Jonas heard about this event from a friend at FSU and shared it at the meeting on Thursday. Rather than include it with the internship info, I think it deserves more attention than that.
Here is the link (183 kB pdf)
The big opportunity is Wednesday, September 25.
Sir Harold Kroto, winner of the Nobel Prize as a co-discoverer of C60 (better known as the Buckyball) while at Rice University, will be speaking about that discovery as an example of how a scientific discovery happens. It is VERY rare to hear someone talk about how they came up with the idea behind such an important experiment, let alone one that is revolutionizing everything from chemistry and physics to materials science (nanotubes) and medicine. I should also mention that he is a good speaker.
All programs start at 5:30 pm in the Askew Student Life Center, which you can read about here . It is east of the Leach Center and west of Parking Garage No. 2, just west of the part of Woodward Avenue that is closed to traffic. The easiest access to parking is from the south, heading up Woodward from Gaines. The entrance to the theater is on the west side of the building that faces Learning Way.
Showing posts with label event. Show all posts
Showing posts with label event. Show all posts
Friday, September 20, 2013
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tallahassee Scientific Society program
"Horizons 2012"
All presentations will be given at 7 pm (doors open at 6) in the IMAX Theater at the Challenger Learning Center on Kleman Plaza in downtown Tallahassee. There is an admission charge to cover the cost of renting the facility. The price of a single program is $12 ($6 for TSS members), while the price for the entire series is $40 ($20 for TSS members). Details are on the TSS web site. There is a $10 cost for a student membership in TSS.
Feb 23:
"The state of the Space Industry in Florida"
by Frank DiBello, President of Space Florida
March 22:
"Run Silent, Run Deep: New life on WWII shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico", by Thomas Shirley, marine biologist at Texas A&M
April 25:
"My Life as a Turkey: One man's study of nature and nurture in the wilds of Sopchoppy, FL" by Joe Hutto.
I have heard Joe talk about his experiences as the parent of a brood of wild turkeys that he raised from eggs and taught to forage and roost in the wild. (This was featured in a PBS/BBC Nature program last fall.) It is an amazing story.
May 24:
"The ecology of a southern nature writer"
by Janisse Ray, author of The Ecology of a Cracker Childhood,
who grew up and still lives in Baxter, GA.
All presentations will be given at 7 pm (doors open at 6) in the IMAX Theater at the Challenger Learning Center on Kleman Plaza in downtown Tallahassee. There is an admission charge to cover the cost of renting the facility. The price of a single program is $12 ($6 for TSS members), while the price for the entire series is $40 ($20 for TSS members). Details are on the TSS web site. There is a $10 cost for a student membership in TSS.
Feb 23:
"The state of the Space Industry in Florida"
by Frank DiBello, President of Space Florida
March 22:
"Run Silent, Run Deep: New life on WWII shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico", by Thomas Shirley, marine biologist at Texas A&M
April 25:
"My Life as a Turkey: One man's study of nature and nurture in the wilds of Sopchoppy, FL" by Joe Hutto.
I have heard Joe talk about his experiences as the parent of a brood of wild turkeys that he raised from eggs and taught to forage and roost in the wild. (This was featured in a PBS/BBC Nature program last fall.) It is an amazing story.
May 24:
"The ecology of a southern nature writer"
by Janisse Ray, author of The Ecology of a Cracker Childhood,
who grew up and still lives in Baxter, GA.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Club Announcements
From Gillian ...
(1) FSU Advising Day
Wednesday is FSU Advising in the SU ballroom from 10-2pm. This is a chance for all of you to speak to an advisor from the FSU Engineering Program, to see what classes you'd need and how many attempts that you're allowed.
(2) Club meeting Friday
We have a meeting this coming Friday at 2pm in SM260. I will e-mail the agenda tomorrow or Thursday. We'll be covering Spirit day, the solar cart, and the upcoming Hopkins Power plant tour. Also, those of you who attended the Latin Festival can sign the form for personal points and SOC points.
(1) FSU Advising Day
Wednesday is FSU Advising in the SU ballroom from 10-2pm. This is a chance for all of you to speak to an advisor from the FSU Engineering Program, to see what classes you'd need and how many attempts that you're allowed.
(2) Club meeting Friday
We have a meeting this coming Friday at 2pm in SM260. I will e-mail the agenda tomorrow or Thursday. We'll be covering Spirit day, the solar cart, and the upcoming Hopkins Power plant tour. Also, those of you who attended the Latin Festival can sign the form for personal points and SOC points.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Hopkins Power Plant tour / ASME welcome party
From Ben Cowart for ASME student members, but I believe any TCC students interested in mechanical engineering are welcome to attend and get recruited. (Student memberships are cheap.)
