In my group of Ryan, Brijesh, and Riccardo, we finally arrived at “The Lemon Battery Experiment” to use for our project. We discussed using different fruits and seeing what voltages each one yielded. Trying out Apples, lemons and potatoes, we found that all fruits [and vegetables] gave about one volt of electricity. In our initial experiments we were even able to light up a small LED bulb with some luck.

For our experiment  that we will bring to the High Schools, we were thinking about teaching the kids about circuitry and first, asking them to create a measurable voltage using wires and fruits. Then later we my challenge them to light the bulb if they had success with the first aspect of the experiment.

In the most recent lab, we explored the ideas stated in Faraday’s Law. According to the law, chancing a magnetic field inside a coil of wire will generate a current through that wire. In the lab we used shake flashlights to simulate the idea. With a voltmeter attached to the coil inside the light, we were able to measure the voltage over time while shaking the apparatus. After averaging the data, we were able to make sense of i, and concluded that the more shakes we get in per minute, (more intense the shaking) the more current was generated in volts.

The trip to visit the MIT nuclear reactor was one of the most exciting experiences I have had this year. The MIT reactor is only a 6 mW facility compared to ones legitimately used for electricity generation at 3000 mW.

The energy comes from the splitting of atoms if the element Uranium 235. Fission as a process is a chain reaction, where one neutron splits off from one atom, it whacks into another, causing another neutron to break off. This can be very dangerous if left unchecked, energy levels could overload and the akt could get too hot. Boron is used as a neutron capture element to prevent dangerous chain reaction that could cause the fuel to overheat. If the fuel does over heat, it cause the metal casing containing the fuel to become a catalyst and separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in the water around the fuel cell. This is a very dangerous thing that could cause an explosion to occur with that much heat and hydrogen in the containment room. Because of this reason all nuclear plants in the U.S. have a hydrogen valve somewhere in the containment room.

The experience walking inside the reactor and getting to see the inside of the containment room was slightly scary yet very exciting. After going through an airlock that keeps the inside pressure slightly lower we got to see the technology and means of research MIT students got to do with the reactor. And finally we had to pass two radiation tests to exit. The experience was incredibly exciting and certainly inspired me to want to work in the energy field in the future.

The trip to visit the MIT nuclear reactor was one of the most exciting experiences I have had this year. The MIT reactor is only a 6 mW facility compared to ones legitimately used for electricity generation at 3000 mW.

The energy comes from the splitting of atoms if the element Uranium 235. Fission as a process is a chain reaction, where one neutron splits off from one atom, it whacks into another, causing another neutron to break off. This can be very dangerous if left unchecked, energy levels could overload and the akt could get too hot. Boron is used as a neutron capture element to prevent dangerous chain reaction that could cause the fuel to overheat. If the fuel does over heat, it cause the metal casing containing the fuel to become a catalyst and separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in the water around the fuel cell. This is a very dangerous thing that could cause an explosion to occur with that much heat and hydrogen in the containment room. Because of this reason all nuclear plants in the U.S. have a hydrogen valve somewhere in the containment room.

The experience walking inside the reactor and getting to see the inside of the containment room was slightly scary yet very exciting. After going through an airlock that keeps the inside pressure slightly lower we got to see the technology and means of research MIT students got to do with the reactor. And finally we had to pass two radiation tests to exit. The experience was incredibly exciting and certainly inspired me to want to work in the energy field in the future.

An interesting experiment that we did in class the other day was determining what affects the efficiency of solar panels. The variables we tested were distance the light was from the panel i.e. brightness, and the color of the light hitting the panel, simulated by placing translucent strips of plastics of different color in between the sensor and light source.

The results showed that more volts were produced when the light was the brightest (closest to the sensor). Additionally, out of the 3 colors we tested (red green and purple), green light produced the highest voltage at .40 followed by purple at .35 then red at .32. Unfiltered light had the most with .47.