Stephz Electric-Blog

2006-06-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Design and perform a scientific experiment that illustrates how one the concepts works.

a. What is the “testable” question that the experiment is trying to answer?
How far apart are the data tracks?
Describe how you will test the question above. Provide a diagram or photograph of the experimental setup.
First you will need a used or new DVD or Cd which ever you would like to use and then you need a portable hand laser. Then you will point the laser at the dvd or cd and try to figure out how does a laser read the dvd or cd when it is being played.

Materials and Equipment
laser pointer (with known wavelength)
-CD
-DVD
-protractor
-index card
-several pieces of thin cardboard (cereal box, or similar)
-sturdy box, preferably wooden
-stack of books
-black marker
-calculator with trigonometry functions (sin, cos, tan)
-digital camera and tripod (optional)

1. Experimental Procedure
Laser Pointer Safety
Adult supervision recommended. Even low-power lasers can cause permanent eye damage. Please carefully review and follow the Laser Safety Guide.

1. The image above shows the experimental setup. It's a good idea to work near the edge of a table, with good lighting. Here are the important features of the setup, in order of construction:

a.Place the CD, label-side down, near the center of the workspace.

b. Put a piece of cardboard to the right of the CD, and another piece of cardboard behind the CD. Both pieces should be about the same thickness as the CD. You will be placing the box on top of all this. The cardboard prevents the box from wobbling.

c.If you want, put a piece of paper or tissue over the back half of the CD, to prevent scratching.

d. For measuring the angles, you will attach the protractor to the index card, flush at the bottom. Use a stack of two cardboard spacers at the points indicated, so that the laser pointer can shine down between the index card and the protractor.

e. Tape the index card to the side of the box (we used a wooden box for holding magazines). The index card and protractor should be flush with the bottom of the box.

f. Carefully place the box over the CD and cardboard pieces. You want the index card lined up along the diameter of the CD, parallel to the front of the table. The center of the protractor should be lined up midway between the center and the rim of the CD.

g. A stack of books makes a convenient elbow rest for the person holding the laser pointer. Rest your fingers against the box as shown to help hold the laser pointer steady.

h. Before you turn on the laser pointer, make sure that no one is in the path of the diffracted beams (the plane of the index card, extended out on both sides and above).

i. Direct the laser pointer beam down the face of the index card, and align the beam with the center of the protractor. You may have to fiddle slightly before you see a diffraction pattern like the one in the photo. Make your adjustments carefully, keeping the beam as close to parallel with the card as possible.

2. Making measurements

a. When the incident and diffracted beams are clearly visible, mark their locations with the marker, or take a digital photo for later analysis. If you are using a marker, start with a fresh index card for each measurement. If you are using a digital camera, make sure that the camera is aligned parallel to the index card, with the frame horizontally centered on the protractor. As a test, it's a good idea to take a picture of an index card marked with three lines at known angles. Measure the angles with your favorite photo editing program to confirm that your camera is aligned properly.

b. The image above shows how to mark and measure the angles. If you are using a marker, mark the beam locations with dots, and label them. If you are using digital photos, use a photo editing program to draw lines over the beams, starting from the center of the protractor. Remember that angles are measured from the normal (black line in the illustration). For example, θi, the angle of the incident beam, is 20 degrees in the image above. You measure from the normal (90° on the protractor) to the incident beam (70° on the protractor).[Note: Did you notice the small problem with this setup? Examine the protractor closely, and you will see that the positions for 0 and 180 degrees are not flush with the CD. Because of this, the angles measured with this setup will be slightly underestimated. A protractor that has 0 and 180 degrees flush with its edge is a better choice.]

c. Repeat the procedure at least five times. If you are using a marker, remember to start with a fresh index card for each measurement. It is OK to vary the angle of the incident beam with each trial

d. Do five trials with a DVD for comparison.

