Daily Archives: November 6, 2013

Excel file that shows data and graphs

Solar josh and jean

In this lab our objective was to find the relationship between light intensity and voltage output of a solar cell. The first experiment we did was different distanced a light source was held from a solar cell.  This gave us a Voltage reading in excel.  The average of each 4 distances was found and then we made a graph to show our data.  This data is a little strange because 10 cm should have generated more voltage than 20 cm. This is the only thing wrong with our data.  This shows that the further away the light the more voltage is generated.

The second part of this lab was to use different color filters to demonstrate what wavelengths pass through and create the most voltage. Obviously no filter will generate the most voltage because all waves of light are let through. We had an error with the dark blue strip.  This shows that blue light generates the most voltage but it should have been one of the least.  Other than that the Pink color filter compared to the teal green was the best way to show our data.  This means that red light waves are more powerful than blue or purple.  We learned in class which ones are more powerful and this makes sense.

Overall, our data may have been a little off but I learned the relationship between light intensity and voltage.  I also learned how different waves of light generate different amounts of voltage in a solar cell and have different wavelengths.

I was so excited to have to opportunity to go to the Museum of Science. The first thing I did there was go to the electricity show.  It was very neat to see these powerful machines in use see thing that tom vales had helped work on.  I had never seen that show before and I am glad I got to see the Tesla coils play music and the other demonstrations.

The main thing we went to the museum was to get idea for our experiment.  Being a group leader I felt I had to take action and get hands on with most of the experiments that have to do with wind and solar energy.  One thing that really caught my attention was the wind experiment.  It used coils and a iron core that spun around as a windmill does.  It compared the electricity generated by hand and then with more gears.  These gears made it take less force to spin the core.  This is how windmills generate energy.

Another thing that gave me inspiration was placement of solar panels on homes.  There were 4 sides and 1 would generate the most power.  This was interesting I found the one that generated the most was panel B which was at the most relevant angle to the sun.  Overall, I got to do everything required and got to see something at the museum I had never seen before.