This time we tried again to do differnt experiment with the NXT robot. We made the robot move in different ways using lab view. We made it move forwards and backwards. We also made the car turn around and rotate. One wheel stoped and the other turned. We also added sound and made the robot play music. It was a fun and interesting lab.

http://sites.suffolk.edu/melrae92/2010/11/09/final-lab-expiriment-outline/

i was thinking in doing a project on electricity. First we can test positive and negative charges like the guy at the museum of science did. We can test and explain the role of conductors, insulators, semiconducters and superconductors. We can eplain what electrical potential energy is, and what voltage, current and resistance are. then, explain and test OHM’s law voltage= current x resistance. We can built circuits ussing a battery, a light bulb and wires and explain the difference between series and parallel circuits

Today we performed an experiment using Photo voltaic cell. We used it to measure different voltages and intensities. We moved the light source at several times and also swiched the light key to low, medium and high. We found out that on high the voltage and intensity was higher than on medium and low. The same thing happened to the distance. When the sources were near the voltages and intensities were bigger.

Here is our data at low, medium and high light brightnesses

We graphed the Voltage vs Intensity and the result was a straight line. As voltage increased the intensity increased  vlotage-vs-intensity1

Demand responses are the amount of mechanisms used from customers to reduce the use of electricity on peak time and shifting demand for electricity to non peak periods. The price of electricity consumption is changed over the time in order to make costumers use less energy during the peak time when the price of electricity is higher.

Companies and individuals use energy every day for lightening, heating and cooling system, operating manufactures and more. To sustain energy recourses we need to use them wisely. To manage these resources we have to reduce the energy used, and use energy efficiency technology. This way we will increase the quality of the environment and everyone’s lives. Energy efficiency is the use of technology that requires less energy.

Demand responses are also the use of the control systems to shed loads in response to a request by an automated utility.

Demand response is used to refer to mechanisms used to encourage consumers to reduce demand, thereby reducing the peak demand for electricity.

Peak demand is the maximum demand on an electric system in a period of time.

Peak load management is an economic reduction of electric energy demand during a utility’s peak period.

Today there are many technologies that operate automatically. For example in Toronto Canada the system operator in certain residential users can automatically control air conditioning during peak demand allowing peaking plants to cycle up and the consumers benefit from this program because they have the lower price during the peak.

  Sheding loads during peak demand is important because it reduces the need for new power plants. The utility “owns the switch”, which goes off and sheds load only when the electrical distribution system is threatened. In a free market, the price of energy varies widely throughout the day, every day. Demand Response programs such as those enabled by smart grids attempt to encourage the consumer to limit usage of elecricity.         

The largest residential load control system in the world is found in the United States, in Florida. It has been able to avoid the construction of numerous new power plants. Smaller utilities which buy power instead of generating their own, find that they can also benefit by installing a load control system.

http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/energysavingsrebates/demandresponse/whatisdemandresponse/

http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/09-07-demand-response.pdf

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

Today we visited the MIT nuclear Reactor. It was upgraded in 1975. It produces 5 mega watt of thermal power. It also produces no greenhouse gasses. The reactor is 2 ft tall and its fuel is good for 3 years. The way this reactor works is called fission. Instead of burning coal, releasing so much energy and harming the environment, the nuclear power is an easier way out.

The MIT reactor has a center of the metalic element Uranium 235. Uranium is used because it has the biggest mass out of all the elements. A neutron is sent to Uranium 235. This makes Uranium have too much neutrons, so the nucleus becomes unstable and then it splits apart. The strong nuclear force that holds Uranium together is no longer needed and comes out in form of energy.

The nuclear waste should be recycled and reused for fuel. People have not done this in US because none of the states wants the nuclear power plants. Nuclear waste and recycle has been a big political problem. Also nuclear power plants are managed to not affect people and not go to the atmosphere because they can be really harmful.

Today we explored Faraday’s law. The law says that the larger the magnetic flux is, the larger the electricity is. For our experiment we used a light bulb with a magnet inside of it. We connected it to the computer and shook it at different rates. We found out that the faster we shook it, the more voltage was produced.

