Akaash

=Log #1- 3/23/11=

**Electronic Devices on Mars**
The two kinds of signals, analog and digital, differ in many ways but are also similar. In an analog signal, the signal varies smoothly in time. Anything that carries information and varies in a smooth way can produce an analog signal. However, in a digital signal, the signal moves in jumps or steps, rather than changing in a smooth fashion. A good example is an analog clock and a digital clock. In the analog clock, the second hand moves smoothly. In a digital clock, the time jumps from minute to minute, rather than moving smoothly across the seconds like the analog clock. Electronic devices transmit information through both analog and digital circuits, but these would not be possible without the various parts inside the device. An example of these is a semiconductor. Semiconductors are useful in electronic devices because, by adding impurities, the conductivity of the semiconductor can change as well as the time of conducting. Another component is a diode. Diodes are components in which the current can only flow one way, so it is used to direct the current. A transistor, another component in electronic devices, is used as an electric switch. Transistors can either amplify the current or block the flow. An integrated circuit, or IC, contains millions of components like diodes and transistors, yet they can be smaller than 1 mm on each side. Computers manage to fit in all of the components by using integrated circuits. //In order to go to Mars and search for life, electronics would be absolutely necessary. If a rover, orbiter, or flyby was sent to Mars in order to detect life, then electronics would be needed in order to make these robots in the first place. However, if people are sent to Mars to look for life, then there will be many more uses and reasons why electronics are important. Without electronics, there would not be space ships or space suits at all. Through electronics, space ships can be made and have enough power to reach Mars and return to Earth. Plus, electronics will help supply the necessary oxygen to the astronauts. Not only this, but astronauts can report their findings back to the base before they return home. In addition, the base can keep track of the space ship's or astronaut's status or power levels. These are just some of the reasons why electronics are important for an expedition to Mars. // //Ms. Mc: Very good overview of electronic components. I also liked your ideas for how we could use electronic devices on our mission to Mars. Since we currently aren't sending humans to Mars, it would have been beneficial to comment on some devices we would use without sending humans such as navigational systems, communication systems, soil analyzing machines, etc. 9/10 //



= Log #2- 3/29/11 =

The History of Rockets
The first step towards a true rocket was a Greek invention called an aeolipile, invented in 100 BC. An aeolipile was a sphere that filled with steam because the water was set over a fire and turned to steam. The sphere also had two tubes in which the steam escaped. The inventor, the Greek Hero of Alexandria, noticed that the escape of the steam propelled the sphere forward and this was the first step towards modern rocketry. This spinning is because of Newton's 3rd Law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Later, the Chinese filled bamboo tubes with gunpowder for festivals and they saw that some shot off. Due to this, the Chinese attached the fireworks to arrows, and shot them, until they discovered that the tube propelled the arrow without being shot. Then the put it on a stick, which served as a crude guidance system. In the battle of Kai-Keng in 1232, the Chinese shot these rockets at the Mongols, warding them off.



The Father of Modern Astronautics, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, first proposed the idea of space exploration by rocket. He published a paper in 1903 and thought that rockets with liquid propellant would provide greater range. Soon later, an American scientist, Robert Goddard, became interested in ways to get higher than balloons. He started to build solid-propellant rockets, but soon discovered that rockets with liquid propellants would go farther and/or higher. Goddard knew that it would be more difficult to build a liquid-propellant rocket, but on March 16, 1926, he built and successfully launched the first one. The propellant was a mixture of liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, and alcohol. He slowly advanced his design, adding a parachute recovery system and a compartment to hold scientific instruments. Goddard became known as the Father of Modern Rocketry.

Germans then developed the V-2 rocket during World War II, a rocket that was used to bombard London. After the war, many German rocket scientists came to America, while others went to the Soviet Union. These two countries started to advance in this field and began sending rockets and satellites. The first ever artificial satellite was sent by the Soviet Union. It was called Sputnik I, which meant satellite, and it was the first step in a boom of space exploration. 84 days later, the US sent a satellite, and then the Soviet Union sent up a human, Yuri Gagarin.

//Ms. Mc: Great summary of the history of rocketry! Your diagrams also helped illustrate some of your main points. I would have liked to have seen you discuss where we have gone since the first human was sent into space 50 years ago though. 14/15//

**Log #3- 4/4/11**

= Rocket Simulation =

media type="custom" key="8956588" width="130" height="130" align="left"

Instructions:
 * 1) Turn on sound
 * 2) Click the green flag
 * 3) To stop, press the red stop sign
 * 4) Enjoy!

**Log #4- 4/13/11**

=** Model Rocket ** =



There are several parts to a model rocket. The top part called the nose cone allows the rocket to sail through the air by cutting down on air resistance and making it more aerodynamic. The nose cone is attached to the body tube, which holds everything together and inside of it are most of the necessary components. Attached to the body tube are the fins and the launch lug. The fins keep the rocket flying straight, and the launch lug is a tube through which a long pole is placed, guiding it forward. Some components inside the body tube are the recovery system, the recovery wadding, the motor mount, and the motor. The recovery system is a parachute that is connected to the body tube by a long rubber band called a shock cord. Below the recovery system and inside the body tube is the recovery wadding. The recovery wadding stops the recovery system from burning up. The motor mount is also inside the body tube and it holds the motor in place. The motor is definitely the most important component of the model rocket. The motor is what propels the rocket and has several parts in order to function properly. The motor is also held by the motor mount, also inside the body tube. The motor 's first layer, the gunpowder, is first ignited in ignition by the electric charge. The burning of the gunpowder propels the rocket upwards during the next step of flight, lift-off. When this layer of gunpowder runs out, there is a delay charge that burns but provides no thrust, allowing the rocket to coast. When the delay charge ends, the rocket reaches apogee, or the highest point of flight. Finally, there is the ejection charge, which blows open the nose cone and allows the parachute to come out. Then, the rocket softly glides down to the ground. These are the several important components of a model rocket.

