By Donald H. Harrison
EL CAJON, California – It was, to his chemistry professor’s surprise, more than just a science project that Jeremy D. Nemetz turned in as classwork. It was a true discovery showing that the higher the gravity, the slower chemicals will react with one another.
“Jeremy did an amazingly simple experiment. I am still not believing it had not yet been done, but I have found no evidence it has,” commented Grossmont College Prof. John Oakes.
“He ran a chemical reaction on the desk top at a given temperature, and then ran the same chemical reaction in a centrifuge at the same temperature, so that the reaction was run at a higher effective ‘gravity.’
“He discovered that, reliably, the reaction slowed as the centripetal acceleration increased. The effect seemed to be linear with respect to the acceleration/gravity…”
A Grossmont College dean was also surprised. “What a shock that a community college student would be doing such fundamental and original research!” commented Michael Reese, dean of math, natural sciences, exercise science and wellness. “We are really pleased with Jeremy’s contribution. Now he just needs to find the right place to publish the result.”
Nemetz, 22, a sophomore honors student who is hoping to transfer to UCSD, was awarded two certificates April 5 by the Honors Transfer Council of California: the exemplary achievement award for excellence in the honors program and the outstanding abstract award for having actually discovering something. He is a member of the Jewish community and lives in the San Diego suburb of Santee.
Nemetz had this to say about his work: “My discovery is basically that when gravity (or similar force) is applied to an aqueous chemical reaction that it’s rate of reaction or the measurement of products formed over time is decreased. I believe that the increase of the potential energy of the molecules involved causes in response a decrease in the kinetic energy which results in less movement and less effective collisions of the molecules that result in a reaction.
“Similar to thickening water with cornstarch, it becomes less fluid. As a result this expands present day chemistry rate equations like the Arrhenius equation and physics’ Bernoulli’s principle which states an inverse relationship of potential and kinetic energy for fluids in motion. My discovery defines it at a micro/molecular level including their interactions/reactions and also to include fluids not in motion. Furthermore I’m certain that solid based reactions would be affected in the same way.”
Asked what is next, he responded: “I will be pursuing publishing to get my research to the science community to confirm the results and signify my credit. Furthermore, I will be looking to devise equations using known constants that expand the rate equations and Bernoulli’s principle. If these are not divisible and even if they are, I’ll be looking to devising a more exact version of my experiment, such as combining a centrifuge and a spectrometer (spectrofuge) to get a better ratio of rate decrease versus gravity.”
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World, which seeks sponsorships to be placed, as this notice is, just below articles that appear on our site. To inquire, call him at (619) 265-0808 or contact him via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com