Critical Lens for Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Critical Lens for Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men Essay Duff Brenna once said, All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason that motivates characters in literature. To me, this quote means that it is emotion that causes characters to make decisions, not reason. I agree with this quote because characters in literature do what they feel is right at the time, not what they feel is logically right. In William Shakespeares tragedy Romeo and Juliet and John Steinbecks novella Of mice and Men, the characters demonstrate how emotion can overpower reason. In Romeo and Juliet, this statement is proven right. As the characters make decisions based on emotion, many literary elements are intertwined by William Shakespeare. Conflict is not only a literary element but also is a theme that is used throughout the whole playwright. For example, the passion of hate causes the Capulets and Montagues to constantly fight and feud. This External conflict interferes with Romeo and Juliets love and causes them not to tell their parents about their marriage. They have to constantly meet in secret and them not being able to see each other causes more major conflicts. For example, they feel so deeply for each other that they feel that they cannot live without the other. These strong emotions lead to many misunderstandings and eventually the death of the two star crossed lovers. If Romeo and Juliet were thinking within reason, they would have told their parents about their love and possibly may not have committed suicide. The death of Mercutio also causes problems between the characters. When Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo feels vengeance and anger towards Tybalt. If Romeo would have been thinking realistically, he would have told Prince Escalus about the killing and Tybalt would have gotten in trouble. Instead, Romeo makes a rash decision and kills Tybalt and later faces the consequence; being banished from Verona. In Addition, Shakespeare also uses the literary element of Characterization in Romeo and Juliet. After Tybalt dies, Capulet feels that he has the responsibility to lift the spirits of his family. He quickly arranges to have Juliet to marry Paris, a man whom she does not wish to marry. When Capulet does this, he follows his own feelings and doesnt reason with Juliet. After his actions, Capulet is looked upon as harsh, ridiculous and insensitive. Additionally, when Romeo kills himself on impulse,  characterization is used. As soon as Romeo sees that Juliet, the woman that he is deeply in love with, he feels that he cannot live with out her and commits suicide. As a reader, I thought that he could have gone on with out her but he kills himself anyways. Romeo is looked characterized as immature, irrational, and impractical. Conflict is also an effect of characters acting based on feeling, not reason in the story Of Mice and Men. For example, although Lennie is not the brightest bulb in the box, he should have had enough reasoning skills and know not to touch a womans skirt. However, his feeling of desire and attraction to touch the red skirt causes the woman to tell the police on Lennie and Lennie and George are run outta weed. After they are run out, they face having to move to a new ranch, and hopefully having no one find out the real reason why they left weed. Another example of a conflict is Curleys wife. She has an internal conflict. She wanted to feel happy and content with her life and she rushed into the marriage with Curley. In the end, she was unhappy and lonely because she was often times left alone all day while Curley worked or at night when the men went into town. The literary element of characterization is also used in Of Mice and Men. For example, when Lennie is run out of weed, George decides to go with him because he really cares about Lennie. He disregarded anything that he had in Weed and left. In this case, it is good that George followed what his feeling said because Lennie would have not been able to survive with out the help of George. As the bond between Lennie and George strengthens, George is characterized as accepting and tolerant. George also acts on feeling when he decides to kill Lennie himself. George does not want to put Lennie through the pain of dealing with Curley. George cares so much for Lennie that he puts him out of his misery right away instead of taking the risk of trying run away or move on to a new ranch with Lennie. George is looked upon as mature and understanding after his actions. In conclusion, in literature, characters are driven by the power of emotion, not reason. In William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, many characters are shown as following their emotions  instead of reason. Sometimes the outcome was good, and other times, the outcome was not so good. In my opinion, when characters follow their emotions and do not reason, the author is trying to show the reader the good and bad consequences that can occur if there is no reason behind the actions that we make. Bibliography: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare- the book/playwrightOf mice and Men by John Steinbeck- the novellawww.sparknotes.com

Corporate Governance Practices of Indian Companies

Corporate Governance Practices of Indian Companies The paper uses disclosure scores to examine corporate governance practices of Indian listed companies. A content analysis of 50 companies listed on the NSE has been carried out. A disclosure index compiled by SP has been developed to determine how much listed Indian companies disclose. This study reveals that Indian companies are quite transparent. The research findings shall enable the investors in estimating how much disclosure listed Indian companies make. It will also add to the increasingly inadequate literature relating to corporate governance and disclosure practices in developing countries. This study though has limitations since the focus lies only on 50 companies listed on the NSE which are the largest and most followed stocks and may not represent all Indian companies. Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction Corporate governance has received increased importance in the aftermath of collapses of large companies worldwide such as Enron and WorldCom. Economies worldwide are now realizing the importance of good governance (Standard Poors 2008). The developed countries realized the importance of governance mainly following corporate scandals of the west (Reed, 2002). In some cases these scandals led to a direct response e.g. the Cadbury Report (Boyd, 1996 cited in Reed, 2002, p.228). On the other hand, in developing countries such as Brazil and India, poor economic performance had often led to economic crisis. Consequently, these countries came under the control of bodies such as International Monetary Fund and World Bank. These bodies impose many regulations which require increased attention to governance issues (Reed, 2002). As opposed to developed countries, developing countries paid no attention to governance issues until the financial crisis of East Asia in the late 90s (Oman C., 2003, Mangena and Tauringana, 2007). However, Sobhan and Werner (2003) view