Anthony Nixon Sandberg

AP Language Arts Composition

Period 5
August 20, 2014
The course of human affairs are decided by a single event. This event is often led up to
by various events, yet it is a single event which decides the outcome. Yet, these events do not
happen on their own, as behind every great change is an even greater invention or innovation.
Firearms, ships, tanks, and spaceships are but an example of items which can cause the
change of an era. It now seems that the item which will change the course of human events is
something that has always existed- Carbon. More specifically, graphene. Graphene is an ultra-
light, ultra-strong sheet of pure carbon at the thickness of only a single atom. Graphene, despite
being a simple product, holds many different properties which make it an extremely important
item.
The intrinsic property of thermal conductivity does not work, per se, with graphene, as
tested up to sheets of micrometers in size. Thermal conductivity logarithmically increases as the
size of the graphene sheets increase. In other words, the larger a sheet of graphene, the more
heat it can transfer per unit. This finding completely challenges the concept of thermal
conductivity, which had been, up until this point, thought to be a material constant.
Now, if graphene were solely of use in physics, it wouldnt be a such a very important
material. To aid in the argument of the importance of graphene, the field of medicine also has
uses for it. Graphene oxide sheets can be spontaneously converted into a liquid form. Drug
delivery systems tend to use magnetic particles, which, while effective, can also be toxic.
Graphene is not magnetic, can be easily converted into a liquid crystal form, and can do both of
these things without any great cost or technology.
Perhaps its most impressive uses are those in computing. The theory which determined
the most idealized form of material for electrical conduction has held up well throughout the
years. It was destroyed by graphene. Now, at room temperature, electrons can move faster than
ever thought capable. The unimpeded motion of the electrons also allows graphene to bypass
the typical overheating issues found within semiconductor chips.
Superconducting is the phenomenon of zero electrical resistance of materials when
cooled below characteristic temperatures. It is ideal for many electrical products, such as
electric cars, computing, and satellites. Graphene is a key component in superconducting.
Closer to the common human, graphene still has uses. In photography, graphene based
image sensors are 1000 times better at capturing light than traditional sensors, while still using
10x less energy.
A question remains. Why is graphene, if it is as spectacular as claimed, not in everyday
life? The answer is as simple as the question. Graphene, despite its simplicity, is not an easy
product to create. For it to hold the properties as it truly should, it must be incredibly pure, with
little to no non-carbon atoms within the sheet. However, all great creations are not easily
created at first. Boats took centuries to be as well made as they currently are. Firearms have
gone through thousands of different changes and adaptations. Even paper is fundamentally
different than it originally was. But graphene is only the next challenge, and perhaps it is less
daunting, considering modern technological advancements, than the idea of improving the ship.