Please contact Gillian if you plan to attend. They want an RSVP head count so they can plan for the right amount of food.
Detailed directions are in this article from 2008.
September 30, 2009
Topic: Tour of AB Hopkins Power Plant
Host: Triveni Singh, City of Tallahassee
Agenda
4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Registration
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Introductions, Announcements, and Recognitions
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Tour
6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Dinner and Q&A
7:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Clean-up
The Tallahassee Sections welcomes back the student members, with a tour of the Hopkins Plant and cookout. Students, please RSVP to your student Club Advisor NLT Monday, September 28th, so that we can get an approximate head count for buying food. Thank you in advance to Triveni Singh and the Hopkins Plant for hosting this “Welcome Back” Students Event.
The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between US 90 West (W. Tennessee) and HWY 20, Blountstown Highway.
Safety and Dress Code:
This is an operating power plant, please do not wear shorts or loose fitting shirts. Shoes must be closed toe preferably leather. If you have a hard hat and safety glasses, please bring them, as the plant has a limited number.
Please contact Gillian if you plan to attend. They want an RSVP head count so they can plan for the right amount of food.
Detailed directions are in this article from 2008.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Hopkins Power Plant - ASME tour and cookout
UPDATE (9/16):
The tour will be on Wed, 9/30.
Details will appear in a new posting.
- - - - - -
E-mail from the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) local section had the following information about the planned tour and cookout at the Hopkins power plant. I expect we will get final details in a week or so.
You should go on this tour even if you have seen the plant during one of the city's regular October open house events. They give a better, more detailed, tour to engineers -- plus you can talk to FAMU-FSU students, some from TCC!
Date and time:
Thursday, 9/24, from 5 - 7:30
Sadly, this conflicts with my night class so I can't be there except maybe at the end. I haven't seen the final result of the "repowering" project, but maybe I can see that if they have the public open house in October.
Other details:
I don't have them, but clearly they plan to tour the Hopkins power plant, which is quite convenient to campus (5 miles west of Capital Circle SW, between HWY 20 and US 90 on Geddie Road). You can see more detailed directions and a Google map by following this link to info about a previous tour, and you can read information about the dress code for the tour by following this link.
In past years they wanted RSVP information by the preceding Monday (meaning by 9/21) so they could get enough food. Stay tuned for more details.
The tour will be on Wed, 9/30.
Details will appear in a new posting.
- - - - - -
E-mail from the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) local section had the following information about the planned tour and cookout at the Hopkins power plant. I expect we will get final details in a week or so.
You should go on this tour even if you have seen the plant during one of the city's regular October open house events. They give a better, more detailed, tour to engineers -- plus you can talk to FAMU-FSU students, some from TCC!
Date and time:
Thursday, 9/24, from 5 - 7:30
Sadly, this conflicts with my night class so I can't be there except maybe at the end. I haven't seen the final result of the "repowering" project, but maybe I can see that if they have the public open house in October.
Other details:
I don't have them, but clearly they plan to tour the Hopkins power plant, which is quite convenient to campus (5 miles west of Capital Circle SW, between HWY 20 and US 90 on Geddie Road). You can see more detailed directions and a Google map by following this link to info about a previous tour, and you can read information about the dress code for the tour by following this link.
In past years they wanted RSVP information by the preceding Monday (meaning by 9/21) so they could get enough food. Stay tuned for more details.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Update: Electric Cars
One of my students told me the electric car show yesterday was excellent. Among other things, he got to see a Tesla Roadster!
The Tallahassee Democrat has a photo gallery from the event. (Yep, there he is in two of the photos.) I've seen the plug-in converted Prius (pictures 5 and 6) around town, but only heard about the Dodge Caravan last Friday. Now that is a serious bit of home-brew car conversion!
The Tallahassee Democrat has a photo gallery from the event. (Yep, there he is in two of the photos.) I've seen the plug-in converted Prius (pictures 5 and 6) around town, but only heard about the Dodge Caravan last Friday. Now that is a serious bit of home-brew car conversion!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Electric Vehicle Event (April 7)
Attention Solar Cart workers!
The Tallahassee Area Electric Vehicle Association (taeva.org) and Electric Auto Association (EAA) are having a special event in conjunction with a TAEVA chapter meeting on Tuesday, April 7, at 3 PM.