that these countries started giving importance to governance issues not because of the East Asian financial crisis but by problems in their own financial markets. Goswami (2003) reiterates this by writing that corporate governance movement began in India due to some corporate scandals that came to the forefront during the first phase of economic liberalization in the country in 1991. Transparency and disclosure are at the heart of corporate governance. Transparency and disclosure helps reduce the information gap between the management of a company and its shareholders and thus helps resolving agency issues in corporate governance (Patel, Balic and Bwakira, 2002). Background Fig. 1 below depicts clearly that India ranks quite high among the developing countries with respect to its governance practices next only to South Africa and Poland. Figure : Governance Ratings of Developing Countries, 2008 (Source: Governance Metrics International) Corporate Governance in India As opposed to developed countries, developing countries paid no attention to governance issues until the financial crisis of East Asia in the late 90s (Oman C., 2003, Mangena and Tauringana, 2007). However, Sobhan and Werner (2003) view that these countries started giving importance to governance issues not because of the East Asian financial crisis but by problems in their own financial markets. Goswami (2003) reiterates this by writing that corporate governance movement began in India due to some corporate scandals that came to the forefront during the first phase of economic liberalization in the country in 1991. One of these was a major securities scam of over Rupees 35 billion (Rupee 1 =  £ 0.0125, approx.) that was uncovered in April 1992 which involved a diversion of funds from the banking system to stock brokers for financing their operations. Bank executives, brokers and even politicians came under the scanner. The stock market had to be shut down for an extended period. Investors and brokers panicked. This led to the first step towards corporate governance in India when the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was created by an act of Parliament to protect the interest of investors in the securities market and to regulate the stock market (Goswami, 2003). In 1998, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an industry association published Indias initial corporate governance code, the implementation of which was voluntary by companies and thus very few companies adopted it. Until 2000, the CII Code was Indias only corporate governance guideline. In 1999 the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), constituted a committee to promote and raise the standards of corporate governance in India which was patterned on UKs 1992 Cadbury Report. On the recommendations of this committee, a new clause 49 was incorporated in the Stock Exchange Listing Agreements (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Listing Agreementsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?). Since 2001, the CII Code has been supplemented by Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement (SEBI, 2003). These corporate governance requirements are applicable to all listed companies in India (Government of India, 2009 and SEBI, 2009). Aims, Objectives and Research Questions The aim of the research is to develop an understanding of the practices of corporate governance in developing economies by investigating the disclosure practices of Indian listed companies. This study will cover 50 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) which comprise the NIFTY which is the benchmark index of the NSE. SP CNX Nifty is a well diversified index comprised of 50 stocks across 23 sectors of the economy. The objectives of this study are: To develop an understanding of the importance of corporate governance and transparency and disclosure using literature review; To examine Practices of corporate governance of listed Indian companies using content analysis by studying annual reports of the companies and allocating disclosure scores. The study addresses the following research question: RQ1. How far are Indian listed companies transparent and how much do they disclose? Structure of the project The rest of the research is organized as follows. Chapter 2 provides a review of the relevant literature followed by research design and methodology in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents the findings and discussion. The study ends with chapter 5, conclusion which outlines the main points and findings of this study together with limitations and also raises future research questions. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction In the sections that follow, the existing literature on corporate governance and disclosure is reviewed. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part discusses the importance of corporate governance; the second part presents the agency theory. The third part provides a discussion of the importance of disclosure and transparency and its relation with corporate governance. Corporate Governance is an issue of growing importance in developing countries. The Cadbury Report (1992) defines corporate governance as the system by which businesses are directed and controlled. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a companys management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? -The preamble of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Principles, 2004 (OECD) Though there have been several studies on corporate governance in developed countries, very little work has been done on developing countries. Most studies have been limited to specific countries. Developing countries encounter a lot of problems such as less developed and illiquid capital markets, economic uncertainties, and weak legal controls and investor protection (Rabelo and Vasconcelos, 2002). Due to these reasons, effective corporate governance in these countries is essential (Tsamenyi, Enniful-Adu and Onumah, 2007). Importance of Corporate Governance Good corporate governance in companies and also across the whole economy helps in providing a level of assurance necessary for the appropriate performance of a market (OECD, 2004). If the governance is weak, equity markets will be thin and thus there will be slower economic growth. On the other hand, in countries where corporate governance systems are strong (like stronger accounting standards), better investment and growth performance can be achieved (Gugler, et al., 2003). Institutions when making investment decisions, give a lot of importance to the fact as to whether the companies follow the basics of corporate governance. Thus if countries wish to attract capital for a long time, they must follow the globally accepted governance principles. Good governance also helps increase the confidence of investors within the country and thus helps reduce the cost of capital (OECD, 2004; La Porta et al, 1998; Bopkin Isshaq, 2009). Foreign investors refrain from investing in developing countries because of weaker governance mechanisms in these countries (Mangena Tauringana, 2007). Thus, companies needing external financing in the future should start adopting better governance measures in the present (Klapper et al, 2004). Many authors support the view that for the development of capital markets, effective governance mechanisms are very crucial (Rabelo Vasconcelos, 2002; Levine Zervos, 1998; Rajan Zingales, 1998). Capital markets can function efficiently if there is effective flow of information between the company and its stakeholders (Akhtaruddin, 2005). Agency Theory Many theories such as stakeholder theory, agency theory among others, express the importance of transparency and disclosure. This paper uses the agency theory as a theoretical framework and models that effective corporate governance practices including transparency and disclosure help resolve agency problems à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" such as extraction of personal gain by majority shareholders and under or over-investment (Aksu and Kosedag, 2006). Agency theory models the relationship between the principal and the agent (Barako, Hancock and Izan, 2006). Agency relationship is a contract under which one or more persons (the principal) engage another (agent) to perform some work on their behalf. Thus the shareholders (the principal) delegate the decision making function to the manager (or the agent) (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). This separation of ownership and control leads to the incurring of certain costs also known as agency costs (viz. expenses incurred by the principal to monitor agents activities) which are not incurred if the owner and manager are the same person (Barako, Hancock and Izan, 2006). In an agency relationship, managers have an information advantage which they may misuse for their own personal interest. Conversely it may so happen that agents may disclose more information to enhance the value of the firm and to increase the flow of investment in the company by reducing the cost of the agency relationship (Bara ko, Hancock and Izan, 2006). Patel et al. (2002) opine that the agency problem in corporate governance can be resolved in many ways à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" by a vigilant board of directors, by timely, accurate and sufficient disclosure of financial information and by transparency in the ownership structure. This study deals with one aspect, viz. disclosure and transparency. Disclosure and Transparency Transparency and disclosure are at the heart of corporate governance. The OECD Principles of corporate governance (2004) state that the corporate governance structure of any association should make sure that well-timed and precise disclosure of all important matters of the organization pertaining to its performance, ownership and overall governance is made. Transparency and disclosure (TD) practices followed by firms are an important component and one of the main indicators of the quality of corporate governance (Aksu and Kosedag, 2006). Companies mainly disclose through their annual reports; thus these should contain information that will allow its users to make correct decisions on efficient use of scarce resources (Akhtaruddin, 2005). In fact, a lot of what a company discloses in its annual reports and financial statements reflect its corporate governance quality (Bokpin and Isshaq, 2009). A firm if makes correct and adequate disclosure, reduces information asymmetry thereby reducing investors risk (Bushman and Smith, 2001). Similarly, Lang and Lundholm (1996) view, that by removing asymmetry in information, disclosure and transparency reduce the level of surprises relating to a firms performance thereby making its stocks less volatile. Chapter 3: Research Methodology With the aim of examining the disclosure practices of Indian listed companies, the focus of this study is the examination of annual reports of listed Indian companies using content analysis. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first deals with research design which is content analysis for this research. The second part presents the method of collection and data analysis. Research Design Research design embodies a structure which directs the implementation of a research method and the data analysis (Bryman and Bell, 2007). It tries to describe the best way to design the research so that the best data for the research can be obtained (Lee and Lings, 1975). The research designs that may be employed include experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory, ethnography, archival research, content analysis among others (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2009). The aim of this research is to examine the disclosure practices of listed Indian companies. Annual reports are intended to disclose information about the companys activities and performance to shareholders and other stakeholders. In order to examine the level of disclosure, in lines with previous research, this study seeks to identify the presence or absence (disclosure or non disclosure) of certain identified corporate attributes in the annual reports of the companies. An examination of annual reports of companies could be one of the justifiable ways of assessing their disclosure practices; consequently, the research design used is one of content analysis. Content analysis is an analysis of documents and texts (which may be printed or visual) that seeks to quantify content in terms of pre-determined categories and in a systematic and objective manner. Objectivity ensures that there is transparency in the procedures for assigning the data to categories so that analysts personal biases are ruled out to a large extent (Bryman and Bell, 2007). This study entails analysis of annual reports of listed Indian companies by quantifying content in terms of pre defined categories. Content analysis has been conducted on annual reports by a number of researchers such as Tsamenyi et al. (2007) and Patel et al. (2002) among others, as they are a good instrument to measure comparative positions and trends in reporting. As a technique for collecting data, it involves codifying qualitative and quantitative information into pre-defined categories in order to derive patterns in the presentation and reporting of information (Guthrie et al., 2004). The following paragraphs explain the method of collection of data, its quantification and classification and its analysis. This study uses the method of content analysis which itself is not free from limitations. The major limitation is the subjectivity involved in coding (Frost and Wilmshurst, 2000). In order for valid inferences to be drawn from content analysis, the reliability of both the data and the instrument of collecting and coding the data must be achieved (Milne and Adler, 1999). This research uses the coding method used by many previous researchers such as Patel et al. (2002) and Tsamenyi et al. (2007) and hence can be regarded as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"reliable. Data Collection and Analysis This study entails the examination of annual reports of Indian companies. Data is collected on 50 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and representing the NIFTY, which is literally the barometer of the Indian Capital Market. The sample thus consists of 50 companies listed on the NSE. The SP CNX Nifty is the National Stock Exchange of India Ltds main exchange. The CNX