3. Calculating d, the data track spacing.

a. Make separate tables for your CD and DVD data, similar to the one below. You'll fill in the first five columns from your measurements, and you will calculate values for the last four columns. For some angles of the laser pointer, you may not see all of the diffraction orders. In that case, just leave the column corresponding to the missing order blank.

b. Here is the formula for calculating d:
d = m × λ ⁄ (sin θm − sin θi ) (Equation 2)

c. Calculate d for each of the non-zero order diffracted rays (i.e., m = +1, +2, −1, −2). For example, for m = −1, and a laser pointer with a wavelength of 655 nm, the formula would be:
d = (−1) × 655 ⁄ (sin θ−1 − sin θi )
Since we entered the wavelength in units of nm, our answer is also in nm. (To convert to μm, multiply your answer by 1 μm/1000 nm.)

d. Note: make sure that your calculator is set for entering angles in degrees.

e. If your laser pointer specifies its wavelength as a range of numbers, use the center of the range as the value for λ. Inexpensive red laser pointers are generally in the 635 – 670 nm range. Green laser pointers are 532 nm.

f. Calculate the average value for each d column, and, separately, for all of the values of d.

Source:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas/Phys_p011.shtml?from=Home

b. Identify the VARIABLES (independent, dependent, and controls) being measured, with an explanation of how you will measure each of them.

Identify the Independent variable:
The independent Variable is the position of the laser on the cd.
How will the independent variable be measured?
This will be measured in Degrees on a protractor.

Dependent variable:
The dependent variable is the outcome of angles on the protractor reflected off the cd.
How will the dependent variable be measured?
This will be measured in degrees on a protractor.

Control(s):
CD, the distance on the CD the laser was pointing at 2 cm away from the bar code.
Why are these control(s) necessary?
These are very important because to get an accurate reading or your results will be wishy washy (even though i think my readind came out that way!!). Control means the things to keep consistant, and by keeping those things consistant is easier to read and retest the experiment.

c. Perform the experiment and organize your results (data) in a way that someone else could easily understand. Perform enough TRIALS to ensure you have reliable data. Use a table if necessary.

Test #1
Incoming Ray in Degrees	Outgoing Ray in Degrees
46	43
	18
	5
Test # 2
Incoming Ray in Degrees	Outgoing Ray in Degrees
30	30
	5
	60

d. Equation solving to see the data spacing between the data track.
d = m × λ ⁄ (sin θm − sin θi )
d= is the spacing of the structure (in this case, the data tracks).

θm= is the angle of the mth diffracted ray, and θi is the angle of the incident (incoming) light. Both angles (θm and θi) are measured from the normal, a line perpendicular to the diffracting surface at the point of incidence (where the light strikes the CD)

m= is the order of the diffracted ray. The reflected ray (when θm = θi) has order 0 (zero). Rays farther from the normal than the reflected beam have order 1, +2, +3, etc. Rays closer to the normal have order −1, −2, −3, etc. In certain cases, for example very small d, some or all of the negative m orders may actually be diffracted through such a large angle that they are on the same side of the normal as the incident light.

λ= is the wavelength of the light.

d = m × λ ⁄ (sin θm − sin θi )
Test # 1
(1)(532)/(sin18-sin46)= -28
(2)(532)/(sin43-sin46)= -354.6

Test #2
(1)(532)/(sin30-sin30)= 532
(2)(532)/(sin60-sin30)= 35.46

e. Your conclusions. Do your results lead you to infer an answer to your “testable” question? Why/why not? Explain thoroughly using your data to support your claims.
My experiment did lead me to a reasonable answer for each of my testes. But my answers are seem to be really fishy as in there are minus sighs in Test #1 which i dont think there should be any. I think something went wrong during the experiment to lead me to an unsure answer. this experiment leads me to question my own steps i took to get the data and the math it took to solve to get how far apart the data tracks are from each other?

f. A list of further questions you still have after performing the experiment.
-Is there another way or experiment to test the data tracks on the cd?
-Is the equation an accuret equation to slove for data tracks?
-Would there a different number for data tracks if u use a different color laser instead of a green or red laser?
-What other colors do lasers come in?
-Is the distance in between the data tracks the same?

g. How does your experiment connect to the gadget you took apart? Explain in atleast one paragraph.
My experiment does connect to my gadget because i got to see how the little laser in a DVD player reads the data tracks on a cd when it is playing. iIts pretty intersting to see and test out the angles a cd reflects off. For a cd to work in a DVD player the laser needs to read the data on the cd. My experiment got to test how strong the laser in a DVD player is how it works. The incoming ray will reflect off a different outgoing ray because it depends what postion you place the laser. That's why in a DVD play or CD player the laser is in a consistant postions only moving up and down which allows it to get the right measurement on the data track.

h. How would the results of your experiment be used by someone to desgin your gadget? Explain.
Knowing how far apart the data tracks are, lets you know how far the laser needs to move so it can read the next data track.

i. Provide links to other resources for further reading.
How does a laser work?- http://science.howstuffworks.com/laser2.htm

j. Include a bibliography that shows all your sources.

