In class on Febuary 7th we were assigned another experiment. Our objective  was to determine the relationship between acceleration and mass. We had to pick a mass and a force and record the DATA. Also we were to keep the power fixed but change the mass. To do this we had to enter various codes into lab view. There were some complications at first because the program was not working properly but my partner and I still obtained some results.

Results:

Power: 85 Newtons     Mass: 0.04kg       Acceleration: 2125        Potential Energy: 0.0592: 

Power: 85 Newtons     Mass: 0.06kg       Acceleration: 1416         Potential Energy: 0.118

Power: 85 Newtons     Mass: 0.08kg       Acceleration: 1063        Potential Energy: 0.176

Electricity can be generated in many ways. During this blog I will focus on three methods. They include coal fired power plants, natural gas power plants and nuclear power plants. Although they all produce electricity, each one has its own unique process.

Coal fired power plants:

The first step in producing electricity from coal requires the coal to be broken up into powder. This makes the coal more easy to burn and use as fuel. After it is made into powder it is blown into the boiler where it is then converted from chemical energy into heat energy. Eventually the steam from the coal heats up a turbine which turns the heat energy into mechanical energy. After that it is turned into electrical energy by a transformer in which the national grid uses to connect to people and businesses all over. Coal fired plants are one of the easier methods of producing energy, however they have some harmful effects on the environment.

http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/uses-of-coal/coal-electricity/

https://www.edfenergy.com/energyfuture/coal-generation

Natural gas power plants.

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that forms underground over thousands of years. Each country has a limited supply. According to the U.S Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2005. “In 2003, natural gas reserves in the United States were estimated to be 1,338 trillion cubic feet, and U.S. gas production was 18.6 trillion cubic feet”. The natural gas can be combusted to form electricity. The natural gas power production process begins with the extraction of natural gas from the ground, then it is transferred to the power plants in which boilers convert it to generate electricity. Burning natural gas to produce power does harm the air quality, however its impact is less sever than burning coal or oil. Burning natural gas produces high numbers of methane and nitrogen oxides. According to U.S. EPA, eGRID 2000, “The average emissions rates in the United States from natural gas-fired generation are: 1135 lbs/MWh of carbon dioxide, 0.1 lbs/MWh of sulfur dioxide, and 1.7 lbs/MWh of nitrogen oxides”.

A basic setup of a natural gas power plant.

http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/natural-gas.html#footnotes

Nuclear Power Plants

A third method of generating electricity included nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants are similar to other electrical generating facilities. However the method of obtaining that energy can be a title bit more complex. A nuclear reactor produces energy by splitting uranium atoms. This process is called fission. When the uranium particles split they absorb subatomic particles called neutrons. This process releases energy. This reaction heats water which in turn produces steam to activate the generators to produce electricity.

http://www.cpsenergy.com/Services/Generate_Deliver_Energy/Nuclear/nuke_generation.asp

http://www.world-nuclear.org/Nuclear-Basics/How-does-a-nuclear-reactor-make-electricity-/

During last class we continued to work with out robots and Labview, however out assigned task were different. We were asked to measure the distance and speed of our robots with a ruler and then calculate the percent error. This was a fun hands on activity that I really enjoyed. The percent error was different every time according to the power we set in lab view and the distance the robot traveled.

The results for each trial

Trial 1

Power: 75

Robot distance: 0.27987m

Ruler distance: 0.22m

Average: 2.579

Percent error: 1.54%

Trial 2

Power: 100

Robot distance: 0.41012m

Ruler distance: .35m

Average: 0.385

Percent error: 16.1%

Trial 3

Power: 35

Robot distance: 0.17444m

Ruler distance: 0.11m

Average: 0.12005

Percent error: 16.2%

There has been much news over Germanys Green Energy Policy over the past several years about how it is going to change its entire energy infrastructure to promote renewable energy sources? However it has not turned out quite like that. Over the past year Germany has mined significant amounts of coal in which consumption jumped 8 percent in the first half of 2013. Last year Germans produced more CO2 emissions than they have in previous years. This was not how the green energy policy was suppose to work.

Germany Green Energy Policy sounds great but of course it has its downfalls. For society as a whole, the costs have reached levels comparable only to the euro-zone bailouts. This year,” German consumers will be forced to pay 26 billions dollars for electricity from solar, wind and biogas plants, electricity has a market price of just over 3 euros . Electricity is becoming so expensive in Germany that many citizens can’t afford it anymore. Whats even worse, after spending billions of Euros on subsidies, Germany’s total combined solar facilities have contributed only 0.084% of Germany’s electricity over the last 22 years. “.http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/high-costs-and-errors-of-german-transition-to-renewable-energy-a-920288.html

Why is it failing?

Renewable energy such as solar panel and wind turbines have the ability to generate massive amounts of electricity. But what happens at night when there is no sun, or when there is no wind? Because of this the country might either have a surplus of energy or a deficit. “Generating energy with wind involves extreme fluctuations because it depends on the weather and includes periods without any recognizable capacity for days, or suddenly occurring supply peaks that push the grid to its limits,” a 2012 report from Germany energy expert Dr. Guenter Keil notes. When there is a shortage of energy the coal plants are fired up on overdrive producing more emissions than they were to begin with.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/03/14/germanys-green-energy-disaster-a-cautionary-tale-for-world-leaders/

Germany’s new “renewable” energy policy

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/high-costs-and-errors-of-german-transition-to-renewable-energy-a-920288.html

During class on January 24th were given an assignment to assemble a robot in which the required materials were to be given to us. The robots were to be made out of legos. Assembling the robot was fairly easy if you properly followed the directions and matched it to the picture of the fully assembled one.  However my partner did assemble his before I did. But after assembly is when things became a little bit more complicated for the both of us.

