Emilio

Log Entry 1 3/24/11 Emilio O.   Electronics There are two types of signals, an analog signal and a digital signal. An analog signal is a signal that varies smoothly in time and a digital signal does not vary smoothly, it changes in jumps or steps (represented as numbers). Semi-Co nductors are what are nowadays used in televisions and cd players. They are useful because there conductive properties can be controlled by adding impurities to make the semi-conductor either have a positive or negative charge. Diodes are used for converting alternating current into direct current. They do this because in diodes, type p semi-conductors are connected to n-type semi-conductors so that the current can only flow in one direction. A transistor is used to amplify signals in an electric current. A transistor also is used as an electronic switch. Electronic signals can cause a transistor to allow current to pass through it or block the flow of current. Integrated circuits are used in computers so that they can be a lot smaller than if they had regular sized electronic components such as tranistors in them. An integrated circuit contains large numbers of interconnected solid-sate components and is made from a single chip of semiconductor material such as silicon. Electronics are essential for any space missions, especially the ones to Mars. Electronics are what help us safely get up into space and then get safely to our destination. They also tell us what to do if anything goes wrong or they fix it themselves. It is essential because we want to know where we are going and before we send humans up to Mars we need to know what is up there and how the landscape is. We can only do this by sending electronic machines (rovers) up to space and make them transmit pictures of the planet to us. They are also essential to know whether or not life exists on Mars because the electronics will tell us if the atmosphere is capable to sustain life and electronics can also take sand samples to see if little microorganisms (a form of life) are living in it. This is all what machines will help us do when we take a mission to Mars. Without electronics we wouldn’t know what was coming our way on a mission to Mars and we probably wouldn’t even be able to get up into space without them.

// Ms. Mc: very good overview of electronics and good ideas about how we would use electronic devices on a mission to Mars. Giving more specific examples of devices would have strengthened your second paragraph (i.e., navigation systems, communication systems, cameras, soil analyzers, etc.). 9/10 //

4/5/11, Entry #2, History of Rockets

Rockets

The first rockets ever created were by the Chinese in the first century. Then in 1232 the Chinese were the first people ever to use rockets in warfare. These “rockets” were just a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket. A tube, capped at one end, contained gunpowder. The other end was left open and the tube was attached to a long stick. Then later on people started figuring out that you could use liquid-propellant rockets and the accuracy, effectiveness, and distance of the rockets greatly increased. During World War II the Germans developed a very devastating rocket capable of taking out entire city blocks. They also developed rockets capable of plying over the Atlantic and potentially hitting targets in the U.S. Some years after the war the Soviet Union developed a rocket capable of being launched into space and being able to orbit the earth (Sputnik 1). Since then we have made many technological advancements in our explorations of outer-space, like landing on the moon and potentially in a few years to come, to be able to travel to Mars.

//Ms. Mc: A good start to summarizing the history of rocketry but you needed more details and it's always important to give specific dates and names (i.e., Goddard, NASA) when discussing anything about history. Your diagrams are good but please insert them in your text wehn you discuss them, refer to them (ie., "as seen in Figure 1 . . . ), and include captions. 12/15//

4/4/11, Entry #3, Definitions for the Scratch Program

I was out on Thursday and Friday while we made this program, but here are the definitions for the Scratch Program

Ignition- The lighting of the rocket fuel in the engine Liftoff- When the thrust of the engines overcome gravity Coasting- Point in time when engines shut off and rocket glides at the same continuous speed due to the laws of inertia in space Apogee- The highest point of the rockets flight and when it begins to descend Ejection- When the landing craft disconnects from the spacecraft Landing- The landing craft descends to mars Touchdown- When the landing craft touches mars

4/12/11, Entry #4, Rocket Parts

The nose cone helps reduce the friction between the air and the rocket while the rocket is flying up, so that it goes up faster with less force needed. The recovery system shoots out when the rocket reaches its apogee, so that the rocket has a safer landing. The body tube contains the recovery system, recovery wadding, rocket mount, gunpowder, the rocket motor, and the fins, launch lug, and nose cone are attached to it. The recovery wadding prevents the fire from the launch, from catching the recovery system on fire. The launch lug helps keep the rocket straight on lift-off. The rocket mount helps keep the rocket motor and gun powder in place. The fins help keep the rocket straight while it is flying up into the air. The gunpowder is basically what fuels the engine to get the rocket started and up into the air. The rocket motor is what propels the rocket up into the air. That is what all these rocket parts do to help the rocket on its journey.

