The Lee-Tseung Lead Out Theory

[Top Gun]

1.6  The Road to University

When the A-level results came out, Tseung got a Credit in his A-Level Pure Mathematics.  In other words, he already fulfilled the University Entrance requirement.  He could apply to Universities.  He got help from his eldest brother who got his PhD from Leeds University.  An incident convinced his eldest brother that Tseung was worth helping.

In summer that year, Tseung worked as a student assistant in the research laboratory of his eldest brother.  Tseung was under a different department to avoid the suspicion of conflict of interest.  The manager was hoping to develop an apparatus that could deliver hydrogen with some pressure on demand.  Available to the chemists was the kipp?s apparatus as shown in Figure X

[Top Gun]

Hydrogen could be produced when an acid such as sulfuric acid reacts with a suitable metal such as Zinc metal fragments (Zn + H2SO4 = ZnSO4 +H2)

The standard Kipp?s apparatus has essentially three chambers. Zinc metal fragments are placed into the middle chamber.  Sulfuric acid can be poured in from the top chamber to the bottom chamber.  If the valve in the middle chamber is open, the acid level will rise until the acid floods solid.  Hydrogen will then be produced.  If the valve in the middle chamber is closed, the generated hydrogen gas will force the acid into the bottom and top chambers.  This effectively separates the sulfuric acid and the zinc.  The chemical reaction will be stopped.  It effectively generates hydrogen on-demand and has been used in chemistry laboratories for centuries.

The manager wanted to have hydrogen gas on demand with a controllable small pressure.  He left the task to the young Tseung.  Tseung first experimented with the standard Kipp?s apparatus. Within days, he came up with the following simple design.

In the LHS diagram:
A = valve to let out hydrogen
B = hydrogen gas produced
C = Zinc strips for chemical reaction
D = Sulfuric Acid
E = Air that can be compressed
F = Air pressure control device

The manager was impressed.  He asked: ?How can you come with such a design so quickly??  Tseung said: ?It is essentially the Kipp?s apparatus with a lid.  I just played with different arrangements to make it look nice.?  The manger was willing to write an excellent letter of recommendation.  Tseung?s elder brother took the letter of recommendation and spoke to his former professors at Leeds University.  Tseung was accepted.

Comments from the Editor and reviewers:

(a)   Tseung did not get the normal two years of A-Level education.  He developed the attitude that he could learn on his own.  The small Kipp?s apparatus project gave him much inner confidence.  I believe this inner confidence is the key to training innovators.  Innovators must be able to search and discover their own solutions.

(b)   Learning from teachers or textbooks is useful.  But teachers or textbooks present known solutions.  Innovations involve the domain of the unknown.  May be we should have a collection of unknown or unsolved phenomena to stimulate our budding innovators.

(c)   With Internet and multimedia readily available, do we have to adhere to the traditional model of a teacher presenting the material in front of the students?  Can a teacher assign teaching roles and encourage the students to learn from the Internet and present in class?

[Top Gun]

1.7  The University Years

That gave Tseung supreme confidence.  Tseung was very active at Leeds University.  He became the secretary of the Chinese Society and helped to organize many functions.  There were many overseas Chinese Students including those from Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Africa and Macau.  During the many long holidays when the local students went home to their families, these overseas students gathered together to have fun.

The Chinese Society at Leeds took in many non-Chinese members.  One important motive in welcoming non-Chinese members was the need for good basketball players.  There were two Chinese basketball players who were good enough to represent the University.  They helped to motivate and train a team to compete within the University.  The team was runner-up in the competition.  The decision was to invite good basketball players to represent the Chinese Society.  One black American joined.  Tseung could only play reserve.  He was not tall enough and could not move fast enough.  The games he enjoyed more were tennis and table tennis.  Once the Chinese Society Team had foreign help, the championship was in the bag.

