2007 Chicago Open—Science University of Illinois at Chicago (Rom Masrour) half of Local Chicagoans (Rom Masrour + Tim Hartman)

The Sellmeier equation can determine it for a refracting medium, and is an improvement over Cauchy's equation. The waveguide source of this effect is seen in optical fibers, and is responsible for signal degradation. The anomalous variety is so named because the index of refraction decreases with increasing frequency. The most commonly seen type, the material type, is due to the response of a given material to particular frequencies, and is responsible for chromatic aberration in lenses. For ten points, name this effect in optics. Answer: dispersion

Halogen addition to them creates a mixture of a 1-2 and 1-4 addition product. One preparation of them involves butane undergoing thermal dehydration. Another synthesis of the conjugated variety of this chemical group involves elimination of unsaturated alcohols and alkyl halides. They include a number of useful reagents, including ones named for Chan, Dane, Brassard, Rawal, and Danishefsky. In addition to the conjugated variety, they also occur in isolated and cumulated varieties. Conjugation energy guarantees that the conjugated form is the most stable. For ten points, what is this organic functional group whose 1,3 variety are a principal reactant in the Diels-Alder reaction, and which is characterized by a pair of double bonds. ANSWER:dienes

Its sodium salt is carboxylated at an ortho position in the Kolbe-Schmitt process, a reaction which produces salicylic acid. Resonance stablization of its anion makes this compound far more acidic than aliphatic analogues, having a pKa of about 10. It is produced industrially from the hydrolysis of chlorobenzene, a reaction known as the Raschig-Hooker process. The thermoset plastic Bakelite is a polymer resin of formaldehyde and this substance, and this chemical's antiseptic properties were championed by Joseph Lister. With chemical formula C6H5OH, for ten points, give the name of this organic compound which can be described as benzene with a hydroxyl substituent. ANSWER: phenol

In writing the equation of motion for this system, terms must be added for gravity, tension, and a noninertial term. A system of coupled equations for x and y results, which can be solved by adding the x equation to the y equation. One of the earliest observers of this system was Vincenzo Viviani, a pupil of Galileo, who noticed the slow rotation which characterizes it. Instances of motion equivalent to this type of motion include the South Pointing Chariot and, more famously, a gyroscope. For ten points, name this system of motion, in which a Coriolis force produces a precession in the motion of a pendulum named for a French physicist. Answer: Foucault pendulum

A rooted, complete one of these is identified with a free one of these, while the Catalan number gives the total number of possible ones of these. The Dyck language is used to give the set of all possible parenthesis for one of these. A rooted one of these has one of its vertices singled out as the root of this object. Traversal of these objects can be accomplished by such methods as pre-order, in-order, and post-order, as well as depth-first order and breadth-first order. For ten points, name this object from graph theory, defined as a connected acyclic graph with degree of each vertex no greater than 3, a data structure in which each node has at most 2 children. ANSWER:Binary Tree The schypozoans and cubozoans of this phylum possess simple sensory organs known as rhopalia. They have a central gastrovascular cavity which functions as mouth, gas-exchange organ, and anus. Some organisms in this phylum are parasitic, including the unusual genus Polypodium which lives inside its hosts cells, but most are predatory animals. First appearing in the Ediacaran period 600 million years ago, most have a life cycle which alternates between a sessile asexual polyp stage and an ambulatory, sexual medusa form. Getting their name from the specialized venomous cells common to many of its members, for ten points, what is this phylum which includes sea anemones, coral polyps, and jellyfish? ANSWER: phylum Cnidaria

The Barbier-Wieland type converts a methyl ester into a carboxylic acid with one fewer carbon. The Darapasky type uses hydrazine to convert an alpha-nitrile ester into an amino acid. The Hofmann type is also known as exhaustive methylation, and is used to convert a quaternary ammonium salt into an alkene and a tertiary amine. The Ruff type decarboxylates aldoses, leaving the carbon chain one shorter. The Edman one of these is used to sequence peptides by sequentially removing residues through conversion to a phenylthiocarbamoyl derivative. Useful for the structural analysis of molecules, for ten points, give the name for these reactions which break down a larger molecule. ANSWER: degradations or decompositions

