Month: February 2016

Nikola Tesla: was one of the most brilliant inventors of history and was of an unusual intellectual vision. He is affectionately refered to as the “Father of Free Energy”. He was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

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Above: The Famous Tesla Tower erected in Shoreham, Long Island, New York was 187 feet high, the spherical top was 68 feet in diameter. The Tower, which was to be used by Nikola Tesla is his “World Wireless” was never  finished.

His work of wireless energy

Nikola Tesla was years ahead of his time. His ideas for a worldwide wireless communications system, and a wireless energy transmission technology, never got the traction they perhaps may have deserved during his lifetime.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Tesla went on to pursue his ideas of wireless lighting and electricity distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs, and made early (1893) pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices. He tried to put these ideas to practical use in an ill-fated attempt at intercontinental wireless transmission, his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.

In 1891, Nikola Tesla gave a lecture for the members of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in New York City, where he made a striking demonstration. In each hand he held a gas discharge tube, an early version of the modern fluorescent bulb. The tubes were not connected to any wires, but nonetheless they glowed brightly during his demonstration. Tesla explained to the awestruck attendees that the electricity was being transmitted through the air by the pair of metal sheets which sandwiched the stage. He went on to speculate how one might increase the scale of this effect to transmit wireless power and information over a broad area, perhaps even the entire Earth.

He rigged his equipment with the intent to produce the first lightning-scale electrical discharges ever accomplished by mankind, a feat which would allow him to test many of his theories about the conductivity of the Earth and the sky. For this purpose he erected a 142-foot mast on his laboratory roof, with a copper sphere on the tip. The tower’s substantial wiring was then routed through an exceptionally large high-voltage Tesla coil in the laboratory below.

Though his notes do not specifically say so, one can only surmise that Tesla stood at Pike’s Peak and cackled diabolically as the night sky over Colorado was cracked by the man-made lightning machine. Colossal bolts of electricity arced hundreds of feet from the tower’s top to lick the landscape. A curious blue corona soon enveloped the crackling equipment. Millions of volts charged the atmosphere for several moments, but the awesome display ended abruptly when the power suddenly failed. All of the windows throughout Colorado Springs went dark as the local power station’s industrial-sized generator collapsed under the strain. But amidst such dramatic discharges, Tesla confirmed that the Earth itself could be used as an electrical conductor, and verified some of his suspicions regarding the conductivity of the ionosphere. In later tests, he recorded success in an attempt to illuminate light bulbs from afar, though the exact conditions of these experiments have been lost to obscurity. In any case, Tesla became convinced that his dream of world-wide wireless electricity was feasible.

peswiki.com/index.php/powerpedia:Nikola_Tesla

www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/tesla-tow

We had a lab on Friday

This is solar cell lab.

The first experiment: we used different distance to observe the light intensity and the voltage output of the solar cell.

Purpose:  

understanding the relationship between light intensity and the voltage output of the solar cell, and relationship between the wavelength of light intensity and the voltage output of the solar cell.

Material:

• One solar cell
• One voltage probe
• One NXT adaptor
• NXT with light sensor
• One light source
• Labview VI
• Ruler
• Colored film filters
• Excel sheet

Let’s start our experiment.

We checked 0cm distance first, and then 5, 10,15 and 20cm.

My team member was holding the flashlight, and keeping the flashlight and the solar cell had 0cm distance.

My work was controlled the Tabview VI.

We counted 3sec. And then,

I clicked the bottom to start calculation the data, and he turned on the flashlight at the same time.

We started to do 5cm distance when we finished 0cm.

After all the data came out.

I discovered the distance was big, the voltage output of the solar cell would decrease.

Experiment 2: we used different color to observe the voltage output of the solar cell.

Purpose:

Understanding how the different colored filters affect the voltage output.

We had four different colors of film filters; green, pink, red, and purple.

We did same part again, he hold the flashlight, and I clicked the bottom.

We did each color one times of 30 sec.

After all the data came out.