2006-04-25T11:14:00.001-07:00

Introduce the underlying scientific concepts that are essential to understanding how your gadget works.

Concept 1: Laser

a. Define the general term used scientists to identify the concept you are studying.
"LASER, acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Lasers are devices that amplify light and produce coherent light beams, ranging from infrared to ultraviolet. A light beam is coherent when its waves, or photons, propagate in step with one another. Laser light, therefore, can be made extremely intense, highly directional, and very pure in color (frequency). Laser devices now extend into the X-ray frequency range. Masers are similar devices for microwaves."

b. Additional terminology: What key terms that are used by scientists explaining this concept? Provide terms and definitions for each.
Atomic Emission- The emission of atomic line radiation may be described by an emission coefficient ε with units of energy/time/volume/solid angle.

Atomic Emission Spectrum- The atomic emission spectrum of an element is the set of frequencies of the electromagnetic waves emitted by atoms of that element. Each atom's atomic emission spectrum is unique and can be used to determine if that element is part of an unknown compound.

c. Diagrams and graphs you found that help explain this concept
http://science.howstuffworks.com/laser6.htm

d. List your sources
Laser defintion-http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/space/laser.html
Atomic Emisssion defination-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_emission
Atomic Emission Spectrum-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_emission_spectrum
Diagram- http://science.howstuffworks.com/laser6.htm

Concept 2: Digital Information Process

a. Define the general term used scientists to identify the concept you are studying?
Digital Processing-" In digital technology, the analog wave is sampled at some interval, and then turned into numbers that are stored in the digital device."

b. Additional terminology: What key terms that are used by scientists explaining this concept? Provide terms and definitions for each.
Analog Wave-"In analog technology, a wave is recorded or used in its original form. So, for example, in an analog tape recorder, a signal is taken straight from the microphone and laid onto tape. The wave from the microphone is an analog wave, and therefore the wave on the tape is analog as well. That wave on the tape can be read, amplified and sent to a speaker to produce the sound."
c. Diagrams and graphs you found that help explain this concept

d. List your sources
Digital Defination- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question7.htm
Analog Defination- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question7.htm

2006-03-31T11:47:00.000-08:00

Meet Neil Postman: Technology Critic

1. In this quote, Postman claims that “technological change always results in winners and losers.” He points to the printing press as an example. How does Postman think society changed as a result of the printing press? Who are the winners and who are the losers according to Postman? What changed as a result?

For example with the bible the chruch would the losers in the technology world because everyone use to have just one source of the bible which was hand written by the preacher. The printing press would be the winners in the technology world because everyone became independent of themselves in judging what was being said by other sources of the bible and having different mind sets of what they are being told.

2. According to Postman, what is the relationship between technology and education? Does Postman think technology is a threat to education? How? Can education be used to stem the rapid advance of technology? How?

Postman thinks that technology only uses passive information to transfer a source of education which doesn't provide the maximim education a person or child needs.

"The "forum" that I think is best suited for this is our educational system. If students get a sound education in the history, social effects and psychological biases of technology, they may grow to be adults who use technology rather than be used by it."

Postman is stating that students reveal on technology to learn about history and what is going on in the world besides learning it by hand or together as a class. Postman is also stating that don't let technology control your life because your only making the company richer by buying their product. Most of the things you buy are useless and you only buy it by its appeal.

3. Do you think the rapid advance of the internet has resulted in winners and losers? Explain how you think it has changed, or will change, the nature of human interactions.

The advance in technoolgy has resulted into many people bcoming more lazy at what they do because with the use of technology makes them do the work for them. I believe that technology in the future will become more and more useful for business and maybe it will become a life style because many people now these days do their school work, business work, their shopping, and etc. through the internet and the more people use it the fanyier technology appeal will become. I do think that technology will result in winners and losers because as the more high tech and fanyier a technology will become the more it will become and not many people may be able to afford it so sorten technology will become on hold on there part of life.

