bring offerings of food and incense to please the spirits of the deceased so that they might bring good luck. So now that all the preparations are done with, the long-awaited day arrives and the New Year’s festivities can begin! Chinese New Year Preparation Preparing for the Chinese New Year begins on personal and social front and can start months before the New Year. These preparations are made in the hope to usher the New Year in the best context possible. Most people try to settle their debts with friends before the New Year so that they can start the New Year debt free. However, this settling of debt often refers to debt between friends and do not include home or car loans with financial institutions. These are considered as investments. Many people will also check predictions of their luck in the New Year. The Chinese calendar has a 60 year cycle and each year is presided by a star. Everyone has a star that corresponds with the year of birth. This birth star may conflict with next year’s presiding star, çŠ ¯Ã¥ ¤ ªÃ¥ ²  creating difficulties in work, business or personal life. To avoid or minimize the impact, rituals can be conducted at temples before the New Year. During the dates for these rituals, temples are often crow ded with devotees. Nearer to the New Year families start their spring cleaning to welcome the New Year. This is the period when new furniture or minor renovations will be undertaken. Chinese New Year decorations such as couplets, banners are used to create a festive atmosphere. A major activity before the New Year is the exchange of gifts. Most of the gift items have symbolic meanings or status symbols to demonstrate good will or to express good wishes. New Year gifts can be presented to family, friends and between companies. Popular items include New Year cakes, Niangao, Ã¥ ¹ ´Ã§ ³â€¢ in auspicious shapes, Mandarin oranges, Bakkwa (BBQ meat), sweets, candies, chocolates and hampers. New Year cards è ´ ºÃ¥ ¹ ´Ã¥  ¡ are also sent to family members, friends and business contacts. A few weeks before the Chinese New Year, markets and fairs specializing in New Year goods can be found in most cities. These markets offer foodstuff, candies, New Year decorations, flowers, clothes, New Year CDs and almost everything required for the New Year. These items are bought as gifts, for home consumption or used to entertain visiting family members or guests. These New Year markets often end in the early hours of New Year’s day. Many people visit these markets after their reunion dinner and stay till after midnight to buy the items at huge discounts.

4 Career Fears You Need to Face

4 Career Fears You Need to Face Fear. It’s not just the feeling that strikes when you’re home alone watching scary movies and suddenly there’s a  noise outside your window. It can happen in a much more mundane, brightly-lit place: your desk at work. In fact, the office can be a place where all of your self-doubts and worries compound into a big, career-blocking blob. But you’re not alone- millions of people have responded to polls and surveys about their concerns.What are some of the most common work-related fears?1. Losing the jobWhether you’re a rockstar at work or feel like you’ve been making too many mistakes, fear of losing your job has little to do with actual performance and more to do with your own personal need for stability.2. Performance anxietyMaybe your boss wasn’t as enthusiastic as she could have been after your last presentation. Maybe a new performance review process has you feeling uncertain about whether your year was really as productive as you wanted it to be. Any uncertainty or lack of positive feedback can feed this apprehension.3. Not fitting inWhether it’s middle school or the office break room, no one wants to be the uncool kid. We spend most of our waking hours with our coworkers, and universal social anxieties may show up. It can be tempting to try to play a certain character type in meetings or defer to others’ thoughts and ideas instead of your own.4. Being left behindWith social media giving a new platform to everyday triumphs (â€Å"Guess who’s rocking it today?†), it can turn the workday into a competitive exercise. This plays into anxieties about stagnating in your job while the real stars move on to higher titles and bigger paydays.What can we do to move past these?The best way to conquer these fears (or at least tame them into submission before) is to acknowledge that they’re happening, name them, and be clear with yourself about the steps you’re taking to overcome them. That could mean communicating more openly with your colleagues or even just taking small steps forward on a project you’ve been avoiding because it seemed daunting.Embrace the fears that are holding you back, and then step neatly around them on your career path.Read More at Fast Company

Theories of Addiction General Counseling Methods

Theories of Addiction General Counseling Methods General counseling methods There are numerous counseling methods applicable in the treatment of addictions. They are helpful in establishing critical treatment methods meant to curb the aspects of drug abuse and the alleged addictions. One of the general counseling methods applicable in this context is the motivational interviewing.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Theories of Addiction: General Counseling Methods specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Drug addicts require well-orchestrated counseling mechanisms that will enhance their willingness to quit drug abuse and the characterizing addiction. Motivational interviewing tends to unveil the issues related to drug addiction and formulate strategies that can motivate drug addicts to quite the vice (Peele, 1998). Another treatment method is the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory (CBT). CBT addresses all emotional, behavioral, and cognitive dysfunctions usually experienced by drug addicts. This makes the method quite relevant and applicable as a treatment method in the entire context. The two methods chosen are useful in the addiction treatment due to their applicability, convenience, relevancy, and conventionality in counseling and addressing the provisions of drug addiction. Dry Drunk Syndrome Dry Drunk Syndrome refers to a situation where one seems drunk even without taking any alcohol (experiences alcoholic lapse). The situation is evident among addicted individuals who usually experience withdrawal symptoms after quitting the concerned drug. The alcoholic retains mental and behavioral characters connected with drunkenness (DeSena, 2005). This occurs even when he/she has not drunk alcohol. This syndrome relates perfectly with most of the theories studied in this module. Theoretically, addicted individuals or those who have consumed alcohol for long might face mental problems thus exhibiting behaviors related to drunkenness even if they have not taken alc ohol. This relates to the aspects of addiction mentioned earlier in the paper. A situation of an ex-smoker who socially smokes An ex-smoker who socially smokes is probably enhancing his or her smoking behaviors again. It is important to understand that despite him or her quitting smoking, the fact that he/she occasionally smokes is devastating. His body system might rekindle the smoking behavior hence posing a considerable threat to his/her wellbeing. This is a very important consideration in various aspects. There is a substantial root of addiction in this situation. Biologically, the body system of this ex-smoker will start registering the chemicals (nicotine) presented to it by the cigarette hence triggering the aspects of addiction.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The body will need the chemical in order to operate fully. Additionally, the situation might trigger the wi thdrawal symptoms associated with smoking hence necessitating him/her to smoke again (Peele, 1998). Psychologically, the concerned ex-smoker might develop a system where he/she enjoys social smoking hence must do it daily. This triggers the aspects of addiction by submitting to the psychological needs. Lindesmiths Conditioning Model The study of addiction affects societal perceptions on addiction in numerous ways. The study demonstrates the cognitive aspects of addiction plus other related psychological concerns in this context. Illuminating extensively on the scientific and psychological prospects of addiction can reform how the society perceives it. This is an important consideration in various contexts. According to Lindesmith, the society will be able to perceive addiction differently hence making approaches in fighting/preventing the vice (Peele, 1998). Concurrently, it is important to agree that addiction has been over-diagnosed in the US’s culture as claimed. There are various instances of the vice despite the efforts to eradicate it. Additionally, various people in the society including the youth have indulged into drug abuse and addiction. Conclusively, the outline of a ‘successful theory of addiction’ is adequate due to its applicability, appropriateness, conventionality, and efficiency in discerning the aspects of addiction. References DeSena, J. (2005). Overcoming your alcohol, drug and recovery habits: An empowering alternative to AA and 12-step treatment. Tuscan, Arizona: See Sharp Press. Peele, S. (1998). The meaning of addiction: An unconventional view. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.