I put all the data on the excel sheet.

I discovered the red color had bigger effect of the voltage output, and pink was smaller effect of the voltage output.

This is my data sheet of the voltage vs distance, and vs colors.

experiment-2

We had a lab that about relationship of voltage and # of shakes on Friday.

we prepared the material

Material List:

1. COMPERTURE CALULATE
2. A SHAKES
3. ROBOR THAT CONNECT TO THE COMPUTER

let’s Starting the lab experiment.

First, I used usb to connect the computer and shakes.

Second, we design how many shakes that we need to shake

30, 40, 50, 60, 20       Time use ( 3 min )

Third, my team member hold the shaker, than I clicked the button to start counting, and said: “go”.

my teammate shaked the shaker for 30 times, and then stop.

My turn to shake the 50 times. I keep shaking until 50 times. it  was so tired for shaking.

Finally,

All the data was came out.

another member, he managed the data on the excel, and then, send it to us.

Voltage vs # of shakes of magnet

This is my data for this lab experiment.

Space X(Space Exploration Technology): is the first company to ship private cargo to the International Space Station using its own rocket and spaceship, the Dragon. The company is one of two funded under NASA’s Commercial Crew program SpaceX is firmly focused on developing technology for future space exploration.

Background:

Elon Musk is funder, and also a CEO of the Space X .The first private company to ship cargo to the International Space Station in 2012. Musk firmly believed that more frequent and more reliable launches would bring down the cost of exploration. And Musk has publicly talked about ventures such as building a greenhouse on the Red Planet and more ambitiously, establishing a Mars colony. He also is rethinking transportation concepts through ideas such as the Hyperloop, a proposed high-speed system that would run between major cities.

Goals of SpaceX , Dream of Mars:

“The idea was to send a small greenhouse to the surface of Mars, packed with dehydrated nutrient gel that could be hydrated on landing. You’d wind up with this great photograph of green plants and red background — the first life on Mars, as far as we know, and the farthest that life’s ever traveled,” he said. He wanted to have a little greenhouse to keep the plants alive on Mars.

he sketched Space X plans to establish a Mars colony, along with other entities, with 80,000 people living on the Red Planet in 2012.The settlers would live off the land as much as possible, using equipment to generate methane, fertilizer and oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere and subsurface water ice.

Therefore, Musk’s goal  is they want to set up life on Mars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYdz9sqXQ28

In this short video, Elon Musk and others who work at SpaceX are interviewed about being part of this effort to bring life to Mars.

SPACEX’S USE OF ENERGY AND FORCE CONCEPTS

Gravity

Anything with mass has a gravity field that extends to the far reaches of the Universe. (one post that post in the space x wed site, named Background on Tonight’s Launch. This post is deeply describe how Gravity work in the space and explain the gravity is the reason that “escape velocity” is needed to escape the Earth’s orbit. )

Velocity

The velocity have important part that relate to gravity.  it seems that the astronauts who are on the space station are in “zero gravity” because they are floating around. The post explain:

This is because they are actually moving around Earth’s gravity funnel at the blistering speed of 27,000 km/h (17,000 mph), completing a round-the-world trip every 90 minutes!

Kinetic Energy

Almost all two stage rocket systems have a staging altitude of around 100 km, plus minus 20 km. Therefore, the critical figure of merit for a rocket booster is how fast it can throw a payload of what mass at roughly 100 km. It is important to note that the amount of energy needed to achieve a given velocity increases with the square, so going from 0 km/h to 2000 km/h takes four times as much energy as going from 0 km/h to 1000 km/h, not twice as much.

References:

http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/12/21/background-tonights-launch

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-spacex

http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/g768/inside-spacex-we-visit-the-companys-california-headquarters/

We did a lab on Friday

This was measuring the force used to lift the masses.

We would did two parts for measuring.

1.Keeping the power level were same, and then changed the mass.

2.Keeping the mass level were same,  and then changed the power.

