This past week our class schedule was a little different. Due to the long weekend, we were scheduled for a makeup class on Friday morning. Unfortunately I found myself having to drive to NH at 4 am for a family commitment, so I was unable to attend our Friday class. My roommate happens to be in the class, and thankfully he took detailed and accurate notes so he could go over every step of the lab with me. My blog today will reflect his findings according to the computer, as we didn’t have access to the program to obtain real results from my “lesson” with him. Below is an image he took during the second part of his lab when they examined the effect of colors. He has loaned me this photo for the purpose of the blog.
Friday’s lab involved using a solar cell and a flashlight to generate electricity. My classmates held a flashlight at differing distances to the solar cell, creating electricity with the light. According to his findings, the first attempt involved using no light. It had an average of .11 volts. After this, four more tests were taken. They included distances of 1 inch, 2 inches, 3 inches and 4 inches away from the solar cell. Though he initially predicted that there would be a greater amount of electricity when the light was closer to the solar cell, his results told a different story. He realized that they needed to have a greater distance in their attempts because the results were simply too close together. As he explained this to me, I absolutely understood why that would cause him confusing results. With only a 1-inch increase with each attempt, it would be way too difficult to measure changes in electricity. He decided to redo his tests with distances of 1 inch, 3 inches, 10 inches and 20 inches. This time his results made much more sense. His results of .331 volts, .253 volts, .167volts, and .139 volts demonstrated his hypothesis, and showed that as the distance of the flashlight to the solar cell increased, the voltage level decreased.
After this step, my classmates tested different colored filters on top of the solar cells. They learned from this that different colors affected the voltages. My roommate found that a green filter was the weakest voltage, followed by the blue filter, leaving the pink filter with the highest level of electricity. I was disappointed to miss this lab, as it seems to be a rare occasion where I would’ve known what results I was looking for before I even began my lab. Like my roommate, my hypothesis would be that the smaller the distance between the flashlight and solar cell, the higher voltage. I’m truly grateful for my roommate taking the time to write everything down and spend an hour going over it all with me. Though I missed going through the experiment on a hands on basis, I at least am left with a thorough understanding of every step of the lab, and feel as though I’m not behind the rest of my classmates.
Below, I’ve also included a YouTube clip on Solar Cells, that I found helpful to understand how they work.