Tyler

Electronics On Mars
== Electronics are used in almost everything we make today. Most of them transmit information through two different kinds of signals: analog and digital. Analog signals are signals that move from one value to the next smoothly as a wave. These are used in analog clocks, where the hands move smoothly around the clock. Digital signals advance in steps, like a digital clock that counts up in numbers. Semiconductors are a main component in almost all electronics. They are less conductive than conductors, but are more conductive than insulators. They are used to make components that react differently to electrical current, causing it to change. For example the material could be amplified, stopped, or controllable like a switch. Semiconductor material is usually made with other atoms, meaning that the perfect sheet of semiconductor material is mixed with other elements, including extra electrons or extra protons. This dramatically improves the conductivity. Semiconductors made with atoms that create extra electrons are called N type semiconductors, and those made with atoms that create extra protons are called P type semiconductors. Some components that are made of semiconductors are diodes and transistors. Diodes, a layer of P type semiconductor and a layer of N type semiconductor put together, allow electricity to pass in one direction, but block it the other way. The Light Emitting Diode (LED) emits light when electricity passes through it in the correct direction. Transistors, which have three layers of semiconductor – PNP or NPN, function as switches and can also amplify the current. But for many circuits that do lightning fast computations and process things quickly, normal transistors and diodes occupy too much space. Integrated circuits solve this problem; they are sheets of semiconductors that may have millions of components on them. This can dramatically reduce size of components ==

Electronics are useful in the search for life on Mars in many ways. They include navigations systems to get to Mars, systems that pilot the spacecraft to get to Mars, Processors in rovers and other robots that are sent to Mars’ surface, effective radio transmissions, and many other functions. Without electronics Mars would be out of reach to travel to. Without navigation the plane would have to be piloted by a human the whole time to get to mars which would take a long time. The long time would increase the chance of human error. Robots that are sent to the surface would also have no way of processing anything, and therefore everything would have to be done manually. The robot would also have no way of communication with people on Earth without the electronics necessary for radio communication or other forms.

//Ms. Mc: Very good overview of electronics and I like your ideas about how we would use electronic devices on our mission to search for life on Mars. Although I like your school spirit with the blue and gold ink, please don't use yellow/gold again as it's too hard for my old eyes to read. :) 10/10 //

The Evolution of Rockets
One of the first devices to successfully employ the principles to rocket flight was the aeolipile. A Greek inventor named Hero of Alexandria used steam as a propulsive gas. He mounted a sphere on top of a water kettle. A fire below the kettle turned the water to steam. The gas traveled through the pipes in the sphere. The gas comes out on to L-shaped tubes on different sides. The gas creates thrust that causes the sphere to rotate.



The Chinese used rockets as weapons. By experimenting with gunpowder filled tubes, they finally came up with a rocket attached to an arrow. This was a good invention since the arrow guided the rocked while the rocket made the arrow move faster.



// Ms. Mc: I'm not sure why you were't able to copy and past your work from your Word document onto your page but it is your responsibility to come see me if you are having problems. This is a good start to summarizing ancient rocketry but you didn't discuss modern rocketry at all. Please follow the directions for inserting your drawings that I emailed you. You also need to have captions for your figures. Please see me if you have any questions. Also, be sure to add an entry date, number, and title for this entry. 6/15. //

Scratch Project
media type="custom" key="9132112"

Instructions:


 * 1) Turn on the volume
 * 2) Press the green flag to start
 * 3) push the red sign to stop

Rocket Parts


The Nose Cone helps guide the airflow around the rocket. The Body Tube is the main structure of the rocket. The Recovery System is used to help the rocket get back safely. The Recovery Wadding keeps the recovery system from burning up. The Launch Lug helps the rocket launch straight. The Fins help keep the rocket straight in the air. The Motor Mount is used to keep the motor in place. The Rocket Motor is used to launch the rocket.

//Ms. Mc: Good labels and explanations. A little more detail about what each part is woudl be beneficial. 19/20//

Rocket Launch Paper
The purpose of the experiment was to find out what the apogee was of different rockets with different masses. When the rocket is on the launch pad, Gravity is pushing down on the rocket while the push of the launch pad is against gravity. When the rocket is in the air, gravity and air resistance are acting on the rocket in a downward force while thrust is acting against gravity and air resistance in an upward force. It was hypothesized that the rocket with the largest mass would go the highest because it would need the most gravity before it reached the apogee. The masses of the rockets ranged from 42.2 m to 44.5 m (42.2 m, 43.3 m, 43.5 m, 43.6 m, 44.1 m, 44.4 m, and 44.5 m). The apogee ranged from 53 m to 81 m (53 m, 55 m, 65 m, 70 m, 71 m, 75 m, and 81 m). In the data there is a direct relationship between the mass and the apogee as scene in Figure 1. This means that when the mass goes increases the apogee goes increases. This can be seen as the rocket with the lowest mass 42.2 and the lowest apogee 53. The rocket with the highest mass 44.5 m also had the highest apogee 81 m. The hypothesis was supported to be correct. When the mass increased the apogee increased. Error could have occurred due to the fact that the wind could have changed when the launch happened. The angle was measured with different people each time creating a chance for error, and the angle gun wan't very acurrate to begin with.

Log 6

How did our moon come to revolve around the Earth? Our moon came to revolve around Earth when a planet, about the size of Mars, collided with the Earth. Most of the mass added to the earth, but some of the mass flew up into space and formed the moon that we see today.



What is quark? What types of quarks are there? A quark is a elementary particle that makes up protons and neutrons. There are two types of quarks, up quarks and down quarks.

//Ms. Mc: A good start but more detail is needed to fully answer the questions. There are 6 types of quarks (-1) You also forgot your caption for the quark picture (-1) and you were to refer to the figures and explain them in your text (-2). Also, please include the date and a title for each entry. 6/10.//

5/9/2011 Log #8 Challenge 1 Block Write Up

The

Block 1- Activates the C and B motors, drives forward at 75 % power for 4 rotations. This made the robot move 61 cm foward.

Block 2 – Activates the C and B motors, turns right at 50 % power for a 180 of degrees. This made the robot turn right at 90 degrees.

Block 3 - Activates the C and B motors, drives forward at 75% power for 2.5 rotations. this made the robot move foward for 31 cm.

Block 4 - Activates the C and B motors, turns left at 50 % power for 180 degrees. This made the robot turn 90 degrees to the left

Block 5 - Activates the C and B motors, drives backwards at 75% power for 2 rotations. This made the robot go move 23 cm in reverse.

Block 6 - Activates the C and B motors, turns left at 50% power for 1440 degrees. This made the robot turn 720 degrees to the left

Block 7 – Plays a applause at max volume. This made the robot plays applause

Block 8 – Displays a smily face. This made the robot display a smily face.

Block 9 – Waits for 2 seconds. This made the robot wait 2 seconds.