Nifty tracks the performance of a portfolio of blue chip companies, which are the largest and most liquid of the Indian securities. It consists of 50 of about 935 companies listed on the NSE consisting approximately of 60% of the market capitalization and reflects correctly the Indian stock market. The SP CNX Nifty consists of 22 sectors of the Indian economy (Standard Poors, 2010). This research studies the annual reports of these 50 companies. Analysis is limited to only one year because disclosure practices usually do not change dramatically over time (Botosan, 1997). All annual reports are available online on the respective company websites and have been accessed thus. The annual reports studied for most of the companies are for 31st March 2010. All data has been collected from annual reports of 50 companies which make up to 60% of the total market capitalization. Annual reports are one of the most important devices to convey information and are hence the principle focus of the disclosure index (Alsaeed, 2006). This study uses 98 attributes in all to measure corporate governance and extent of disclosure in India (Appendix 2). These attributes have been compiled by Standard Poors and used in many previous studies on disclosure. Using an objective methodology, annual reports are analyzed for common disclosure items grouped into three sub- categories: Ownership structure and investor relations Financial transparency and information disclosure Board and management structure and process A Transparency and Disclosure Score is developed for every company from a binary evaluation of the number of items present in their annual reports, i.e. if a company discloses a particular attribute, a score of 1 is awarded and if not a score of 0 is awarded. This paper analyzes the TD score for 50 Indian companies representing the NIFTY. Previous studies on disclosure and corporate governance such as those by Patel et al. (2002) and Tsamenyi et al. (2007) had followed a similar approach. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion This chapter presents the findings of this study and also compares the same with previous studies. A disclosure index has been constructed based on a thorough and rigorous examination of the annual reports of the sample companies. Disclosure is defined as the appearance of an item of information in the annual reports of the companies under study (Karim and Ahmed, 2005). If an item is disclosed in the annual report, a score of 1 has been awarded and if the item is not disclosed, then a score of 0 is awarded for that attribute. Thus this disclosure method measures the overall disclosure index (ODI) of a company as additive as follows: Where, d=1 if the item di is disclosed d=0 if the item di is not disclosed n=number of items 4.1 Disclosure Scores and Descriptive Statistics The disclosure scores for each firm are presented both as actual scores and as percentage of the total number of attributes assessed in annual reports. The overall level of disclosure and disclosure score together with the percentage is presented in Table 1 below. Overall, disclosure and transparency register an average score of 72.04 which is quite good. Considerable variation can be noticed in the disclosure practices among the sample companies in India with a range of 54-82. The descriptive statistics are presented in Table 2. Table 1: Disclosure Scores Company Names Disclosure Scores % of Score ACC Ltd. 80 80% Ambuja Cements Ltd. 56 56% Axis Bank Ltd. 76 76% Bajaj Auto Ltd. 75 75% Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. 68 68% Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. 69 69% Bharti Airtel Ltd. 78 78% Cairn India Ltd 73 73% Cipla Ltd. 72 72% DLF Ltd. 73 73% Dr Reddys Ltd. 75 75% Gail India Ltd. 76 76% HCL Technologies Ltd. 54 54% HDFC Bank Ltd. 71 71% Hero Honda Motors Ltd. 74 74% Hindalco Industries Ltd. 54 54% Hindustan Unilever Ltd. 70 70% Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd 72 72% ICICI Bank Ltd. 77 77% ITC Ltd 78 78% Infosys Technologies Ltd. 82 82% Infrastructure Development Finance Co. Ltd 81 81% Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. 76 76% Jindal Steel Power Ltd 75 75% Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. 75 75% Larsen Toubro Ltd. 74 74% Mahindra Mahindra Ltd. 65 65% Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. 64 64% NTPC Ltd. 62 62% ONGC Ltd. 65 65% Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. 65 65% Punjab National Bank 65 65% Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd 54 54% Reliance Capital Ltd. 75 75% Reliance Communications Ltd. 81 81% Reliance Industries Ltd. 82 82% Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. 76 76% Reliance Power Ltd 77 77% Sesa Goa Ltd 75 75% Siemens Ltd 74 74% State Bank of India 74 74% Steel Authority of India Ltd 75 75% Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. 62 62% Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. 63 63% Suzlon Energy Ltd 75 75% Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. 76 76% Tata Motors Ltd. 75 75% Tata Power Ltd. 80 80% Tata Steel Ltd. 81 81% Wipro Ltd. 77 77% . Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Dependent and Independent Variables Mean Range No. of firms Overall Disclosure Index 72.04 54-82 50 Chapter 5: Conclusion This paper reports on the level of disclosure of a sample of Indian companies listed on the NSE by examining their annual reports. The study uses a transparency and disclosure (TD) index for determining the level of disclosure among listed Indian companies. The index is developed by assigning scores to 50 companies on pre-determined attributes; the study uses the binary scoring method. Using a dataset relating to listed companies for 2009-10, the study reveals that firms on average report 72% of the items compiled by SP to assess level of disclosure. The results of this study can be useful for investors to help them in gauging the level of disclosure by listed Indian companies. It will also be of interest to researchers, managers, regulators and market participants. The findings of this study must be interpreted in the light of the following limitations. Firstly, the sample used for this study is small in size and is composed of the largest and most followed companies on the National Stock Exchange and thus may not be representative of the population of Indian companies. Secondly, the index used to find the level of disclosure, is that which has been compiled by SP. No distinction has been made between compulsory and voluntary items of disclosure. Also, this study uses the unweighted or binary approach to measure the level of disclosure. Thus, if a company disclosed an item voluntarily, it did not get any extra score for that. Finally, the study gives at best a broad overview of the level and quality of disclosure among Indian companies since the results are based on the data of one year only and lacks longitudinal analysis. Further research is needed to evaluate the trends in the disclosure and also to assess if the level or quality of disclosu re has improved over time. Even with these limitations, there are some important contributions that this study makes. This study reports that the level of disclosure among Indian listed companies is quite high.