There will be hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and all-electric vehicles (including locally built conversions) on display, but the real attraction is the Spirit of FC plug-in hybrid that is on a tour of all US state capitals. That link takes you to the blog describing the tour. Today (April 3) they are on their way to Birmingham, Alabama, then on to the capital in Montgomery before heading to Tallahassee.
The meeting location, at the Tallahassee city "Fleet Management" center (400 Dupree St), is convenient to TCC so it would be easy to go over there after class on Tuesday afternoon. TAEVA has a map showing the meeting location on its website. Dupree is halfway between Appleyard and Mabry, south of Pensacola.
The Tallahassee Area Electric Vehicle Association (taeva.org) and Electric Auto Association (EAA) are having a special event in conjunction with a TAEVA chapter meeting on Tuesday, April 7, at 3 PM.
There will be hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and all-electric vehicles (including locally built conversions) on display, but the real attraction is the Spirit of FC plug-in hybrid that is on a tour of all US state capitals. That link takes you to the blog describing the tour. Today (April 3) they are on their way to Birmingham, Alabama, then on to the capital in Montgomery before heading to Tallahassee.
The meeting location, at the Tallahassee city "Fleet Management" center (400 Dupree St), is convenient to TCC so it would be easy to go over there after class on Tuesday afternoon. TAEVA has a map showing the meeting location on its website. Dupree is halfway between Appleyard and Mabry, south of Pensacola.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Mag Lab and CAPS Open House Saturday!
The annual Mag Lab Open House will be this Saturday, February 21, from 10 AM to 3 PM.
Two of the things you can see were highlighted in this blog last February: You will actually see a pulsed magnet that gets to about 60 T for a few milliseconds -- before it becomes tiny pieces of copper -- and the switch and capacitor needed to make it work.
CAPS, the Center for Advanced Power Systems, will be having an open house (with lots of hands-on activities) in conjunction with the Mag Lab activities. CAPS is across the street from the Mag Lab, adjacent to the large parking lot where most people will have to park.
Updated: My plan is to get there early (about 10 AM) and tour the Magnet Lab with whatever group of PHY2049 (and other) students shows up at that early hour. We can go over to CAPS after that. Meet me in the main lobby of the magnet lab.
Directions:
CAPS is in one of the two buildings marked with the "A" on this map.
View Larger Map
The Mag Lab is the building complex to the left. There is a new building (Materials Research) filling the empty field to the south of CAPS.
Two of the things you can see were highlighted in this blog last February: You will actually see a pulsed magnet that gets to about 60 T for a few milliseconds -- before it becomes tiny pieces of copper -- and the switch and capacitor needed to make it work.
CAPS, the Center for Advanced Power Systems, will be having an open house (with lots of hands-on activities) in conjunction with the Mag Lab activities. CAPS is across the street from the Mag Lab, adjacent to the large parking lot where most people will have to park.
Updated: My plan is to get there early (about 10 AM) and tour the Magnet Lab with whatever group of PHY2049 (and other) students shows up at that early hour. We can go over to CAPS after that. Meet me in the main lobby of the magnet lab.
Directions:
CAPS is in one of the two buildings marked with the "A" on this map.
View Larger Map
The Mag Lab is the building complex to the left. There is a new building (Materials Research) filling the empty field to the south of CAPS.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
HOPKINS POWER PLANT TOUR and ASME SLS ORLANDO MEETING
STUDENTS ---
Many of us have recently had the privilege of attending either the HOPKINS POWER PLANT TOUR or the ASME SLS (Student Leadership Seminar) in ORLANDO. What I request is that two (different) students step forward and write brief summaries of these events for publication in both the ENGINEERING CLUB BLOG and the ASME MONTHLY NEWSLETTER.
If you are willing to volunteer for this job, please email me ASAP (As Soon As Possible) with your choice of assignment and a proposed submittal date. I'll post the names of the two report-writers on the BLOG and via EMAIL as soon as I receive responses.
If selected, you should at least run a spell-check on your work, but I will proof-read and edit as necessary. So don't be fearful of giving it a "try."
Remember, ultimately, as a professional you will "get paid" for writing reports. Science involves the dissemination of information. And, although I'm asking for a descriptive summary, not an analytical report, this can be a start to your writing experience.