2006-03-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

2) What is the purpose of the component?

3) What is it made of? Are there conductors and/or insulators present? Why are these materials important to the functioning of the device?

4) If there are important sub-parts, what are they? What is their purpose

5) How do all these sub-parts work together? Explain the concepts that are underneath the operation of this device.

2006-03-21T11:10:00.002-08:00

Assignment: Choose what you think are the two most important or interesting parts of your gadget and begin a new draft post where you will collect research (quotes, facts, pictures) that will allow you to provide your readers a DEEPER analysis of how these particular parts work.

For example...If I were taking apart a walkman, I might choose
1) the electric motor
2) the read/record head

For each component, you will need to go into depth to explore HOW IT WORKS

Name of component: Capacitor

1) Sketch the component and label its parts, or take a digital picture with the labeled parts.

Sketch or Picture URL: http://electriconics.howstuffworks.com/capactior.htm

2) What is the purpose of the component?
Capacitoris a device that stores energy in the eletric field created between a pair of conductors on which equal but opposite electric charges have been placed. A capacitor is occasionally referred to using the older term condenser.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/capacitor

3) What is is made of? Are there conductors and/ insulators present? Why are these materials important to the functioning of the device?
Covered with big long pieces of alumim foil. The insulators are present in a paper type form. the conductors are present in a foil form. Insulators block the flow of energy. Conductors lets a flow of energy and electricy through out the capacitor.

4) If there are important sub-parts, what are they? What is their purpose?
Top plate & Bottom plate- allow a flow of electricy through out the capacitor.

Dielectric- it's the insulator blocking the energy to flow inside.

5) How do all these sub-parts work together? Explain the concepts that are underneath the operation of this device.

2006-03-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Using the AM New York article entitled “Blog City,” create a post that does the following…

1. According to the author, why has New York become such a popular city for Blogging? Use at least one quote from the article to support your claims.

New York has become a popular city with Blogging because you get to communicate with others in your own private home through computers. Bloggers let you sell pieces of art work as in your own business and let you see others opinion and state of mind on a situation.

"At the core of the blogging appeal is an independent sense of enpowerment."

2. What motivates people to keep their own blogs? Use at least one quote from the article to provide an example. (use the Blockquote tool in your toolbar to indent the quote.

Many people are motivated by bloggers because it interests people in different areas of life with many creative writting. Bloggers is a "mainstream media" where you can express you collective thinking and others opinions on interesting topics.

"Catering to every interest, written by every conceivable kind of person, and collectively working to create a 21st- century's foremost Blog City."

3. Choose one New York-based blog from the article that you find interesting, and give a paragraph summary of what the blog is about. Who is the author? How long have they been blogging? Why do they blog? Inside your paragraph, provide your readers a link to the blog.

A blogger that i found really interesting was The Assimilated Negro. The Assimilated Negro voices his opinion interesting topics like his realationship blog about moving foward but at the same time you want 2 move backward. I found that blog interesting to read beacuse as i ask many people have you ever tryed to that in a relationship and they have confessed they have did that and it was because they tryed to move to fast. The Assimilated Negro speaks his mind on real issues that we as a community and us as people face sometime in our lives. The Assilimilated Negro speaks on other issues and topic on his page if you would like to visit his page like I did and look at a different point of view you can at http://theassimilatednegro.blogspot.com/

Optional fun stuff:

a) Register your blog at nycbloggers.com This will probably result in visitors and comments on your blog.

b) Go to amNY.com and send them your favorite blog Humans Technology and Experience (htehome.blogspot.com).

2006-03-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

1. What is Richard Sclove's view of our modern society's realtionship with technology? Why might democracy be threatened by blindly adopted technology? Give quotes from the text to back up your analysis.

Democracy might be blindly threatened by technology beacuse we accept all technologies without looking into or deeper what is the really use for this technology, we accept good and bad technology, just as long it looks nice and pretty. "What would be the impact on our desired form of society if individuals, or the community, were to adopt one set of technologies rather than another?" This is the question we should ask ourselves every time a new technology comes around and be truly honest with yourself and ask yourself do I really need this technology in my life? This Richard trying to point out that we can't say that "technolgy is evil; let's get rid of it" because many things have a purpose and a use for it and plus we need some sort of technology, not all technologymakes us handly cap.