Belt Drive Laboratory Exercise

Belt Drive Laboratory Exercise An investigation into the relationship between tensions in a slipping pulley and comparison of experimental and theoretical results 1. Summary The transmission of power across machines and systems in industry is vitally important and belt drives can provide this in a cheap but efficient form. In this experiment, a flat belt was attached around a pulley at four separate contact angles and the tensions both before and after the pulley were recorded as the mass was changed to investigate the belt tension ratio and efficiency of the pulley, and how this compared to theoretical results. The experimental and predicted results were found to be very similar, confirming the expectation that an increase in contact angle would cause an increase in belt tension ratio. Also, a peak efficiency of 67.95% was measured which was significantly lower than the average modern day efficiency of 95%.   2. List of Symbols Symbol Meaning  µ coefficient of friction between belt and pulley ÃŽÂ ± half vee belt angle ÃŽÂ ² angle of contact between belt and pulley T ­1 tension after pulley T2 tension before pulley mm millimetres N newtons V volts A amps g grams à Ã¢â‚¬ ° rotational speed rpm revs per minute ÃŽÂ · efficiency POUT output power PIN input power T torque Nm newton metres 3. Introduction Belt drives are a cost effective, easy to use devices designed for power transmission between machines or shafts. The origins of traction devices can be traced back as far as the Babylonians and Assyrians with flat belts, made of leather, becoming the main source of power transmission in factories during the industrial revolution. Although flat belts are still used today, the introduction of vee belts by John Gates in 1917 revolutionised short distance power transmission, being able to generate more power than a flat belt for a pulley of certain diameter. Modern belt drives are able to transmit power at an efficiency of 90-98%, averaging 95% [1]. Vee belts provided the opportunity for continuously variable transmission with their ability to work on pulleys of variable diameters, a useful advantage over other forms of transmission. However, the main disadvantage is the slip between belt and pulley which can limit the efficiency of the drive; the factors contributing to this are the belt profile, the friction and the amount of torque. This report investigates the relationship between the tensions in a stationary flat belt pulley and subsequently the torque and efficiency, comparing the experimental results with expected values calculated using the theory outlined below. 4. Theory Given the coefficient of friction  µ, vee belt angle 2ÃŽÂ ± and angle of contact ÃŽÂ ² (rad), the relationship between higher tension and lower tension in a slipping pulley, known as the belt tension ratio, is given by the following equation: [2] (equation 1) Given for a flat belt ÃŽÂ ± = 90 ° and knowing sin (90 °) = 1, this equation can be rewritten: (equation 2) It is this theoretical equation which the experimental results will be compared against in order to analyse the relationship between the belt tension ratio and coefficient of friction. 5. Method 5.1 Apparatus Belt drive system set up as shown above in figure 1, with the central pulley of radius 50mm and a load cell measuring with an uncertainty of  ­Ã‚ ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ±0.005N. DC electric motor to provide initial rotational movement of the central pulley, measuring voltage (V) with an uncertainty of  ±0.05V and current (I) with an uncertainty of  ±0.005A. Masses, 100g each, to vary the load applied at the free end of the string Hand held optical tachometer capable of measuring rotational speed (à Ã¢â‚¬ °) of the pulley with an accuracy of  ±0.5rpm. 5.2 Procedure The free end of the string was placed accordingly to ensure the angle of contact, ÃŽÂ ², between the belt and pulley was à Ã¢â€š ¬/2. The motor supply voltage was set to 10V and it was made sure that the pulley was rotating in the correct direction by checking T2 > T1. The spring balance was zeroed before the minimum load, 100g, was placed on the free end of the string and a measurement for T1 recorded off the spring balance. 100g masses were then added individually until a maximum mass was applied and the value on the spring balance after the addition of each mass was recorded. These masses were then removed, the angle of contact changed, and the experiment then repeated for angles of à Ã¢â€š ¬, 3à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 and 2à Ã¢â€š ¬. The maximum mass was achieved when the motor was close to stalling but the voltage value still read 10V. When performing the experiment at the 3à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 angle of contact, values for current and pulley rotational speed were also measured after the addition of each 100g mass. The current (I) was measured by the digital multimeter while the rotational speed of the pulley (à Ã¢â‚¬ °) was measured using the hand held optical tachometer. 6. Results The tension after the pulley (T1) and the mass added to the free end of the string were recorded and collected in a table, which can be found in Appendix A. The values for the mass were converted from kg to N to give the corresponding tensions (T2). A graph of T2 against T1 (figure 2) was then drawn for all four angles of contact ÃŽÂ ². This experimental value was calculated from figure 3 to be 0.3269. Using this value and equation 1 for all four angles, a theoretical plot of the belt tension ratio was able to be produced and compared with the experimental results achieved at the four points, shown through figure 4. 