Heather's Blog

Our last class experiment was about generating energy. We used a flashlight that had a magnet and coiled wire inside of it.

We learned that the faster we shook the flashlight, the more energy we created. When the flashlight was connected to the computer, we could calculate how much energy was created.

We shook the flashlight slowly and then started increasing how fast we moved the magnet inside. The computer calculated how much voltage was created when we shook the flashlight and we put the information into a graph.

President Obama recently announced stricter standards for automobile companies to increase mileage requirements in cars. President Obama believes that by having the stricter standards, it will cut oil consumption and consumer costs.

Automobile companies have already been making fuel-efficient cars that are smaller and use different energy sources. The top ten best selling vehicles in America are small or midsized fuel-efficient vehicles.

The goal is to have vehicles that get 54.5 miles to the gallon by 2025. Most car companies are more willing to comply with those standards then they would have been just a few years ago because of the Bailouts some car companies received not long ago.

The United States is not the only country that want’s to cut back of fuel usage. China has set standards stricter then President Obama’s standards for the United States. China is hoping to increase fuel economy by 18% before 2015.

Something I found interesting was that China charges more sales tax on vehicles like sports cars and sports utility vehicles, but China only charges1% sales tax on smaller engine vehicles. I think that is another example of what makes fuel-efficient vehicles more practical.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/business/carmakers-back-strict-new-rules-for-gas-mileage.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/business/energy-environment/28fuel.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1329105785-S73JPcj5WMLZZLFP+l/llA

http://fuel-efficient-vehicles.org/

In our last class we did an activity using lego mind storm to explore Newton’s second law F=ma, the relation between force, mass and acceleration.

We used an already assembled robot and attached weights to it. When we press the start button, the robot pulls the weights off of the table. After the weights have reached the top and the robot has stopped pulling the weights, the computer calculated how fast the weights lifted, how long it took to lift the weights, and its acceleration.

We changed the speed that the robot would pull the weights and watched the results change. Once we tried a few different speeds and weights, we were able to transfer the data into an excel file. We used the data in excel to make graphs to visually show our results.

Demand refers to the electric grid and how electricity is supplied and created when we need it. Energy cannot be stored the same way water is stored, electricity needs to be made before it can be delivered. The electricity is made at a power plant and turned into useable voltage.

Demand is instant. When you turn on a light bulb, it turns on right away. During peak hours of electricity consumption, everyone using electricity at the same time increases demand load.

Demand response is when we conserve energy. When people or communities voluntarily cut back their electricity usage.

When demand response is used, it can prevent black outs because the old power plants will not become stressed by being over worked. When less power is used it helps the environment because the power plants do not emit as many pollutants into the air.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/demand-response.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response

http://theenergycollective.com/petertroast/63790/demand-response-what-it-what-it-means-you

Last week, our group learned how to build a Lego robot. It was a fun activity and allowed us to get to know each other and work as a team. We learned how to do basic programming with the robot.

First we learned how to make the robot move forward and backwards, we even got it to play a song while it rolled around the desk. We also learned how to change the speed of the robot and make it go in a circle

It became more challenging when we had to make the robot spin in a circle with a diameter of two feet. Once we dropped our first robot, we had to borrow another one. After a few speed adjustments, we got the robot very close to the two feet. Each time we adjusted the speed we needed to plug the robot into the computer to get the software to update.

Once we finished that challenge, we set up the robot so that it could measure how many times its wheels turned and how far it traveled in cm. We measured how far the robot traveled with a ruler and compared our results with the results the robot calculated. Our Robot traveled .25075 cm and its wheels turned 1.475 times, out calculations where very close to the results the robot measured.

The activity was fun and engaging.

After the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant experienced a series of equipment failure and nuclear meltdowns. It was the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine during 1986.

After the earthquake hit, back up generators turned on to continue cooling equipment. After the tsunami hit the island, all of the generators failed causing equipment to over heat and eventually fail. Days after the natural disasters, three of the six reactors experienced meltdowns and nearby areas where evacuated.

Workers from the plant where exposed to high levels of radiation. Many suffered from radiation burns and other serious injuries and some died.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24949

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/anatomy_of_a_nuclear_crisis_a_chronology_of_fukushima/2385/