Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1446: The Chemistry Teacher Explains Math (4k)

Liu Rongguo readily agreed, but in his heart he was wondering, how strong could it be?

After they left, Gao Zhendong weighed a set of Buckyballs in his pocket. Hmm, these are pretty good. Once neodymium iron boron is available, Yan Zhibu will be able to play with them. But he'll have to keep an eye on them while they play. They're fun, but if they accidentally swallow them, it can be quite troublesome.

No, we'll have to bring up another set later: twins, those who know, know.
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Leaving aside Liu Rongguo's task of lighting the furnace, which takes a little time, Engineer Pan's work is incredibly fast; if he says he'll arrive the next day, he means he will.

After all, everyone knows that it's becoming increasingly difficult to schedule a time for Committee Member Gao.

"Committee Member Gao, you see, this place is quite well-equipped, isn't it?" Engineer Pan was very proud of himself. The support from the institute and the ministry was truly unquestionable!

A whole bunch of craftspeople came.

The Applied Chemicals Department isn't stupid; this is an opportunity. Techniques are often not limited to a specific product but can be used everywhere.

Perhaps this will not only solve the carbon fiber precursor process, but also allow us to learn skills that can be applied to a wider range of jobs. Besides, even without this, the mere fact that we can solve the carbon fiber production problem is enough to make the Applied Chemistry Department provide all possible support.

Gao Zhendong was quite pleased to see such a large group of comrades. "Mou Li? Hehe..."

It was described as a large area, but actually not that many, since you had to be selective to see Gao Zhendong. However, there were definitely more people than the usual number who entered at once.

Many comrades here are also completely confused. Wasn't the research supposed to be on key processes for carbon fiber? How did it all end up being directed to the 17th Ministry of Machine Building?
If there is any connection between the two, the only way to put it is that they are both materials.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I here for? Many comrades had similar three questions on their minds.

Fortunately, the comrades were also experienced. Since they were already here, the department's instructions couldn't be wrong.

Gao Zhendong didn't hesitate: "Comrades, let's begin!"

Amidst a soft round of applause, Gao Zhendong once again displayed the same process flow chart from before, but this time it wasn't the complete chart; it only included the part from raw liquid to raw yarn.

Seeing too much of this is troublesome, not just for Gao Zhendong himself, but for his comrades.

"Today, we will mainly discuss two things."

Listening to Gao Zhendong's words, the comrades looked at the two additional lines that Gao Zhendong had written on the blackboard.

"Cryogenic molding of nascent polyacrylonitrile fibers"

Processing of polyacrylonitrile fibers

The comrades present were all experts. Although they had never dealt with this before, it did not prevent them from matching these two things with the steps in the diagram from raw liquid to raw fiber.

"The first step we need to take is to purify and degas the stock solution. Of course, batch mixing is a standard procedure, so we won't go into details..."

Gao Zhendong spoke eloquently, and his comrades listened attentively.

If you listen carefully, you'll encounter problems.

When Gao Zhendong stopped explaining purification and defoaming, a colleague raised his hand.

“Committee Member Gao, I have a question here. We have limited research on ion exchange resins used in the purification process and do not have any corresponding products available. Do we need to conduct in-depth research on this step?”

This comrade didn't think about waiting for handouts; instead, he directly asked if the ion exchange resin used in this step needed to be studied. We can't expect Committee Member Gao to provide everything, can we? The comrades still have this much initiative.

However, to their surprise, Gao Zhendong shook his head: "You don't need to start from scratch. You can go to the unit I designate and cooperate with them. That should speed things up. Don't worry, this unit is within your system."

Although there are differences between chelating resins and ion exchange resins, there are also commonalities. Jincheng University already has sufficient experience with chelating resins, and with their cooperation and my own assistance, there shouldn't be too many problems with the ion exchange resin.

However, most of the colleagues in the Applied Chemistry Department were taken aback by Gao Zhendong's words.

No, how come you know our ministries better than we do ourselves? We don't even know where anyone works on this kind of thing.