7. Discussion It was expected that as the angle of contact increased, the value of T1 would decrease and therefore the value of the belt tension ratio would increase. It can clearly be seen from the experimental data points produced in figure 4 that the results from this experiment were as expected. Also from figure 4, an analysis of the experimental data points and the theoretical line of best fit shows a clear correlation between the two calculations, confirming the theory discussed during section 3 of the report. The slight differences found between these two forms of data, particularly at ÃŽÂ ²=3à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 where the largest error is found, can be accredited to systematic errors due to the measurements from the load cell. Observing figure 6, the motor efficiency shows a generally increasing trend though the curve begins to flatten out as T2 reaches 9.810N. This shows the relationship between torque and efficiency not to be linear but instead parabolic, demonstrating the idea of a peak efficiency at each contact angle. By differentiating the equation of the line of best fit we can calculate that the maximum efficiency is achieved at a torque of 1.627 Nm with this efficiency being 67.95%. This efficiency is significantly smaller than the modern day average of 95% stated in the introduction; this difference in values can be attributed to various factors affecting the calculations. Firstly, it was assumed that the motor driving the pulley was 100% efficient; in reality this would not be the case as there would be energy lost internally through friction, cooling systems and core losses. Secondly, this experiment was conducted using a constantly slipping flat belt as opposed to a more commonly used form of transmission such as a vee belt, where higher efficiencies would be anticipated. 8. Conclusion To conclude, the experiment outlined in this report was useful in demonstrating the relationship between tensions in a slipping pulley, successfully validating the theory from section 3 that belt tension ratio is related to angle of contact; as ÃŽÂ ² tends towards 2à Ã¢â€š ¬, the belt tension ratio tends towards a maximum due to an increased area of contact and consequently larger friction. In the experiment, a maximum efficiency of 67.95% was calculated at a torque of 1.627 Nm. The graph of efficiency against torque analysed in section 5 demonstrates a need to find the optimum torque of a system in order to achieve maximum efficiency from it. The findings from this experiment are statistically insignificant as the nature of the pulley does not correspond to common industry types. However, the experiment was useful in showing the basic relationships between angles of contact, belt tension ratio and efficiency found in belt drives and the effect slipping can have on the output of these systems. Appendix A Raw Data à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 à Ã¢â€š ¬ 3à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 2à Ã¢â€š ¬ Weight (kg) T2 (N) T1 (N) Current (A) Speed (revs/min) T1(N) T1(N) T1 (N) 1.0 9.810 5.80 3.8 1218 3.40 1.70 0.9 8.829 5.20 3.5 1239 3.05 1.50 1.15 0.8 7.848 4.60 3.2 1256 2.70 1.35 1.00 0.7 6.867 4.00 2.9 1280 2.40 1.15 0.90 0.6 5.886 3.45 2.6 1308 2.05 0.95 0.75 0.5 4.905 2.85 2.3 1340 1.70 0.80 0.60 0.4 3.924 2.25 2.0 1370 1.35 0.60 0.45 0.3 2.943 1.65 1.7 1399 1.00 0.40 0.35 0.2 1.962 1.15 1.3 1429 0.65 0.25 0.25 0.1 0.981 0.5 1.0 1470 0.30 0.10 0.10 [1] Carlisle Power Transmission products, Inc., Energy loss and belt efficiency, [Online]. Available: http://www.clark-transmission.com/images/pdf/carlisle/energy_loss_and_belt_efficiency.pdf. [Accessed 9 February 2016]. [2] J. Darling, ME 10010 Solid mechanics 2 Belt Drive Labratory Exercise, University of Bath, 2016. [3] University of Geulph, Department of Physics, What is torque?, [Online]. Available: https://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutorials/torque/Q.torque.intro.html. [Accessed 16 February 2016]. [1] PIX Transmissions Limited, Belts Brief history and types, [Online]. Available: http://www.pixtrans.com/blog/belts%E2%80%93brief-history-and-types.html. [Accessed 9 February 2016]. [2] Groschopp, Efficiency and losses in electric motors, 24 March 2015. [Online]. Available: http://www.groschopp.com/efficiency-and-losses-in-electric-motors/. [Accessed 10 February 2016]. [3] Habatec, Introduction to the power transmission flat belt drive, 2011. [Online]. Available: http://www.habatec.net/HNet/HabaTEC.nsf/vwWebContent/FF5800BDAD1854E0C12571CA0028442B?OpenDocument. [Accessed 10 Feb 2016]. [4] IHS Engineering360, Flat belt pulleys, [Online]. Available: http://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/motion_controls/power_transmission/flat_belt_pulleys. [Accessed 15 February 2016]. [5] J. Darling, ME 10010 Solid mechanics 2 Belt Drive Labratory Exercise, University of Bath, 2016. [6] V. R. Chennu, Belt drives types, advantages, disadvantages, 31 October 2015. [Online]. Available: http://me-mechanicalengineering.com/belt-drives-types-advantages-disadvantages/. [Accessed 15 February 2016].