//Ms. Mc: You were to write a paragraph explaining what each part does with respect to the rocket's flight as well as label the photo. 12/20. Please do this by Tuesday, 5/17 if you want partial credit. Regraded score: 19/20//

4/16/11, Entry #5, Rocket Launch Lab

The purpose of this experiment was to show the students the process of launching a rocket. Also this experiment was to show how mass affected the flight of a rocket if there was a relationship. The forces that were acting on the rocket when it was on the launch pad were gravity and the force of the launch pad. When it launched thrust overcame the force of gravity and it flew into the air. As the rocket went through powered flight new forces acted on the rocket including thrust, air resistance, and gravity. When the engines turned off the rocket continued to coast because the inertia of the rocket is greater than the force of gravity and air resistance acting on it. When it reached its apogee gravity overcame the inertia and it began to fall to the earth. When it began to fall to the earth gravity and air resistance were the two forces acting on it. It was hypothesized that the greater the mass of the rocket, the lower the height of the apogee would be. It was thought this because for a rocket with more mass, you need more thrust for it to reach the same apogee as a lighter rocket, but we used the same type of engine and same amount of thrust on each rocket.

In this experiment the rockets didn’t vary that much in mass, the lightest one was 42.8g and the heaviest one was 48.7g (as seen in Graph #1). The mass probably varied depending on how much glue and/or paint you put on your rocket. The apogees of each rocket varied a lot though, the highest apogee was 135m and lowest one was 71m (as seen in Graph #1).

In this experiment there seems to be no direct or indirect relationship, there seems to be no relationship. The hypothesis was not confirmed because there was no direct relationship that varied between the mass and the apogee of the rocket. The results probably varied considering the weather conditions, the angle at which the rocket was launched, and the people using the angle guns. This affected it because every single wind gust wasn’t of the same strength and human error varies with different people.

4/25/11, Entry #6, Response to the Questions


 * Question 1- What is a quark? What types of quarks are there?**

A quark is a fundamental particle which possesses both electric and'strong' charges. Quarks make up things called hadrons, of which neutrons and protons are the most stable (as seen in figure 1). There are 6 different types of quarks. They are called up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.



**Question 2- How did our Moon come to revolve around the Earth?**

The moon came to revolve around the earth when another body about the size of mars crashed into the earth sending a lot of debris into orbit around the earth (as seen in figure 2).



Ms. Mc: Good answers and pictures. Your answer to #2 is a little short. What happened to the debris after the other planet collided with Earth? (-1). 9/10

Entry #7

Entry #8

Emilio Ochoa 4/5/11 Block Programming Guide Block 1- A wait block that waits for a sound to be captured through the sound sensor that is connected to port 2, that is louder than 50. This block waits for you to say go. Block 2- Movement block that causes the servomotors B and C to start rotating for an unlimited amount of time forward at 75% power. After you say go, this block makes the robot move forward. Block 3- A wait block that waits for a line to be detected with the ultrasonic sensor that is connect to port 3, that is less than 30. This block waits for the sensor to detect a line. Block 4- A movement block that causes servomotors B and C to stop rotating, bringing a robot to a stop. This block causes the robot to stop after the sensor detects the line. Block 5- A sound block that causes a sound file to be played through the speaker at 75 volume, that says watch out. This block waits for completion. This block says "Watch-out!" once the robot stops moving.

When you say 'go', the robot moves forward and then stops when it detects the blue line on the edge of the table and says "Watch out!". This would help on Mars if your rover was about to fall into a big pit and it stopped because it detected the line or the edge.