Patrick

3/21/11
== **Throughout the technological age scientists have discovered many ways to create functional electronic devices using various parts and signals. The analog signal shows changes in a fluid motion for example in a liquid thermometer the bar rises and falls fluidly depending on the temperature. In a digital signal the change jolts or jumps for example a digital clock shows the time is displayed through a number and the numbers change in jumps to show the changing time. Semiconductors are very useful in electronic devices because you can control whether they are conducting and how much they are conducting by adding impurities. Diodes are another clever invention which is a key in the functioning of electronic devices. Diodes act like a one way street which allows current to flow in one direction. Transistors amplify electric current and can allow it to pass or prevent it from passing. Integrated circuits combine these two into an extremely small piece of semiconductor which consists of interconnected solid state components.** ==

3/22/11
==When traveling by spaceship to Mars in search for life it would be critical to have various devises. One reason for this is that electrical current flows extremely fast. This is helpful because Mars is extremely far away and the information gathered needs a quick way to get back to earth. Another reason for electrical devices would be to power various machines on board the spaceship. For example if we had a rover that recorded video or took pictures electricity would be an excellent power source because it is easy and effective. When in search for life something needs to be able to recognize life if it is found, computers are electronic devices that could store the knowledge to determine whether the rover is seeing life. When roving Mars in search for life electricity would be a key power source to ensure the missions success.==

//Ms. Mc - good general overview of electronics and how we might use electronic devices on a mission to search for life on Mars. You were to use 2 different colors and fonts for this entry. Please see me if you need help for how to do this. The reason for this was so you can learn how to use the various features on the Wiki. 9/10//

Entry Number Two 4/4/10

Rockets In all their Glory In 100 B.C the Greek inventor Hero of Alexandria invented the aeolipile. The aeolipile was motor which used the gases emitted when water evaporates to spin a sphere. This was crucial for todays rockets because rockets use the thrust of gases8 to lift off the ground. In the first century the Chinese used gun powder to propel objects into the sky during celebrations. Later the Chinese attached bamboo tubes to arrows and soon discovered that the gun powder could launch itself and thus the first true rocket was born in 1232. These rockets were used in the battle of Kai Keng against the Mongols and soon the rocket was known for Asia to Europe and various improvements where constantly being made.

In 1898 a Russian school teacher named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky suggested the idea of a space exploration rocket as well as the idea of liquid fuel. The first successful liquid fueled rocket was made by an American named Robert Goddard in 1926. Though the rockets flight was unimpressive by today’s standards it fore ran the future of rockets. Goddard also invented the gyroscope which greatly improved the accuracy of the rocket. During World War 2 the Germans were designing military missiles. After Germany lost some of the scientist when to the Soviet Union while others went to the United States. Soon after this a competition of rocketry for war and later for space research was born. It was this competition that caused the US to create NASA to further space research. In 1957 the Soviet Union shocked the world when the released the earth orbiting satellite named Sputnik. Sputnik was used for spying on various other countries. As history went on various other rockets where created which achieved astounding goals such as taking man to the moon and sending rockets to other planets. Over time the rocket has evolved from gunpowder attached to an arrow to the great rockets we know today.





//Ms. Mc - very good summary of the history of rocketry. Please use proper punctuation (especially commas - anywhere you would take a breath when you're reading your entry). I like your drawing too. Please label all drawings/photos with a figure # and title. 14/15//

Entry Number Three 4/4/11 Rocket Flight stage Simulation

Instruction to Run Simulation

Turn on you volume Click Green Flag to watch project Enjoy!

media type="custom" key="8956124"

Entry Number Four 4/13/11



In the rocket the nose cone is used to make the rocket more aerodynamic. The nose cone is designed to decrease air resistance on the rocket. The body tube is the main part of the rockets inside of it is the motor and the parachute as well as other components. The recovery system is made so that the rocket can have a smooth landing back on the ground. The recovery system slows down the rocket or adds padding to smooth the rockets landing. The recovery wadding is made to protect the recovery system from the hot gasses emitted from the engine. The launch lug is made to guide the rocket at the beginning of its take off so that it had a much more controlled and accurate launch angle. The fins work for the same goal. The fins are designed to keep the rocket flying straight. The motor mount is made to keep the motor in place. Finally the rocket motor is a device that launches the rocket by creating thrust by burning fuel. The motor is non-reusable and its thrust is controlled and safe.