Aristotle :: essays research papers fc

Research Paper: Aristotle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle (b. 384 - d. 322 BC), was a Greek philosopher, logician, and scientist. Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is generally regarded as one of the most influential ancient thinkers in a number of philosophical fields, including political theory. Aristotle’s’ writing reflects his time, background and beliefs.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle was born at Stagira, in Macedonia. His father, Nichomacus, was the personal physician to the King of Macedonia, Amyntas. At the age of seventeen, Aristotle left for Athens to study at Plato’s Academy. He studied at the Academy for about twenty years, up until Plato’s death. Plato’s death sent Aristotle to a city in Asia Minor, called Assos, where his friend, Hermias was ruler(Encarta). It was in Assos where Aristotle met, Pythias, who is described as either a niece or daughter of Hermias, who Aristotle married after the murder of Hermias, by the Persians. Aristotle then went to Pella, the capitol of Macedonia, where he became the tutor for the king’s son, Alexander, who later became Alexander the Great. When Alexander became King, Aristotle went to Athens where he began to lecture at the Lyceum. He lectured while walking about in one of its covered walkways, earning him the nickname Peripatetic†, which means walking about.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle lectured and directed the Lyceum for twelve years, producing during this time the lecture notes which now form his works. Only a small amount of Aristotle’s works have survived. The writings which did survive like: â€Å"Metaphysics,.† which were his writings on the nature, scope, and properties of being; and â€Å"Physics,† his writings on astronomy, meteorology, plants, and animals, these writings have changed the way we think and live. Aristotle’s works encompassed all the major areas of thought: logic, science, metaphysics, ethics, and politics. He developed a new, non-Platonic theory of form, created a system of deductive reasoning for universal and existential statements, produced a theory of the cosmos, matter, life, and mind, and theorized about the relationship between ethics and politics and the nature of the good life(Young Students Encyclopedia). His system rival Plato’s for the next 2000 years.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle was a firm believer that philosophy came from wonder, and that knowledge came from experience. He had a wealth of knowledge, from many experience; if he was correct about philosophy coming from wonder, he would have had to wonder quite a bit. Aristotle was a genius, this is evident in his writings, because the ideas and concepts he proposed in his writing were ahead of his time. Aristotle learned from the best and taught the best so his ideas and thoughts were always being challenged, which made him thrive for knowledge. Aristotle is consider to be the one of best if

Prayer in Schools :: Religion Faith Beliefs Essays

Prayer in Schools Recently the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would not hear the appeals of a case banning the traditional dinner prayer before the meal at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The court decided not to hear this appeal mainly due to procedural rules regarding the retirement of the school’s former superintendent before the case, but two of the justices, Rehnquist and Scalia, felt that the case needed to be tried in order to make a determination regarding prayer in universities, especially those with military affiliation (Biskupic 3A). Unfortunately, they did not have the required number of justices to carry the case to the court, but those outside of the court system do not have such restrictions upon their decision regarding organized prayer in universities. They can make their own decisions on what to believe. One must change the general opinion of the people in order to find resolution of this issue so they in turn can prompt a revision to the Constitut ion. This may be the only true solution to clarify this problem and this revision will need the support of the public in order to succeed. Prayers and other religious elements in government will be the focus of this revision. Those who would act to ban these prayers have made the mistake of misinterpreting the original intent of the framers of the Constitution regarding the First Amendment, they have misunderstood what it means to rank among those who call themselves an adult American, and have failed to comprehend the complexities of military training. The Constitution fails to ban prayer in government run areas with conscientious Americans under the special circumstances involved with military affiliated educational institutions. The people in favor of the ban on organized prayer in colleges make the claim that the 1st Amendment makes it unconstitutional. In order to make this claim, one must analyze the text of the amendment and the history behind the original intent of the Constitutions framers. The text of the amendment contains the following concerning religion, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Constitution). This amendment should rightfully be interpreted as meaning that Congress does not have the power to regulate the religious institutions or prevent anyone from practicing their own religion.