--- DJ
SM 243
850-201-8120 (Office)
850-201-8119 (FAX)
jonesd@tcc.fl.edu
Many of us have recently had the privilege of attending either the HOPKINS POWER PLANT TOUR or the ASME SLS (Student Leadership Seminar) in ORLANDO. What I request is that two (different) students step forward and write brief summaries of these events for publication in both the ENGINEERING CLUB BLOG and the ASME MONTHLY NEWSLETTER.
If you are willing to volunteer for this job, please email me ASAP (As Soon As Possible) with your choice of assignment and a proposed submittal date. I'll post the names of the two report-writers on the BLOG and via EMAIL as soon as I receive responses.
If selected, you should at least run a spell-check on your work, but I will proof-read and edit as necessary. So don't be fearful of giving it a "try."
Remember, ultimately, as a professional you will "get paid" for writing reports. Science involves the dissemination of information. And, although I'm asking for a descriptive summary, not an analytical report, this can be a start to your writing experience.
--- DJ
SM 243
850-201-8120 (Office)
850-201-8119 (FAX)
jonesd@tcc.fl.edu
Friday, September 12, 2008
POWER PLANT TOUR & COOKOUT
REMINDER!!!!!
The Tallahassee Section ASME welcomes back the student members with a tour of the City of Tallahassee's Hopkins Plant, and cookout. Menu will be hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.
The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between Us 90 (West Tennessee Street) and HWY 20 (Blountstown Highway).
Date: Thursday, September 18th from 5:30 PM to 9 PM.
RSVP: Monday, 9/15/08 (to get an approximate head count for buying food)
STUDENTS - Please request RSVP by MONDAY 9/15 to your student Club Adviser:
(DOUG JONES ===> EMAIL: jonesd@tcc.fl.edu
Send me your name and your email address.
Subject line: HOPKINS TOUR )
Thank you in advance to Triveni Singh and the Hopkins Plant for hosting
this “Welcome Back” Students Event.
PS There is another post on this blog addressing the dress required to tour a power plant:
http://engineeringtcc.blogspot.com/2008/09/dress-code-for-power-plant-tour-thurs.html
[ The heart of this message is an email that I received from the TALLAHASSEE SECTION ASME which I modified to contain information specific to the TCC ENGINEERING CLUB. ]
-- DJ
The Tallahassee Section ASME welcomes back the student members with a tour of the City of Tallahassee's Hopkins Plant, and cookout. Menu will be hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.
The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between Us 90 (West Tennessee Street) and HWY 20 (Blountstown Highway).
Date: Thursday, September 18th from 5:30 PM to 9 PM.
RSVP: Monday, 9/15/08 (to get an approximate head count for buying food)
STUDENTS - Please request RSVP by MONDAY 9/15 to your student Club Adviser:
(DOUG JONES ===> EMAIL: jonesd@tcc.fl.edu
Send me your name and your email address.
Subject line: HOPKINS TOUR )
Thank you in advance to Triveni Singh and the Hopkins Plant for hosting
this “Welcome Back” Students Event.
PS There is another post on this blog addressing the dress required to tour a power plant:
http://engineeringtcc.blogspot.com/2008/09/dress-code-for-power-plant-tour-thurs.html
[ The heart of this message is an email that I received from the TALLAHASSEE SECTION ASME which I modified to contain information specific to the TCC ENGINEERING CLUB. ]
-- DJ
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sept. 18 Tour of Power Plant and Cookout
Doug left out one important thing from the e-mail:
Students, please RSVP to your student Club Advisor no later than Monday, September 15th, so that we can get an approximate head count for buying food. Menu will be hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.
The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between US 90 West (W. Tennessee) and HWY 20 (Blountstown Highway, which you join by heading west on Pensacola from TCC). It is easier to reach the plant from Pensacola/ Blountstown Highway. You have to go over a nasty railroad crossing if you come down from Tennessee St.
Follow this link to bring up a Google Map with a tag at the plant entrance, or use the embedded map below. The map linked above is a little bit better because it is centered so you should be able to see TCC (and Appleyard Dr) on the right side with the power plant location on the left side.
View Larger Map
Students, please RSVP to your student Club Advisor no later than Monday, September 15th, so that we can get an approximate head count for buying food. Menu will be hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.
The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between US 90 West (W. Tennessee) and HWY 20 (Blountstown Highway, which you join by heading west on Pensacola from TCC). It is easier to reach the plant from Pensacola/ Blountstown Highway. You have to go over a nasty railroad crossing if you come down from Tennessee St.
