Science and the Changeling
It's been very quiet lately, and I don't mean at the castle. There are constant sounds of construction coming from below. I went down a couple times to check it out, but I was pretty much shunned. Let the professionals do their job, right? *is still ticked he can't use the shiny power tools* One of the guys, same size and shape as me, was flirting with me - I think. I don't go for that... I'm bi-curious, but it doesn't mean that I'm attracted to the more masculine members of my sex. In fact, quite the opposite.
Anyways... Leon and I have been studying and researching in the library together. We both researched scientific and magical aspects, since both of us are familiar with each field of study. We agreed he'd post his thoughts concerning magic and I'd post my thoughts concerning science. That's how we worked it out.
We can see that the changeling is not a solid as we are. (I know we are 80% water but let's put that fact aside...) The changeling is either:
1. An amorphous solid - this includes glass, some ceramics, polymers, and cotton candy. It merely means that it is a solid that doesn't have an internal crystalline structure. I only suggest this because it's easier to move atoms and molecules around within the structure, as the changeling obviously does, to acquire a different shape. However, given the solidarity of known amorphous solids and the liquidity of the changeling, I'm guessing this is the least possible.
2. A colloid - (see the table) This is one thing in one state suspended in something in either the same state or a different state. Examples include: smoke, aerosols, Jell-o, precious opals, mayonnaise, fog, mist, and whipped cream.
Thus, if the changeling is a colloid, we'd destabilize it (killing it) with the following:
* Removal of the electrostatic barrier that prevents aggregation of the particles. This can be accomplished by the addition of salt to a suspension or changing the pH of a suspension to effectively neutralize or "screen" the surface charge of the particles in suspension. This removes the repulsive forces that keep colloidal particles separate and allows for coagulation due to van der Waals forces.
* Addition of a charged polymer flocculant. Polymer flocculants can bridge individual colloidal particles by attractive electrostatic interactions. For example, negatively charged colloidal silica particles can be flocculated by the addition of a positively charged polymer.
* Addition of nonadsorbed polymers called depletants that cause aggregation due to entropic effects.
* Physical deformation of the particle (e.g. stretching) may increase the van der Waals forces more than stabilization forces (such as electrostatic) resulting coagulation of colloids at certain orientations.
3. A liquid - a liquid must conform to, attain the shape of the container it resides in. However, it is not limited to the shape of the container... Our changeling had no such container, unless it's a magical container. This is one reason why I'm leaning towards a colloid as the most possible, and a liquid as a second possibility.
Liquids have variable evaporation and freezing points. However, if it is a liquid, it will freeze at some point, and it will evaporate at another point. Another thing I noticed from the video that Seto provided was that the changeling had to "re-group" itself, meaning that all the droplets had to come back together in order for it to be whole. No part of itself can be separated for too long, or it is not functional.
This means to control it, we can separate it into different globs. We could theoretically freeze these individual globs or vaporize them. If we freeze it, we could send off the different parts in different directions in outer space.
These are just my thoughts. Like Leon, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter as well.
Oh, by the way, happy birthday Seto Kaiba! Sorry it's a little belated. ^_^; I was rather busy.
Anyways... Leon and I have been studying and researching in the library together. We both researched scientific and magical aspects, since both of us are familiar with each field of study. We agreed he'd post his thoughts concerning magic and I'd post my thoughts concerning science. That's how we worked it out.
We can see that the changeling is not a solid as we are. (I know we are 80% water but let's put that fact aside...) The changeling is either:
1. An amorphous solid - this includes glass, some ceramics, polymers, and cotton candy. It merely means that it is a solid that doesn't have an internal crystalline structure. I only suggest this because it's easier to move atoms and molecules around within the structure, as the changeling obviously does, to acquire a different shape. However, given the solidarity of known amorphous solids and the liquidity of the changeling, I'm guessing this is the least possible.
2. A colloid - (see the table) This is one thing in one state suspended in something in either the same state or a different state. Examples include: smoke, aerosols, Jell-o, precious opals, mayonnaise, fog, mist, and whipped cream.
Thus, if the changeling is a colloid, we'd destabilize it (killing it) with the following:
* Removal of the electrostatic barrier that prevents aggregation of the particles. This can be accomplished by the addition of salt to a suspension or changing the pH of a suspension to effectively neutralize or "screen" the surface charge of the particles in suspension. This removes the repulsive forces that keep colloidal particles separate and allows for coagulation due to van der Waals forces.
* Addition of a charged polymer flocculant. Polymer flocculants can bridge individual colloidal particles by attractive electrostatic interactions. For example, negatively charged colloidal silica particles can be flocculated by the addition of a positively charged polymer.
* Addition of nonadsorbed polymers called depletants that cause aggregation due to entropic effects.
* Physical deformation of the particle (e.g. stretching) may increase the van der Waals forces more than stabilization forces (such as electrostatic) resulting coagulation of colloids at certain orientations.
3. A liquid - a liquid must conform to, attain the shape of the container it resides in. However, it is not limited to the shape of the container... Our changeling had no such container, unless it's a magical container. This is one reason why I'm leaning towards a colloid as the most possible, and a liquid as a second possibility.
Liquids have variable evaporation and freezing points. However, if it is a liquid, it will freeze at some point, and it will evaporate at another point. Another thing I noticed from the video that Seto provided was that the changeling had to "re-group" itself, meaning that all the droplets had to come back together in order for it to be whole. No part of itself can be separated for too long, or it is not functional.
This means to control it, we can separate it into different globs. We could theoretically freeze these individual globs or vaporize them. If we freeze it, we could send off the different parts in different directions in outer space.
These are just my thoughts. Like Leon, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter as well.
Oh, by the way, happy birthday Seto Kaiba! Sorry it's a little belated. ^_^; I was rather busy.