Defense Industry Committee: It's right that you don't know... How could you easily let people know about that?

However, it was clear that they couldn't get an answer to this question from Gao Zhendong right now. On the contrary, Engineer Pan felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. Sure enough, as the ministry leaders had revealed, Commissioner Gao's habit of preparing preliminary technical details had never changed.

With Gao Zhendong's assurance, the comrades stopped worrying about it. Since this committee member said it existed, there shouldn't be any problems. Even if someone likes to joke, they wouldn't joke about something like this.

"Comrades, do you still have any questions about the purification and defoaming process?" Gao Zhendong asked with a smile.

"No!" The comrades answered with great enthusiasm.

This is simple! If we disregard some material-related issues, this step is actually a routine operation in the production of various chemical products.

Gao Zhendong nodded. Very good.

What happened next was a real blow to the comrades.

Sure enough, the sweet dates they gave us at the beginning were just to get us used to it; they were just an appetizer.

The reason is simple: the next step directly plunged more than half of the comrades into a fog.

"The spinning process I have chosen now is dry-wet spinning..." This sentence is easy to understand, especially for comrades who came from the textile sector. Hearing this sentence is very heartwarming.

The quality of the dry-wet method is better than that of the wet method, although it is more difficult. However, this is not a problem for Gao Zhendong, because the most important parameter of the "dry" part of the dry-wet method is readily available to him.

"In the wet and dry spinning process, the dosing solution is metered and extruded from the spinneret. After passing through an air layer of a certain thickness, it forms nascent fibers in the coagulation bath..." This step is easy to understand, since chemical fibers have existed for a long time, such as Dacron.

"The most important part of this nascent fiber formation process is the double diffusion process, which has a very important impact on the quality of the finished fiber and the continuity of spinning. The double diffusion process refers to..."

From this point on, the comrades sensed something was amiss. They'd never encountered anything like this before—double diffusion? In chemical fiber production, they hadn't really considered how many diffusion processes there were, or their temporal order. "...Therefore, there aren't many methods for studying double diffusion behavior; we can only approximate it. Here, I'll use Bessel functions to approximate the diffusion process, studying the diffusion of solvent and coagulant during solidification..."

For most comrades, it was like a loud "bang" in their heads!
It's no exaggeration to say that a significant number of comrades here don't even understand what Bessel functions are, especially those in the textile sector, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the textile sector has hardly ever used this technology.

They were all stunned. Most of the comrades simply mechanically and as much as possible recorded the knowledge that Gao Zhendong wrote on the blackboard and the words he spoke.

They had only one belief in their hearts: regardless of whether they understood it or not, since they had participated in this glorious mission, they would memorize it by rote, go back and slowly study it, and they would definitely master it!
It's okay if you don't know how; you can learn on the spot.

Don't understand what you're learning? Go back and ask someone for help!

We can't let a single function defeat us.

If Gao Zhendong could hear their thoughts, he would probably comfort them, telling them not to be discouraged or doubt themselves, as there are many engineering students who have been defeated by Bessel functions.

Fortunately, this only uses Bessel functions, rather than requiring them to study Bessel functions. The advantage of this specific application is that the usage methods are clear, easy to understand, and can be memorized and studied gradually.

Gao Zhendong spoke slowly and carefully about this part, because it is the most important process affecting the quality of the raw silk and deserves in-depth explanation. However, this is a purely theoretical analysis process without a theoretical basis, which is similar to using the Navier-Stokes equations in fluid mechanics to solve aerodynamic problems.

Therefore, Gao Zhendong spent a lot of time on this step, making sure that his comrades understood it as much as possible. Even if they didn't understand, he wanted to record this part of the content as clearly, concisely, and in detail as possible so that they could study and digest it slowly.

This part doesn't actually contain a lot of content, but the process is rather lengthy. Even though the comrades are in a semi-confused state, they still feel they've gained a lot. They're all writing furiously, not having time to think. Gao Zhendong is basically cramming them in, not caring about anything else, just filling them in first and then slowly digesting them later.