Follow this link to bring up a Google Map with a tag at the plant entrance, or use the embedded map below. The map linked above is a little bit better because it is centered so you should be able to see TCC (and Appleyard Dr) on the right side with the power plant location on the left side.
View Larger Map
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Civil Engineering / Architecture / Planning Majors?
An e-mail from the college announced an open forum presenting a revised version of the TCC Master Plan. If you are interesting in civil or environmental engineering or architecture and don't know what the words "Master Plan" mean, you should definitely attend! (Hint: a partial answer is at the bottom of this article.) This is a great chance to see this aspect of the engineering profession, where the focus is on the big picture.
It is also your opportunity to share your thoughts on current and future land use at TCC. (The reason for the forum is to get input on the plans that a consultant has been developing for TCC.)
The forum will be from 9 AM to 4 PM on Wednesday, April 16, in the SU Ballroom. There will be a 15 to 20 minute formal presentation of the plan at 10 AM and 2 PM by Tony Stallworth (new Director of Facilities Planning and Construction at TCC) and a consultant from EMO Architects, Inc. of Tallahassee that produced the plan. You should still drop by even if you can't attend a presentation. There won't be many people around, so you can probably talk to someone as long as you wish.
So what is a Master Plan?
Quoted from the TCC e-mail announcement:
Campus Master Plans are living documents that reflect functional relationships, environmental issues, academic mission and programs, vehicular/pedestrian traffic patterns, landscape design standards, architectural design standards and future campus expansion.
It is also your opportunity to share your thoughts on current and future land use at TCC. (The reason for the forum is to get input on the plans that a consultant has been developing for TCC.)
The forum will be from 9 AM to 4 PM on Wednesday, April 16, in the SU Ballroom. There will be a 15 to 20 minute formal presentation of the plan at 10 AM and 2 PM by Tony Stallworth (new Director of Facilities Planning and Construction at TCC) and a consultant from EMO Architects, Inc. of Tallahassee that produced the plan. You should still drop by even if you can't attend a presentation. There won't be many people around, so you can probably talk to someone as long as you wish.
So what is a Master Plan?
Quoted from the TCC e-mail announcement:
Campus Master Plans are living documents that reflect functional relationships, environmental issues, academic mission and programs, vehicular/pedestrian traffic patterns, landscape design standards, architectural design standards and future campus expansion.
Friday, March 28, 2008
MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS !!! --- FROM AARON RE: 3/28 - 3/30/08
Hello Everyone,
Hope everyone's doing great in classes. We've got a lot of really exciting things happening with the club, and it's time to get things going strong. We have our movie night tomorrow night at Movies 8. The show is at midnight. We need to be there about 11:15 PM.
We also have finally received our order of solar panels. Come out tomorrow and get to check them out.
StuFac day is next wednesday. Be sure to check with Dexter and let him know when you can be at the booth.
Here is a brief list of all the things that will be going on this weekend:
*
Friday 3/28 1:30-5:00:
IMPORTANT
Golf Cart Data Collection and Design
Meet at SM 244 at 1:30 or go out to the mail room. We will be out there until at least 4:00
*
Friday 3/28 11:15 until:
CRITICAL/ ALL HANDS
Movie night at Movies 8 (ALL MEMBERS NEEDED)
*
Saturday Morning:
GOOD FOOD
Go support HP/MESA at the pancake breakfast
*
Saturday Morning:
IMPORTANT
Hydro, Wind, and other power demonstration construction workshop.
Build a real generator!!!
*
Saturday Afternoon:
Come visit TCC's booth at Springtime Tallahassee (not club related)
*
Sunday:
IMPORTANT
Construct temporary mounts for panels and build water balloon launcher for StuFac Day.
There is a lot to be done, and we need everyone's support to make it all happen. If you would like to participate in any of these events or need further information, please contact me by email or call me at 850.251.9955 (Please leave your number if you leave a voice message).
Don't Forget: Next Meeting is April 4, SM260, 2:30
Thank You Everyone,
Aaron Bauldree
Chair - TCC Engineering Club
850.251.9955
Hope everyone's doing great in classes. We've got a lot of really exciting things happening with the club, and it's time to get things going strong. We have our movie night tomorrow night at Movies 8. The show is at midnight. We need to be there about 11:15 PM.
We also have finally received our order of solar panels. Come out tomorrow and get to check them out.
StuFac day is next wednesday. Be sure to check with Dexter and let him know when you can be at the booth.