We found the sum of squares of each set of shakes and graphed the results. The more shakes there were the bigger was the sum of square of the voltage.

shakes
60	174
5	0.035
15	20
45 30	146 141

Today we explored Newton’s Second law, the law of conservation of energy and power. We used a mass that was hanged in a rope. We connected it to our robot to do the measurements.

1.Newton’s second law.

We kept the power level fixed and changed the mass. We saw that as the mass increased the acceleration increased. Then we kept the mass fixed and changed the power level. The acceleration increases.

Mass Acceleration 0.25 33.36 0.19 38.204 0.11 41.9845 Power Acceleration 75 33.36 50 10.7526 100 66.7778

2. Potential Energy=mgh     Height: 0.32 m and Gravity: 9.8 M/S^2  We found the potential energies for the given masses

Our overal data was this

3. Last we calculated the power which equals potential energy/ time. We graphed power level vs power used. The curve came out to be a straight line

The BP spill or the Deepwater Horizon spill is the worst oil spill in history. It happened as a result of the explosion of the drilling rig called “The Deepwater Horizon”. It took place in the Gulf of Mexico, but the huge amount of oil was spread into many USA states.

            The Deepwater Horizon was a nine years old drilling unit owned by the BP Company in London. Before its explosion some workers were complaining for leaks. On April 20^th, while drilling at a depth of 5000 feet, the Deepwater Horizon exploded as a result of the high pressure of methane gas. Most workers were evacuated, but eleven workers were not found and it is thought that they died during the explosion.

After two days of fire the Deepwater Horizon sank.

            The worst part wasn’t the explosion. The oil leak was discovered on April 22 and it spread throughout the ocean. As time passed the amount of oil spilled increased and spread. The magnitude of the spill was big. The BP has tried to hide the real amounts of the leaks. They didn’t accept scientists and the media to estimate and report the real situation. The real number of leaks, reported by scientists, has arrived at 62,000 barrels per day. The USA government was very concerned about the spill and has blamed the BP Company as responsible for the event. The BP responded by accepting to pay for all the damages and taking care of every problem. The USA also accused the BP for holding information and made the federal government verify the events of the spill by sending scientist and environmentalists.

            From the winds and bad weather the oil has reached the Loop Current and spread to many places: around the Gulf of Mexico, towards Florida and along the US east coast. Louisiana coast, Mississippi, Alabama, and many important beaches are affected by the oil.

            As a result of the spill, the sea life is in danger. Many animals and national parks are threatened. More than 400 species in the Gulf of Mexico are exposed to the oil.  The Kemp’s Ridley turtle, the Green Turtle, the Loggerhead Turtle, the Hawksbill Turtle, the Leatherback Turtle, gulls, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, egrets, terns, and blue herons are at risk. 4,678 dead animals had been collected, including 4,080 birds, 525 sea turtles, 72 dolphins and other mammals, and 1 reptile. The increase of methane in water could kill the marine animals and reduce oxygen levels in water. The oil also has brought economic consequences on the coast shores and hotels used for tourism.

                After many attempts to stop the spill, in July 15^th the pipes that leaked the oil were shut. BP said that the leak had been stopped and sealed with cement. However there is still a lot of petroleum flouting on the ocean and being a danger to the sea life.  

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/20/bp-oil-spill-deepwater-horizon-costs-10bn

http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2010/oil_bottom

Energy is the ability to perform work. There are many kinds of energies: kinetic, potencial, electromagnetic etc. Energy is measured in joules.

Count Rumford found out that heat is a kind of energy. 

Temperature in contrast is a sense of the hotness and coldness in an object.

We can measure energy using the equation Heat=mass times specific heat times change in temperature.

Specific heat is the amount of heat an object is able to absorb to raise the temperature of 1 gr by 1 degree. Different objects have different specific heat.

In our experiment we had the same amounts of oil and water in two different containers (100 ml). We measured the temperatures and recorded them in the computer. Then we heated the objects and recorded their temperatures again. We found the average temperature. We subtracted the final temperature by the initial temperature to find the change in temperature and plug it in the equation. The temperatures of oil and water differed. Oil had the biggest temperature because it has a lower specific heat. Water had a lower temperature and a bigger specific heat. Then we found the heat in joules using the above equation. 

We didn’t get an exact result because some of the heat was lost during the experiment. The heat was supposed to be the same for both containers because they absorbed the same energy.