Cartoon figure of mixed race basketball team


The other important factor that helped the Chinese Society to be more International was that Leeds University had a Chinese Department.  The students loved to find native Chinese speaking students to practice their Chinese language skills.  They sat at the same table at lunch or dinner.  Many became members.  Many smaller societies such as Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam also had joint functions with the larger Chinese Society.  The candle dance at the International Night was a big hit.  It was a combined effort of many Asian Societies.

Cartoon figure of Asian team doing candle dance

The Chinese Society at Leeds University then held joint functions with other Chinese Societies from Manchester, Liverpool Universities, etc.  There were encouragement and support from the various embassies.  That helped Tseung to develop an international outlook of the World.

Comments from the Editor and reviewers:

(a)   University education is not just about book knowledge.  It involves the social interaction of many others.  Education aboard gives the student a chance to interact with students from many other nations.  I believe that this should be encouraged. 

(b)   With infinite energy, flying saucers and automation, the world needs less number of farmers, factory workers and laborers.  Can we provide longer educational years for our citizens?

[Top Gun]

I asked Tseung the question ? How he would improve the education system in Hong Kong if he had a chance?  Recently, the Hong Kong Educational system was in turmoil.  There was a loss in confidence on the academic qualification of the teachers.  Many claimed that many of the teachers were not qualified themselves.  The blamed pointed to the Teacher Training Colleges.  There was a Government Policy to promote the use of native language in teaching.  That led to a classification of English and Chinese speaking secondary schools.  The Chinese speaking secondary schools were made to feel inferior.  The English language skills on the whole dropped as measured by the open School Examination System. This official classification policy would end because of the violent objection from the students, parents and educators.

Tseung presented the following innovative answer.  He said, ?In the old days before the Internet, we relied on the teachers to pass the knowledge to the students.  With the multimedia technology and Internet of today, that particular role can be modified.  The Government can promote the teaching of the standard course material in multiple languages.  The recommended textbooks can have CDs with the same material presented in English, Cantonese and Putonghua.  The teachers, students and parents can decide on which language to use.  They may even use multiple languages.?

Tseung continued: ?To be realistic, much of the material can be learned by the student on an individual bases via the Internet.  Some students can move ahead much faster than the others.  The role of the teacher will start to change from that of presenting the material to ensuring the digestion of the material.  Techniques such as small group learning can be introduced.  It may even be beneficial to have student groups to teach some topics to the rest of the class.  That will build the lifelong confident for the average student that they can learn by themselves or in small groups.  Hong Kong Government tries to promote lifelong learning.  The best way is to develop the skills and the habits when young.?

Comments from the Editor and reviewers:

(a)   The cost of providing excellent course material in multiple languages on CDs is relatively cheap as compared with re0educating all teachers.  There can be multiple recommended versions of the course material available on the Internet.  The Government can easily fund such material.

(b)   The Government can help to produce educational programs or techniques that showed improvement or innovation.  Some of the best teachers can earn extra money in appearing on such programs.

(c)   There is no need to force schools to follow the new path.  They will move in that direction automatically if positive results are demonstrated.  Hong Kong educators should give this innovative concept a careful study.

[Top Gun]

1.8  Kinetic Theory of Gases in Motion

In the final year at Leeds University, one of the assignments to the students was to write a paper of their choice.  Tseung chose the topic of explaining pressure and aerodynamics using kinetic theory of gases in motion.

The standard kinetic theory of gases is taught in both Physics and Chemistry lessons in connection with the gas laws.  Boyles Laws states that for a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, P and V are inversely proportional. Charles Laws states that for a fixed amount of gas kept at constant pressure, T and V are directly proportional. (P=Pressure, V=Volume, T=Temperature).

The kinetic theory of gases assumes that the molecules of an ideal gas are small and are in constant motion.  They elastically collide with each other and with the walls of the container.  Pressure at the surface of a container is a result of the rate of change of momentum of these molecular collisions.  (P = 1/6 NMV2).  Pictorially, the pressure of a stationary gas can be viewed as:


Stationary Gas:
1.   Cube contains 60 moving balls
2.   10 balls collide with each wall.
3.   Pressure is result of bombardment Only the X and Y co-ordinates are shown