//Ms. McCoppin: Excellent explanation of the function of the various rocket parts! 20/20//

**Log #5- 4/18/11**

**Rocket Launch Lab**

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The purpose of the experiment was to build model rockets and determine how their masses affected their apogees. Seven rockets were built, all of which had varying masses and apogees, which was determined by using trigonometry. Before ignition, when the rocket was sitting on the launch pad, there was gravity pushing down on the rocket and there was an equal force from the launch pad pushing up against the rocket. Next was lift-off and powered, during which there was the power of thrust pushing upwards, as well as the forces of gravity and air resistance pushing down. The force of thrust, in this case, is stronger than that of the gravity and air resistance. The next stage of rocket flight was coasting. During coasting, the force of gravity and the force of air resistance pushed down, but the rocket still moved up. This was due to the rocket’s inertia, which was stated in Newton’s 1st Law; an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. However, inertia was not a force and would not be represented by an arrow in a free-body diagram. The next stage of flight, apogee, was unique because the rocket stops moving for an instant. During apogee, there was a force of gravity pushing down, as well as an equal amount of inertia pushing up, so the rocket hung in balance until the force of gravity overcame this inertia. This caused the rocket to start falling towards the ground. Now the force of air resistance was pushing upwards, but the force of gravity was still stronger. It was hypothesized that the lower the mass of the rocket then the rocket will fly higher because the rocket has less inertia and therefore needs less thrust to overcome it, allowing the rest of the thrust to prolong powered flight. ======

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The rockets’ masses seemed to be very similar. As seen in Figure 1, the lowest mass was 42.2 grams, and the highest mass was 45.5 grams. The average mass was 43.7 grams. However, the data of the apogees seemed to fluctuate much more than the data for the apogees. The height of the apogee ranged from the low of 53 meters and a high of 81 meters, of which the average is 67 meters. These data points have a direct relationship, because of the constant upward trend, exhibited in Figure 1. Out of the seven rockets, six of the rockets followed the direct relationship. The other rocket was an outlier because it had a mass of 44.4 grams and an apogee of only 55 meters. By looking at Figure 1, it was determined that the hypothesis was incorrect, for the hypothesis predicted an inverse relationship rather than the displayed direct relationship. The data showed that the heaviest rocket, at 44.5 grams, flew the highest at 81 meters, and the lightest rocket, with a mass of 42.2 flew, the lowest at 53 meters. In this experiment, there was a lot of room for error. First of all, there were only seven data points, which was not a large enough sample set. In addition, there might have been some error in the angle measurement. The people who measured the angles were not the same every time and therefore the angles might have varied more than necessary. Moreover, the weather was different on the different launch days. ======



=**Log #6- 4/25/11** =

Crash Course in Astronomy Questions

 * 1) **__What is a quark? What types of quarks are there?__**



A quark is something smaller than a sub-atomic particle and they make up protons and neutrons. There are six types of quarks, two of which are up quarks and down quarks. A proton has two up quarks and a down quarks, as seen in Figure 1, while a neutron has two down quarks and one up quark. An up quark has a +2/3 charge while a down quark has a charge of -1/3. An electron, unlike the neutron and proton, is an elementary particle, which means that it has no parts making it up. The other quarks are charm quarks, strange quarks, top quarks and bottom quarks.


 * 1) **__How did the Moon come to revolve around the Earth?__**



The Moon was formed when a planet the size of Mars crashed into the Earth. Figure 2 shows this collision. Matter flew off of the Earth and was eventually shaped into a sphere by several collisions. The craters on the Moon and on Earth were formed by constant bombardment of space rock and asteroids.

Ms. Mc: Very good answers, pictures, and captions! 10/10

=**Log #8- 5/6/11** =

Challenge 1
The purpose of this challenge was to program a robot in order for it to maneuver through an obstacle course. The robot followed a blue line and made a sound, as well as displayed an image. The robot was programmed with Mindstorms NXT Software.



Block 1 is a movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it moves forward for 3.6 rotations at 75% power and then brake. The robot in turn moves forward for about 62 cm. Block 2 is a movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C. The block tells it to move 180° to the right. The block also tells the robot to turn at 50% power and then brake. The robot in turn made a right angle turn to the right. Block 3 is a movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it moves forward for 1.9 rotations at 75% power and then brake. The robot in turn moved forward for about 31 cm. Block 4 is a movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C. The block tells it to move 180° to the left. The block also tells the robot to turn at 50% power and then brake. The robot in turn made a right angle turn to the left. Block 5 is a movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it moves backward for 1 rotation at 75% power and then brake. The robot in turn moved backwards for about 22 cm. Block 6 is a movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C. The block tells it to move 1440° to the right, so it moves 720°. The block also tells the robot to turn at 75% power and then brake. The robot in turn spun around twice clockwise. Block 7 is a sound block that tells the robot to make an applauding sound. Block 8 is a display block that tells the robot to show a smiley face. The smiley face is displayed while the sound is playing. Block 9 is a wait block that tells the robot to wait for two seconds before ending the process and making the smiley face stop.