Ms. Mc: Very good definitions! You didn't indicate which parts are inside the rocket (-1) and forgot your entry title (-1/2). Please make your captions at least 3 words and more descriptive (-1/2). Please put a line between your entries. I did it for you this time. 18/20

Entry number five

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a rocket with a heavier mass would have a greater or lesser apogee than that of a rocket with a lighter mass. It was hypothesized that rockets with less mass would reach a greater apogee. This is because gravity has a greater force on the rockets with greater mass. This would mean that there would need to be more thrust for the rocket to reach the same apogee as a rocket with less mass. However all of the rockets were all given the same motor and therefore all have the same thrust. First when the rocket fuel tanks ignite the rocket applies a force on the ground and according to Newton’s laws the ground than provides an equal and opposite force on the rocket. As the rockets takes of gravity is the main force pushing down on the rocket as well as some minor air resistance. The rocket’s thrust lifts it into the air. Eventually the rockets engines turn off and the rocket coasts on its inertia. At this point the rockets inertia is significantly greater than the gravity and air resistance. When launching the rockets the success of these steps was a determining factor to the rockets apogee. In the experiment the mass data was inversely proportional to the mass of the rocket. The most massive rocket at 46.9 grams peaked at and apogee of 62 meters this was the lowest of the group. Three of the rockets whose mass was between 45.2 and 45.5 all peaked within apogee’s of 82 to 93 meters. In the data there is one outlier that denies the inversely proportional trend. The rocket was the least massive of the group weighing 41.5 grams reached the second lowest apogee at 69 meters. This outlier could be due to various variables. The rockets where launched on the different days all of which had slightly different weather conditions, there could have been a sudden gust of wind that would affect the rockets apogee, or an incorrect angle measurement. It was concluded that the hypothesis was correct as the mass of the data showed that rockets with lesser masses reach greater apogees. However as it was stated earlier there was many variables that could have affected the rockets apogees.

Log Entry Six

1: What is a quark how many different types of quark are there?

Quarks are elementary level particles that make up the protons and neutrons in atoms nuclei. There are six different types of quarks they are known as flavors. The six different flavors of quarks are top, bottom, strange, charm, up, and down. As shown in figure five.



2: How did our Moon come to revolve around the Earth?

Scientist believes that the moon came into orbit of Earth when there was a large collision between the newly formed Earth and another planet the size of Mars. The gravitational pull than pulled the moon in circles around the Earth for eternity. The moon took heavy bombardment from asteroids but the earth did not because of its strong atmosphere. As seen in figure six.



//Ms. Mc: Good answers but you need to work on incorporating your reference to the figures a little better. Figure 6 is not the moon being bombarded by asteroids as it seems you say in the text but rather the Earth being hit by a planet like you state in your caption (-1). Please put a line between your entries (-1/2) 8.5/10//

Entry Number Seven 4/26/10

Explaining Lego MINDSTORMS Grid

For challenge one the robot had to complete an obstacle course which included point turns, straight a ways, and moving turns. In the program many different blocks where used to explain to the robot what to do. The first block is a movement block. It tells the robot to turn on its servomotors B and C and go 3.5 rotations foreword at 75% speed. The robot then went forward. The second block is also a motion block. It tells the robot to make a forward 180 degree turn at 75% power activating servomotors B and C. The robot then makes a right turn. The third block which is also a movement block serves a similar purpose as the first block. It tells the robot to use its servomotors B and C to move forward 1.8 rotations at 75% power. The robot the moves forward. The forth movement block serves a similar purpose to the second one. It tells the robot to make a 180 degree turn and 75% power still activating servomotors B and C. The robot then makes it second right turn. The 5th movement block tells the robot to go forward 1.3 rotations at 75% speed still activating servomotors B and C. For the third time the robot goes forward. The sixth movement block tells the robot to stop and make a 1440 degree point turn at 75% power using servomotors B and C. The robot stops and makes a spins around in circle twice. The seventh block is a sound block which tells the robot to play the sound file applause at 75% power after the robot has completed the point turn. The robot plays the applause sound after it is done with its point turn. The final block is a display block. The display block tells the robot to display a smile face at coordinates 19 by 6. The robot displays the picture of the smile face.

Explanation of Challenge 1

In challenge one my partner and I had to create a program which told the robot to follow a track. In the track the robot had to make two 90 degree turns, make a 720 degree point turn as well as follow the path of straight a ways whose lengths varied. The robot had to go forward make a 90 degree turn to the right, then continue forward in the that direction until making another 90 degree right turn. The robot then went forward through the last straight away and finally made a 720 degree point turn. After the point turn the robot had to make applause noise and show a smile face of the screen.