2. How does the Amish relationship with technology differ from ours, and that of the Ibican's? Give examples that illustrate this point.

The Amish is different from our technology because all sorts of technology you can name we use it, but in the other hands as in the Amish they don't hardly use or find the use for technology only for electric grills, inline skates. The Amish first discuss whether they should allow a sorten technolgy into their community as in our community we accept all technology with farther look. Technology for the Amish is stating that their community will fall apart and for us it brings us closer instead of drawing us apart. The Ibicans, is all about tranforming into urban community, to me it seems like all they care about is making money "the objective is to enhance national economic growth, productivity,and international competitiveness, based on the assumption that as long an innovation sells profitably, it is a soical blessing."

3. What is the lesson Sclove thinks we must learn from the Amish if we are to remain a true democracy? Use quotes from the text to support your description.

I think the lesson that Sclove wants us to learn from the Amish is that some technology that we use is not useful and that we should find other ways to get around them because by us doing that will bring our community together as in bring us apart. "First transform society, then tackle technology".

Resource-Decomcracy and Technology by: Richard E. Sclove. New York: Guilford Press, 1995.

2006-03-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

I am investigating how a DVD player works so here is a little background about a DVD player and when it got on the market!!!! DVD is the new work of technology a way great new way to store any type of information from music to sharing pictures on the computer. DVD is known to be better and faster in processing information from anywhere from a computer to a video carmera. DVD is in the processing in replacing videotapes and video game cartridges which major companies support to make DVD the better and high tech technology in passing information from one place or household to another. In 1997 is when the DVD was first infroduced into the business world or placed on the market. In 2003 was when there were over 250 million DVD devices in the market worldwide. By this time there were more than half DVD than VCRs in the nation, so DVD was becoming the new unquie standard way in video publishing.

Capacitors

Part Name	Picture	Function	Important connections and/or sub-parts
A-Pex DVD Player Inside		This is the inside of a dvd player. Showing it's functions which holds and connect to each part inside of the dvd to make it work. There are many capacitors.

2006-03-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Today's Research-APEX Digital DVD player

URL:http://support.apexdigitalinc.com/images/AD1130w.e.pdf

Author: This is the official user manual used by APEX Digital

Credentials/Crediblity: I think it is a really good source because the manufacture produced this product and would not have placed it in the department store if it wasn't reliable.

What I have learn from this site: I haven't fully read it but I have a sense of what the control panels are and how it works.

Cool Pictures:None

Quotes:None

2006-03-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

Assignment: Last class we experimented with batteries, bulbs, wires, and a number of different materials (foil, cardboard, wax paper, etc..) to try to better understand the basic principles at work in most electrical technology...

1.Your assignment is to post web definitions for the following words:

Electircal Circuit-an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow [syn: circuit, electrical circuit]- Resource:http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=electric%20circuit

Electrical Conduction-is the movement of electrically charged particles through a transmission medium. The movement can form an electric current in response to an electric field. The underlying mechanism for this movement depends on the material.-Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_conduction

Electrical Insulator-An insulator is a material or object that resists the flow of electric charge.The opposite of electrical insulators are conductors and semiconductors, which permit the flow of charge. Semiconductors are strictly speaking also insulators, since they prevent the flow of electric charge at low temperatures, unless doped with atoms that release extra charges to carry the current.-Resource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_insulation

Make sure to include your sources.

2.How can YOU define these in your own words based on our experiment with batteries, bulbs, wires, and different materials? How can you test to determine whether a material is a conductor or an insulator? How do you know when a circuit is a CLOSED circuit?

When you have a close circuit is when you have a loop with wires all connected to the metal part.

3.How do these concepts apply to your object? What parts are made of conductors? Insulators? How did you know? Are any circuits are present? How can you tell? Use pictures to explain, if you want.

4.What do you think a semiconductor is? Predict the meaning....Then look it up. Are there anny semi-conductors in your object. Where? What parts are made of semi-conductors and what special roles do they play?