We train these two parts for 5 times, and saw the relationship between the acceleration with the mass, and the relationship between the power and the mass.

We started our lab.

First, we measured the height between the top to the base.

Height = 28cm = 11 in

Each mass is 20g and the large mass is 50g

But we set up the union 20g=0.2kg.

Second, we set up the power is 75,

then calculated the mass.

we stared second  table when we finished the first table.

We set up the mass is 0.15kg, then calculated the mass.

Third. we calculated the Law of conservation of energy

Potential energy = mgh

Finally, we calculated the average power used by the motor.

Power used= mgh/ time.

This was our data

Data of Mass and Acceleration and Power

This is a great experiment to learn the mass , power, and acceleration.

Energy Grid is a system of transmission mediums that delivers energy from power plants to your home.

Smart Grid is an evolved grid system that manages electricity demand in a sustainable, reliable and economic manner, built on advanced infrastructure and tuned to facilitate the integration of all involved.

How They work??

Smart Metering – this technology replaces analog meters at points of consumption with digital meters which can transmit their readings much more regularly without manual intervention. A common timing is 15 minutes vs monthly for manual reading. The much larger volume of data allows much greater understanding of patterns of consumption, but more importantly allows time-of-day billing to give consumers an economic incentive to shift load to night time use.
Sensored distribution grid – The electrical distribution side of the grid that carries electricity to consumers is full of sensors and settings. Those used to be manually read and set which meant imbalances could go undetected longer leading to poorer quality electricity for consumers, excessive losses. In the worst case scenario, the imbalance could combine with other grid events to trigger blackouts, which in turn could trigger cascading blackouts. Now, most of the sensors are smart sensors that provide data back to operational centers without manual intervention. This allows analytics to determine imbalances quickly and greater refinement of settings for best quality of electricity and robustness of the grid. Settings are also remotely adjustable via SCADA interfaces allowing much more rapid adjustments at lower cost.
Autonomous distribution grid balancing – This is a less common technology but is part of the spectrum. Using a central distribution management system, autonomous distribution points or more likely a combination of both, computer software interacts with real time data to make adjustments in distribution without human intervention at all. This reduces operator error, increases speed of reaction and improved both quality of electricity and robustness of the distribution grid.
Smart transmission – All of the distribution intelligence is mirrored on the transmission side and arguably arrived first.
Grid market management – Fifteen minute spot markets for electricity where they exist allow competition for generation to drive down the wholesale price of electricity especially at peak. These short term markets and the benefits of the merit order effect wouldn’t be possible without computerization.
Billing systems – Grids exist as economic entities. Billing systems allow them to ensure customers get the right bills quickly and inexpensively. No one does this without computers.
Analytics – Grids produce a lot of data. Smarter grids produce a lot more data. Whether it is modeling potential transmission capacity increases or the impact of new distribution autonomy on the grid, computers are constantly churning through the available data looking for insights. Smart Metering – this technology replaces analog meters at points of consumption with digital meters which can transmit their readings much more regularly without manual intervention. A common timing is 15 minutes vs monthly for manual reading. The much larger volume of data allows much greater understanding of patterns of consumption, but more importantly allows time-of-day billing to give consumers an economic incentive to shift load to night time use.

The pros of a smart grid

1.More efficient transmission of electricity
2.Quicker restoration of electricity after power disturbances
3.Reduced operations and management costs for utilities, and ultimately lower 4.power costs for consumers
5.Reduced peak demand, which will also help lower electricity rates
6.Increased integration of large-scale renewable energy systems
7.Better integration of customer-owner power generation systems, including 8.renewable energy systems
9.Improved security

The cons of a smart grid

1.the internet to provide real time grid data increases the risk of privacy and security breaches.

2.the real-time pricing of smart meters may negatively affect particular industries

3.rebuilding the existing electrical grid will be extremely time consuming and expensive.

references

https://www.smartgrid.gov/the_smart_grid/smart_grid.html

https://www.smartgrid.gov/the_smart_grid/