It has multiple arches during embryonic development, but a single arch in adult humans. Its abdominal continuation has branches that include the inferior phrenic, inferior mesenteric, and renal arteries before it bifurcates at the illiac arteries. Its ascending stretch is sheathed within the pericardium. Disorders of it include a congenital narrowing of it known as its coarctation, as well as disorders which make it more prone to dissection or aneurysm such as cystic medial necrosis, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and Marfan syndrome. Ascending out of the left ventricle of the heart, for ten points, what is this largest blood vessel in the body? Answer: aorta

For a square n by n matrix, if all of its eigenvalues are real, if eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal, and if this matrix can be diagonalized by a unitary matrix such that the product of the transpose of that unitary matrix times this type of matrix in question times that unitary matrix equals a diagonal matrix, then this particular matrix is called this. For this n by n matrix, its n eigenvectors are all linearly independent, so they form an n-dimensional orthogonal basis on the complex vector space. FTP, name this square matrix which is conveniently equal to its own conjugate transpose and which is usually represented by a capital H. Answer: Hermitian or self-adjoint matrix or matrices

These structures must import all the proteins they require from the cytosol; the genetic inability to import these proteins is a condition, invariably fatal within a year of birth, known as Zellweger syndrome. They replicate by budding off the endoplasmic reticulum or by binary fission, and can be identified by their single membrane and the presence of crystalline structures inside. These crystalline structures are formed by extremely high concentrations of enzymes such as catalase. Found in all eukaryotic cells, for ten points, name these cellular organelles which act to neutralize reactive oxygen compounds. Answer: peroxisomes

They are used to calculate the eigenstates of an electron in a uniform magnetic field, and their commutators with one another give the third member of their set. All are Hermitian, while the factor of h/( 2π) which precedes them is often omitted for brevity. Their eigenvalues are always plus or minus one and the one denoted “sigma z” is diagonal while the other two have zeros in the diagonal elements. For ten points, name these matrices which are used to calculate the eigenvalues and eigenstates of particles with spin one-half, named for the scientist who also discovered a namesake “Exclusion Principle.” Answer: Pauli spin matrices

This heavenly body is in a class of stony meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites, considered to be the oldest materials in the solar system, with a composition reflecting that of the primitive solar nebula. The DAWN space probe scheduled to launch in June of 2007 is expected to arrive there in February of 2015. Its period of revolution around the Sun is 4.6 years. Its sidereal day lasts 9.075 hours. Its perihelion distance from the Sun is 2.55 astronomical units . Its orbital eccentricity is .0789, and its orbital inclination is 10.58 degrees. If it has an atmosphere, its atmosphere may be similar to those of Mercury or the Earth’s Moon, as it has a mean radius of only 300 miles. In August of 2006, it was designated a dwarf planet by the IAU. FTP, name this celestial body discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi. ANSWER: Ceres

Hyaloclastite and tachylite can be considered as mafic counterparts to this material. It is often found with inclusions of cristobalite which give it a "snowflake" pattern. It has a hardness of about 5 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale, and its color is highly dependent on impurities such as iron and magnesium, though it is usually found with a dark green to black color. A cryptocrystalline material, it is notable for its conchoidal fracture pattern and it has long been valued for tool-making, particularly among Mesoamerican civilizations. Produced when felsic lava is cooled too rapidly for crystallization to occur, for ten points, name this volcanic glass. ANSWER: obsidian

It is actually a trinary system, with one companion a dwarf star that orbits at only 18AU from the primary. That primary is a spectral type F7 yellow supergiant, and is also a Cepheid variable. A star of apparent magnitude 2, it has a luminosity over two thousand times that of the sun, but is located about 450 light-years away. Known to the ancient Greeks as Cynosura, it is now known by a name which emphasizes its position in the sky, a role formerly played by Thuban, and which will be taken up by Vega in approximately twelve thousand years. The alpha star of Ursa Minor, for ten points, name this star which is currently most notable for its declination of over 89 degrees. ANSWER: Polaris