NF June 2013 Issue

HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE OUR RAMADAN?

EDUCATION

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AND

MERCY IN THE SKY

PHYSICS,

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ISLAM,

IN THIS ISSUE

INTERNATIONAL EDITION YEAR 2 ISSUE 2 JUNE 2013

MERCY IN THE SKY

N E W TON ’S FOU NTAIN

ِ ‫ب ِْس ِم‬ ‫هللا َّالر ْ ْٰح ِن َّالر ِح ْ ِي‬

EDITOR’S NOTE The Holy Month of Ramadan is coming. Muslims who have reached the age of maturity should observe obligatory fasting begins at sunrise until sunset for each day within this month. To do obligatory fasting in a whole summer month (or winter in the Southern Hemisphere) would be a great challenge for us. Hence, using two weeks left before Ramadan starts to get our body prepared for a day-long-time without food, drink, and any sinful behavior is a wise thing to do.

Different people use different methods to prepare themselves for Ramadan. Some people reduce drinking coffee and tea because caffeine withdrawal can cause headache during fasting time, some people clean their houses, and some other prepare their body by fasting in Mondays and Thursdays.

Whatever you do, we hope you can prepare yourself to receive all blessings Allah would give in the next Ramadan.

Have a nice reading!

Nia Wardani 2

NEWTON’S FOUNTAIN Is bi-monthly magazine on physics, Islam, and education.

CREWS Nia Metyana Wardani Sumarsih Condroayu Purbarani Annisaa Ike Rossmila Evi Handayani Cover photo by Martin Fisch Newton’s Fountain will be online soon at www.newtonsfountain.com Visit our blog Newtonsfountain.wordpress.com For further information, please contact us at newtonsfountain@ymail.com Digital edition of Newton’s Fountain is downloadable from our official website for free, or write to us to subscribe and get your free copy be sent to your email address.

INSIDE EDITOR’S NOTE

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INSIDE

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MERCY IN THE SKY

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HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE OUR RAMADAN

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MORE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PREPARE YOUR RAMADAN

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No one ever attains success by simply doing what is required of him.

-Charles Kendall Adams-

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MERCY IN THE SKY

By Nia Wardani

Open your window and let the sunlight enter your room. Take a deep breath and fill your lungs with oxygen. Listen to the sound of brooms cleaning the town. The morning of a stress-free spring holiday is the most precious time to enjoy. Beware! This great moment can only exist with God’s mercy in the sky: The Earth’s atmosphere.

What does Earth’s atmosphere do? These layers of gas provide you with oxygen you need to breathe, protect you from meteorites, and are the medium for sound wave transmission to be able to talk with your friends. The earth’s atmosphere also acts as radiation shield to protect you from high energy photons.

The Sun gives you plenty of light. As we all

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“Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped)” Q.S. 1: 22

know, the light is essential as we can see our environment because of it. Unfortunately, the Sun produces an amount of dangerous radiation. Not only the Sun but also the phenomena in the outer space, like supernovas, also produce this dangerous radiation.

What I mean by dangerous radiation is light with short wavelengths and high energy such as the Gamma rays which can destroy cell structure and causes mutation. In common language, we say cancer.

The earth’s atmosphere has some mechanisms by which it blocks the high energy photon for entering the earth. The mechanism benefits from dual properties of light: light can be wave or particle. When particle-like light, called the photon, interacts with atoms in the atmosphere, three types of phenomena occur: Pair production mechanism, photoelectric effect, and Compton scattering.

Pair production is a mechanism in which a high en-

ergy photon (e.g.: Gamma rays) strikes an atom and produces two particles, the hydrogen and the positron, then annihilates itself.

The photoelectric effect works for photons with lower energy than needed for pair production mechanism but higher than the energy needed to remove one electron from an atom. When the photon strikes an atom in the atmosphere, the atom releases its electrons and the photon vanishes.

The Compton scattering works for least energetic photons. When the photon collides with an atom, it transfers some of its energy to the atom so that the photon reduces its own energy.

The result of these three mechanisms is the small quantity of high energy photons that enter the earth’s surface.

In the end, the atmosphere only leaves the visible light range and radio wavelength to enter, safe for us to see our environment and see the miracles of God in the night full of stars.

5 Picture bu viZZZual.com

Preparing is something we do everyday. We prepare ourselves to go to office, school, or any other places.

To go to that places, we do not only prepare the visual things. More than that, the most important thing to do is preparing our way of thinking and our psychology to face everything that may happen when we are at those places, so we can pass the day in better and more profitable ways.

How Should We Prepare Our Ramadan?

The Ramadhan is coming and thus we need to prepare to welcome it. It is a special month for us, the

By Evi Handayani Muslims. Preparation is a must as all of Allah’s blessings for us in Ramadhan are many times more than those in other months.

Of course, we, as human beings who never stop learning, do not want to waste this precious time. These are what we can do in preparing to welcome Ramadhan:

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The Aim Everything we do are influenced by the aim even sometimes it decides our behaviour whether it is good or bad. In this case, of course we always try the best in planning. Be best in preparing our plan, so our Ramadhan can be fruitful.

Positive Thinking

The Health Sometimes, or maybe often, our positive aims cannot always be done as it is planned because of health factor. For example, in normal conditions, we read a book more intensively, but when we get dizzy, we take a long rest before we continue reading. In Ramadhan, as believers, we must fast from dawn to sunset. For people who are not accustomed to fasting, preparation for their body condition is needed during the fasting period. Preparing the body condition is important in order to prevent the body from feeling bad as we do not eat all day. There are many ways to stay healthy such as keeping the nutrients in our food and by always thinking positively. By doing so, we feel more comfortable during our fasting time.

PREPARING YOUR RAMADAN DAYS

Doing anything with a calmly is the key of devoutness. Of course, we do not want to pass Ramadhan in a bad mood because of the problems we face.

Staying calm and open-minded really helps us in finding the best way to act and solve our problems.

Ramadhan offers calm and peaceful situation to us, thus we can free our souls from negative thoughts.

Photo by Cem Topcu and Rana Ossama

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1. Preparing Intention 16. Having Early Breakfast 2. Voluntary Fasts 17. Limiting TV watching 18. Remembering Friends and family 3. Reciting Quran who Has Passed Away 4. Praying Superogatory Prayers 19. Planning Iftars 5. Sincere Repentance 20. Preparing some 6. Making Dua Books to be read 7. Charity MORE THINGS YOU during Rama8. Controlling The CAN DO TO PREPARE dan Tongue 21. Reducing YOUR RAMADAN 9. Moderation in Coffee Intakes Eating 22. Planning for Za10. Seeking Knowledge kat about Ramadan 23. Cleaning the house 11. Making a Ramadan plan 24. Reconnecting with friends 12. Setting Goals 25. Paying debts 13. Engaging in Dhikr 26. Celebrate!

14. Avoiding Bad Habits 15. Settling Worldly Affairs

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.

-Albert Einstein-