A look at the robot once fully assembled.

After the robot was assembled we were instructed to make it make it move in different directions. This was possible by hooking it up to the computer and programming it properly. The program that we used for the robot was called LabView. LabView is where I first started to have some difficulties.  I am unfamiliar with programming so this was an interesting task for me.

An example of how confusing LabView can be

We were instructed to hook up the robot to our computers, then type in various numbers and codes that would make the robot function properly, e.g turn left, turn right, or go in circles. At first I could not get the robot to budge, but after finagling,  and with a little help from the instructor and my classmates I got my bot to move straight ahead and into circles. Although I experienced some minor difficulties with programming I am sure it will come much easier to me and the class next time.

Overall if was an interesting activity. I would love to take part in similar ones since building things can be fun. I look forward to seeing what comes next in our class experiments.

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was a devastating hurricane that killed 285 people and lasted from October 22 to October 31st 2012. Sandy developed as a tropical wave in the western Caribbean on October 22nd. Sandy gradually intensified and by October 24th it reached landfall in Jamaica and became a hurricane. After being pushed back out into sea it became a category 2 hurricane. On October 25th Sandy hit Cuba and became a category 3 hurricane. It later weakened back to a category 1 hurricane. On October 27, Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm and then restrengthened to a Category 1 hurricane. Early on October 29, Sandy curved north-northwest and then moved ashore to the East coast of the United states where it became a cyclone with tropical force winds.

Hurricane Sandy was the worst hurricane in 2012 and was also the second most costliest hurricane that the United States has ever seen. Why was Hurricane Sandy so bad? Many scientist around the world believe that global warming played a major role in this storm.

Global warming and Hurricane Sandy.

Speculation began as to whether or not hurricane Sandy was caused by global warming. This is a very controversial topic but scientific research shows that climate change does have an effect on the severity and increased frequency in these kinds of storms. According to the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Ice and Climate  “hurricanes in the southeast Atlantic have become more frequent over the past 90 years, with more storms in years where water temperature is higher.

Ocean Temperature

The ocean water in which hurricane Sandy developed is warmer than the historically norm. Warm water is what makes hurricanes more powerful.  The water during hurricane Sandy was several degrees warmer than the norm. This is a direct cause for the power of the storm because when it moved north it became stronger rather than weaker. Those warm waters are, by definition global warming: they’re one of the things we measure when we’re measuring global temperature trends.

Hurricane Sandy also turned left as it came north which is an unusual direction for a storm, and is why the storm was moved into the east coast. According to Why did it do that? Because of an unusual weather pattern in the Northeast Atlantic, called a negative North Atlantic oscillation. According to the Climate Prediction Center  ”Strong positive phases of the NAO tend to be associated with above-average temperatures in the eastern United States and across northern Europe and below-average temperatures in Greenland”.

North Atlantic Oscillation

In conclusion, hurricane Sandy was a devastating storm that ruined the lives of many people. Whether or not global warming was what caused the storm is up for you to decide.

The nations energy grid  includes everything that we use to keep our nation powered, and how we use the materials and convert them into energy. We have power plants scattered all across the nation that provide power to various areas. There are about 19,023 individual generators at about 6,997 operational power plants in the United States. Without the use of these resources there would be no electricity or power.

  Aerial view of our nations energy grid.

Video below shows how a power plant works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GI7AhajfhWE

 Energy Infrastructure: Sun, Electricity, Fossil fuels, Nuclear, Renewable Resources.

Sunlight 

Sun light is a major source of energy used to supply power to the nation. Sunlight is natural and will never run out. Sunlight warms the planet and transfers heat and pressure in weather patterns. However, most of us use the sun in its secondary form of energy which is  fossil fuels. For example, when we burn wood the heat comes from the breaking of bonds which releases energy and light.

Fossil Fuels 

According to http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/fossil-fuels/ “The United States gets 84% of its total energy from oil, coal, and natural gas, all of which are fossil fuels”. Oil is an efficient way to obtain energy, however it can have a devastating effect on the environment when we constantly burn it in automobiles, factories, etc.

Electricity 

Electricity is a secondary source of energy. It cannot be mined from the ground so it is derived from other sources. Electricity generating plants now consume two-fifths of U.S. energy from all sources, including about 90% of America’s coal and nearly 30% of its natural gas according to  http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/electricity/

Nuclear

Nuclear energy is the energy released during nuclear fission or fusion, especially when used to generate electricity. About 20% of our nations electricty comes from nuclear energy and about 9% of the total power. According to government experts nuclear power plants is expected to increase by 105 by the year 2030.

Renewable Resources.

Renewable resources such as wind can be used as a power source. Renewable energy is an alternative to fossil fuels. Renewable energy such as wind is clean and produces no greenhouse gas emission. Also, renewable resources in the grid usually require less space.

Over the past decade or so the nations energy crisis has been covered in the media and becoming more of a concern. What will happen when we run out of these fossil fuels that we use to power everyday life? Global warming and other atmospheric conditions are also a concern. What can we do to limit these resources and use them more responsibly.

There are pros and cons to our nations energy grid.

Pros.

The nations energy grid gives power to our entire nation.

The energy grid stimulates the economy and provides thousands of people work in different types of power plants.

Cons

excess energy use is one of the causes of global warming

Pollution, such as air and water

Dangers such as radiation poisoning.