Analyzing of the Changes that Occurred during the 1960’s in Civil Rights Movements

To what extent did economic and political developments as well as assumptions about the nature of nature of women affect the position of American women during the period 1890-1925? In the years 1890-1925, the role of women in American society had changed politically, economically, and socially. Women were no longer considered the servant of men. She was considered an important part of society, but wasn’t able to lead in areas dominated by men. In this time period this is when things started to change for the women.The late 1800’s saw an emergence of women’s rights groups. These groups stressed that women were not only able to do skilled jobs, but capable in acquiring these positions. In the past, when had been held back by the lack of education, strength, and the amount of money in their banking account. However, women began to seeing an availability of an education, jobs, and social events. As the 1800’s comes to an end ant the 1900’s enter women b egan to see clearly. Then in the 1908 the Supreme Court ruled the Muller vs. Oregon case, which said that even though women were becoming better educated, they still couldn’t have the same treatment men did; the court also believed that women belonged at home, in a class by herself (Doc B).Throughout all these rulings, some women began to feel that society might not be the place for them. Under all that pressure, women’s rights groups enhanced their campaign and pushed hard for women’s rights. They were mainly focus on the need for women to vote. They stressed this because at the time women felt that voting was helpless. They supposed they lived in a society that needed them to only serve men and bear children. The women’s rights groups changed that though by pushing women to get jobs to support their families and nation and also vote for understanding politicians.After a good period of time, the women of this country began to fight back. They started fig hting back by getting jobs hat paid off and by voting. After  women were held back by society, women won the battle for social equality. In 1923, the Supreme Court ruled Adkins vs. Children’s Hospital that there previous ruling in the Muller case was wrong (Doc J). That court had also say that from 1908-1923 the status of women had almost been changed completely.A women’s movement occurred during 1890-1925. It began with women were entering the personnel for their right to work. It continued with involvement of middle class women in social issues and continued with the new workers during the World War I. It ended with economically independent women during the noisy 20’s. Economic opportunities opened the chance for women to become politically active and change how America views women. As the position of women increased so did their income.

Legislation and Guidelines for Schools Essay

This agreement was opened for signature on March 30th 2007 at the United Nations head quarters, in New York. There are 82 signatures to the convention, the UK being one of the first to sign it. The agreement sets out what countries that have signed have to make sure disabled people have the same rights and opportunities has non-disabled people. Although they are covered by normal human rights the UN convention on the rights of disabled people clearly states what these rights are. These cover disabled peoples rights in all areas of life, such as * The right to be educated. * The right to participate in activities. * The right to be employed and not to be discriminated against. * The right to equal justice. * The rights to health. Everybody in society has to respect disabled people as ell as respect their dignity and to ensure they have all their rights that are known to them but of course age and level of understanding also have to be considered. To have an equal chance has everybody else in society as well has given all the opportunities that are open to them and to be able to grow and develop without fear of discrimination. They have the right to be respected and their opinions listen too as well as been valued person The right to have free supported education even in mainstream schools in which schools have to make reasonable changes to accommodate a disabled child. An education provider has a duty to make reasonable changes to their setting to accommodate a disabled person to ensure they have the same opportunities has a non-disabled person, such as * Providing ramps to enter and leave. * Access to outdoor areas. * Provide extra support such as, teachers and or equipment. * Wider walk ways for ease of access for people in wheelchairs and or crutches. * Move the room around for ease of access if need be. * Quite time area for relaxing or time for their selves. Providers are not expected to pay costs beyond what their business can take but are expected to make reasonable changes to the surrounding areas to meet the needs of a disabled child. In July 2009 the government approved UN convention and agreed to be bound by conventions stated written agreed terms. This means when developing a new policy or a programme to help aid disabled people the UN convention has to be taken into account and looked upon when doing so. As well as involving disabled people in the programme that will involve them. In 2011 the government agreed to review the UN convention to see how it was being applied and used through out schools and work today. The UK have achieved much, in 2010 the equality Act 2010 was adopted. Which protects disabled people from discrimination in the work place, schools and in society altogether. It is unlawfully for a provider this does include private and independent providers to discriminate between disable people and non-disabled people, such as * Race. * Gender. * Sexual Orientation. * Religion. * Disability. The aims of these acts are to eliminate any kind of discrimination against disabled people and to improve their rights and as well as their well-being. It does also help to aid society’s knowledge and understanding of disabilities. Typically in historic past people with disabilities have been stereotyped in many, many ways. Some of those stereotypical labels are still used in today’s society most of this is down to, * Missing or incomplete information. * Mistaken ideas. * Not so much accessible knowledge. * Television. * Internet. Some of these stereotyping comes from television, such as * Hunch back on Notre Dame, he was outcast from society and lived hidden away he was also called ugly. * The film, Rain man he was misunderstood and was sent away to live and was also called an idiot. * Charles Dickens, The Christmas Carol, tiny Tim was called a cripple. * Forest Grump, was ignored and laughed at, was out cast from mainstream school because he had below average IQ and was called the local idiot. In today’s society although labels and stereotyping does still happen it is not so much now. This is thanks to more information, prompting, legislation and guidelines that’s are now in place in schools, work place’s and every day today life giving people with disabilities more opportunities more self worth And to be accepted into today’s society. Showing the right attitude towards disabled people, non-disabled people and each other along with the right and respectful terminology used are also very important has it makes people feel listened too, respected and helps build confidence, friendships and more settled environment to work in. Legislation and the SEN code of practice are in place for disabled babies, children and young adults. They act has guidelines and are there to protect people with disabilities but also protect the people that work with them and around them. The SEN code of practice (2001) came into practice on January 1st 2002 all local Authorities, schools, providers including health and social services are obliged to refer to this. It was issued by the department of education it helps give guidance to providers in early settings, schools and local authorities and many, many more. It also sets out guidelines of what procedures that can be followed and carried out within reason and to meet the needs of the child involved. It believes in partnership with parents and other outside agency’s to ensure that the needs are being meet for the child and that all opportunities that can be and will be excused. It is good practice to identify early has possible for early intervention is the best possible affect and gives the child more of a chance. The age and level of the child also has to be taken into consideration.