Water Bottle Rocket

As we begin researching different water bottle designs, I came upon this website. (http://lanceorloff.s5.com/rocket.html) The design of this water bottle rocket is very simple. However, there is useful information that we can all benefit from. This design tells us that fins are required for stable take off. Fins help the bottle rocket to spin in a straight line. Also, the website shares with us that there should be a counterweight in the front part of the rocket. This will also help keep the rocket balanced as it takes off. What the website doesn't have any information about, is the parachute. So we will have to come up with our own design about it.

Blogpost #23

This past week in Science, we continued to learn about the concepts of electrical energy. In particular, we studied the flow of energy through a parallel circuit and a series circuit. Many household appliances are built with a series circuit. A series circuit is more conducive for household appliances because it is space efficient. A parallel circuit is more conducive for other electric items such as Christmas lights. Before, Christmas lights were wired with a series circuit. This type of circuit made it difficult to change lights because when one light went out, the entire string of lights would go out as well. Nowadays, Christmas lights are wired with a parallel circuit, so if one light goes out, the others continue to shine.

Blogpost #22

This past week in Science, we continued to learn about electrical currents. On Friday, we were able to set up a circuit involving a battery, a multi-meter, alligator clamps, and couple resistors. We measured the amount of resistance, volts, and milliamps of the circuit. Many of our results varied because all of the batteries had a certain amount of power within them. The circuit offered us a way to understand how many electronic utilities are manufactured and how many homes are wired. The average cost of electricity in Hawai’i is roughly $.25 per kilowatthour. Some households use more electricity than others, depending on how many people live in the house and how many appliances need a constant source of electricity.

Blogpost

This is a picture of my iPhone Charger. This charger is able to convert AC power into DC power. The difference between AC (Alternating Current) and DC (Direct Current) power is that AC is power that can move in either direction, and DC is power that can only move in one direction. This charger, like many other household appliances, has a voltage of 120 volts. Voltage, otherwise known as electric potential difference, is the potential difference between two points. Amperes is the SI unit of electric current that is equal to the amount joules per one coulomb. Voltage and Amperes are found on many utilities around the world. Many countries have different amount of voltage per household.