calbiterol

There's an interesting technology out now that uses stirling cycle engines and mirrors to produce electrical power. It concentrates the thermal energy of the sun using a parabolic dish. It is highly efficient as far as solar power goes, and is the most efficient solar power available. The company who has developed the concept is called Stirling Solar, or something similar. This type of solar power is viable - a relatively small field of the solar dishes (only a few acres, I believe) rival the power of a nuclear reactor. Also, the figure you used for BTU's in the US - does that include energy in the form of oil (cars, diesel trains, airplanes, etc), or just electrical energy?

I would have to disagree with the thinking that anything and everything that is complex is "way over the head" of all children. Generally, there are some things that children simply cannot comprehend, but that is not because they do not have the ability, it is because they do not have the knowledge base. There are plenty of examples throughout history of very prodigious individuals who were "just" children. They are just few and far between. So next time, please don't assume that just because someone hasn't graduated from MIT with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemistry or Quantum Physics or whatever that they are ignorant idiots who do not posess the capability to learn, because if nobody is willing to teach those students, they will never be able to fill the voids of the famous and valued members of society that have since passed.

I am working on an experiment involving gasses and induced fluorescence. I am under the impression that it is possible to induce fluorescence in certain gasses within the visible spectrum by using an infrared laser or by other means in the non-visible spectrum. Is this correct? If so, with which gasses is this the case? In the little research that I have done about the topic, heavier noble gasses have been brought to my attention, such as Xenon and Argon. The object of my experiment is to produce a small (eventually around the size of a computer pixel, but for now a dot is sufficient) point of visible light in a closed container of gas using induced fluorescence. Under ideal conditions, this would be done with some sort of laser or electron beam. If it is indeed possible to induce fluorescence in a gas in this way, would it also be possible to only excite the atoms in the intersection of two lasers? In other words, would it be possible to use two lasers instead of one, but only have the gas fluoresce where ther lasers met? My only ideas on this have involved something along the lines of using a specific frequency to excite the atom (perhaps its resonant frequency?) and tuning each laser to half of that frequency, so that at their intersection, the full frequency would be reached, and excitation, and therefore fluorescence, will occur. I've thought of numerous problems with this method, though, and I am wondering if there is any other way to produce this effect. Please note that I am not particularly knowledgeable in chemistry, as I am only a sophomore in high school -- but also, I am most certainly not doing this for school. If you use anything that is much beyond the configuration of electrons and the basics of atomic theory, please explain it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.