This is the best approach at present.

This long process was different from any other before; no one asked any questions!

Because they haven't even been able to ask any questions yet, Gao Zhendong didn't notice this. No problem? That's great!

After Gao Zhendong wrote a set of formulas on the blackboard: "Using formula 1, we can determine the diffusion radius based on the diffusion molecule concentration, diffusion coefficient, and diffusion time. The two most difficult factors, the diffusion coefficient, can be obtained from experimental data, combined with the positive root of the Bessel function, using formulas 2 and 3 respectively..."

At this point, the comrades suddenly realized, "Okay, we have a formula to use!"

Although this formula still looks somewhat complicated, it is at least a clear summation formula that only includes the four arithmetic operations and exponentiation.

Anyone in engineering knows that when there is a clear formula that can be used, it means that everything has a basis.

As for the complexity of the formula, what does that matter with computers?
The remaining issue is finding data through experimentation.

Looking at the densely packed words on the blackboard that had been erased several times, the comrades' admiration for Gao Zhendong reached an unparalleled level.

How did Committee Member Gao manage to pull off such a complex process?
Gao Zhendong: It was copied. I am grateful for the gift decades later.

The emergence of this formula has greatly alleviated the anxiety of our comrades. It doesn't matter if they don't understand it; at least they can use it first.

Theoretical research and engineering practice go hand in hand; our conditions are unique, there's no other way. Others would love to have these special conditions, but they don't have the opportunity.

Dream on. After all, it's not easy to find a leader like Committee Member Gao everywhere. He has to pave the way first before feeding us.

"You all understand now, right?" When Gao Zhendong patted the chalk dust off his hands and asked his comrades with a smile, all of them showed an awkward smile.

I understand a little bit, but as for fully understanding, I still need to work hard. However, at least I roughly understand how to use the last set of formulas.

Engineer Pan laughed and said, "Committee Member Gao, to be honest, even if I know how to use it, I still need to learn about Bessel functions before I can actually use it."

Including him, none of them had ever been exposed to this before. The saying "the humanities in the sciences" is no joke. Until 2000, when scientific research was mentioned, the phrase "weak theoretical foundation" was almost always on their lips.

Therefore, for those comrades from the 60s who were not mathematics majors, Bessel functions were indeed somewhat beyond their comprehension.

Gao Zhendong was taken aback. "I thought you all understood since none of you asked any questions. So you didn't understand at all, which is why you didn't ask any questions?"

"Then let me tell you about Bessel functions..." As an automation major with a communications background, Gao Zhendong had a basic course called "Bessel Functions" in his previous life, and he couldn't help but feel a little itchy to teach.

It's not impossible for the chemistry teacher to go over the math test while they're at it.

"No, no, no! This has already taken up too much of your time. We can organize a study session when we get back. There's no need for you to waste your time on this."

This wasn't just Mr. Pan being polite; he genuinely felt he couldn't afford to accept such a request.

How busy is Committee Member Gao? It's one thing to tutor his own group of people in chemistry, but to have him teach even basic math is a bit of an exaggeration.

Wasting even a single moment of his time is a crime.

This is how Pan and his team felt, especially after listening to the lecture on the dual diffusion process.

Go back to the institute and coordinate with them to arrange for a math major to give a lecture. Otherwise, if the ministry finds out that we're wasting Gao's time like this, they'll probably criticize me, the "executive deputy leader," first.

Seeing his comrades' insistence, Gao Zhendong did not insist on his own idea. Engineer Pan was right; no matter what he said, he could not teach math as well as his math major comrades.

A prominent Chinese mathematician: Well, that's not necessarily true.

He nodded: "Alright, it's getting late today. Comrades, let's have a meal here and continue with what we didn't finish talking about tomorrow. I'm giving you three days to master the basic knowledge of the process from raw liquid to raw fiber."

This thing took Gao Zhendong a whole day to make.

(End of this chapter)