Project

Authors:

Kazmina Nastya,

Terekhova Oksana,

Yeltsova Yulia,

11th grade students

2013

Bondary secondary

school

Accidental inventions

that changed the world

Accident is the name of

the greatest of all

inventors. Mark Twain

Aim

Identify the significance of accidental

discoveries to society’s progress.

Tasks1. Review the list of accidental discoveries.

2. Give a precise definition of the accidental

discovery.

3. Determine their value to society’s

progress.

4. Give a detailed description of the opening

of some inventions.

5. Make a conclusion about the significance

of these inventions for Mankind.

Hypothesis

If these inventions were not be done we

would not have such useful things like a

microwave.

Steps of research

OGive the definition to the world «accidental inventions».

OFind out why such inventions were appeared.

ODescribe these inventions.

OAnalyze the frequency of their mention in the Internet.

Actuality"Random" is the invention which is the result of errors

in the creation of an entirely different inventions.

Louis Pasteur once said, "chance favors the

prepared mind." That's the genius behind all these

accidental inventions - the scientists were prepared.

They did their science on the brink and were able to

see the magic in a mistake, set-back, or coincidence.

MicrowaveIn 1945, the American scientist Percy Spencer

Libaron was busy studying and developing

Magnetronov. Standing near the operating

magnetron, Spencer noticed that the

chocolate bar in his pocket began to slowly

melt. Through engineering mind he quickly

realized that the reason for this may be the

micro-waves emanating from the instrument is

turned on. Later, he began to experiment with

popcorn, and finally experienced the impact of

micro-waves on the egg, which is a result of

this experiment exploded. Incidentally, the first

microwave oven was the size of a huge

refrigerator.

Super glueDr. Harry Coover, in 1942, worked for Eastman Kodak; his job was to find a plastic that could be used as a clear gun sight. During his research, he observed that the compound used, cyanoacrylate, was very sticky, it polymerized on contact with moisture and stuck to the test material and thus, discarded it. After about 6 years, he again came across cyanoacrylates and this time set to work on it realizing it could form an adhesive that did not require heat or pressure to develop a strong bond. With a bit of chemical change, "Alcohol-Catalyzed Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Composition" or Super glue came into existence.

Note stickersIn 1970, Spencer Silver, a researcher working for a large American corporation 3M, tried to develop a highly-adhesive fixing, but the result was very disappointing. Clay turned weak. Bosses have made him a scolding and all forgotten about it. 4 years later, Arthur Fry, a 3M employee who is also a member of the church choir and was concerned about the disadvantage of using a bookmark for a church song books, so I decided to use an invention of his colleague Spencer. So he began to make bookmarks that can be safely unstick and they did not spoil the book. So, in 1977, record labels have been put into mass production.

Potato chipsIn 1853, at a restaurant in New York

served a very important and famous

railroad magnate Cornelius Venderbilta.

He ordered a side dish of fried

potatoes, but criticized the awful that he

served time after time - that is too thick

or too moist. Then, after another

attempt to please fastidious client, Chef

- Chef decided to bring the situation to

the point of absurdity and cooked

potatoes paper-thin in an excessive

amount of oil. Enraged Venderbilt

skeptical last attempt cook until it tried

what he obtained. Since then, more and

more customers began asking for a

new side dish.

Slinky

These springs are fun, step by step, one by one or in pairs, publishing funny rustling went from ... a spring that fell off the table. To be more precise, the spring that had fallen from the table marine engineer Richard James, who as you said, like a spring that fell to the floor, writhing and twisting before you stay still. After several prototypes, Slinky (the name was coined by James wife, Betty) on sale of numerous toy stores across the country in 1948. It should be noted that even after that, such springs are used as mobile radio antennae during the Vietnam War.

Popsicle Frank Epperson was trying to make soda pop

by mixing soda water powder and water.

Accidentally, he left the soda out on his porch

all night. It was so cold that the concoction

froze with the stirring stick still in the cup.

He was only 11 at the time, and he didn’t

realize what he had invented. The following summer he made

the treats in his freezer and called them Epsicles (a combination

of Epperson and Icicle). Over 15 years later (1923), he changed

the name to Popsicles, and the rest is history! There are very few

kids or even adults who don’t welcome a fruity frozen treat on a

hot summer day.

DynamiteOn July 12, 1866, while working in his river

laboratory, Alfred Nobel dropped and shattered a

vial of nitroglycerine on the floor. It should have

exploded but it didn't. He noticed that sawdust on

the floor had absorbed the liquid.

He discovered that the sawdust was mixed with dirt

from the embankments surrounding his factory

buildings. These embankments were made of

diatomaceous earth, which is the fossil

accumulation of silica from dead microscopic single-

celled marine algae. When diatomaceous earth was

mixed with nitroglycerine it stabilized the explosive.

In 1867, Nobel applied for patents for his accidental

invention, which he called "Dynamite".

Penicillin

Sir Alexander Fleming knew nothing about

penicillin until he threw away his experiments

and equipment. He was working on a wonder

drug to help cure diseases and was having a

tough time of it. It was when Fleming noticed

that a contaminated Petri dish he had discarded

contained a mould that was dissolving all the

bacteria around it, that the powerful antibiotic,

penicillin, was discovered.

ResultsWe have analyzed 30 Internet sites and have

found out that the most frequent invention is a

microwave (it was used 26 times), the second

place has the super glue (it was used 25 times).

The third place is for potato chips (it was used 20

times), then comes dynamite (it was used 19

times). The fifth place is for note stickers and

slinky (they were used 16 times), then comes

popsicle (it was used 14 times) and the seventh

place is penicillin (it was used 9 times).

Conclusion

As for inventions, totally random inventions can not

be, because for any invention there is some discovery

on which it is based. All of the "accidental" invention is

the result of errors in creating a very different

inventions.

These accidental discoveries have become an integral

part of every modern man. It can be in any field such

as medicine, the arts, science, or in the home. So it

can be seen that they were not as random.

As for inventions, totally random inventions

can not be, because for any invention there

is some discovery on which it is based. All of

the "accidental" invention is the result of

errors in creating a very different inventions.

Our hypothesis is wright. Sometimes it's

better to be lucky than good.

Information resources

O http://sckolnik.ru/shkolnaya-forma

O http://www.mirabell.ru

O http://108.su/search_history_33.html

O http://www.parenting.ru

O http://www.newagent.spb.ru/kak/1075-2010-08-30-

18-58-55

O http://www.molomo.ru/inquiry/casual_inventions.htm

l

O http://www.alfy.ru/articles/487-10-sluchajjnykh-

izobretenijj-chelovechestva..html

O http://www.buzzle.com/articles/accidental-

inventions-that-changed-the-world.html