Here is a brief list of all the things that will be going on this weekend:
*
Friday 3/28 1:30-5:00:
IMPORTANT
Golf Cart Data Collection and Design
Meet at SM 244 at 1:30 or go out to the mail room. We will be out there until at least 4:00
*
Friday 3/28 11:15 until:
CRITICAL/ ALL HANDS
Movie night at Movies 8 (ALL MEMBERS NEEDED)
*
Saturday Morning:
GOOD FOOD
Go support HP/MESA at the pancake breakfast
*
Saturday Morning:
IMPORTANT
Hydro, Wind, and other power demonstration construction workshop.
Build a real generator!!!
*
Saturday Afternoon:
Come visit TCC's booth at Springtime Tallahassee (not club related)
*
Sunday:
IMPORTANT
Construct temporary mounts for panels and build water balloon launcher for StuFac Day.
There is a lot to be done, and we need everyone's support to make it all happen. If you would like to participate in any of these events or need further information, please contact me by email or call me at 850.251.9955 (Please leave your number if you leave a voice message).
Don't Forget: Next Meeting is April 4, SM260, 2:30
Thank You Everyone,
Aaron Bauldree
Chair - TCC Engineering Club
850.251.9955
Thursday, March 27, 2008
ATTENTION... UP-COMING EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
[ A ] -- MESSAGE FROM VERNON BABICH --
This is a breakdown of the things we are working on up until Monday.
Today, Thursday ( 3/27/08 ), we will be selling tickets in the student union for the movie night at Movies 8. Miguel has already gotten a table. The people who signed up to help have been contacted and this is just a reminder that we need all the help we can in the union from 11:00 am until 2:30 pm.
Friday we will all be working on the solar data in the engineering room from about 1:30 until 5:00.
Saturday morning after the MESA breakfast, everyone is welcome to come and help set up the energy displays for the Stu Fac Day presentation. We will also be creating a water balloon launcher for a fundraiser during the Stu Fac Day event.
Either Saturday or Sunday we will be building a mounting board for the solar panels which we will be putting on the golf cart Monday morning.
[[ COMMENT BY DOUG JONES -- Volunteers are needed for all these projects. Please get in touch with Vernon, Aaron, and/or Miguel if you can help. ]]
[ B ] -- REMINDER FROM BEN COWART (ASME) --
Your weekly reminder that the next ASME meeting will be Friday, March 28th at the Golden Corral on North Monroe Street.
<>
This is a breakdown of the things we are working on up until Monday.
Today, Thursday ( 3/27/08 ), we will be selling tickets in the student union for the movie night at Movies 8. Miguel has already gotten a table. The people who signed up to help have been contacted and this is just a reminder that we need all the help we can in the union from 11:00 am until 2:30 pm.
Friday we will all be working on the solar data in the engineering room from about 1:30 until 5:00.
Saturday morning after the MESA breakfast, everyone is welcome to come and help set up the energy displays for the Stu Fac Day presentation. We will also be creating a water balloon launcher for a fundraiser during the Stu Fac Day event.
Either Saturday or Sunday we will be building a mounting board for the solar panels which we will be putting on the golf cart Monday morning.
[[ COMMENT BY DOUG JONES -- Volunteers are needed for all these projects. Please get in touch with Vernon, Aaron, and/or Miguel if you can help. ]]
[ B ] -- REMINDER FROM BEN COWART (ASME) --
Your weekly reminder that the next ASME meeting will be Friday, March 28th at the Golden Corral on North Monroe Street.
<
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Compressing a Quarter
After compared to Before ...
A standard quarter is electromagnetically compressed to the size of a dime in, literally, the blink of an eye, a flash of light, and a loud crack.
The forces on the coin are produced by an estimated 100 kA current in a 10-turn copper solenoid winding. The induced current (about 1 MA) in the outer edge of the copper core of the quarter interacts with an estimated 58 T magnetic field produced by the solenoid, compressing the quarter radially. The peak field last for about a millionth of a second because the coil is vaporized by that current.
The energy needed (about 4600 J) is delivered by a 178 uF capacitor charged to 7200 V. The capacitor, which contains about 1.28 coulombs of charge, takes several minutes to reach its final voltage. A display next to the demonstration included a page on the principles of operation of a quarter shrinker from "Stoneridge Engineering", the Teslamania web site of Bert Hickman that gave additional details for a system similar to the one we saw. My independent calculations at the bottom of this article roughly confirm what is on that page and the display at the magnet lab.
Side comment. You would get 4600 J of energy if you dropped 47 kg (about 100 pounds) a distance of 10 m (about 33 feet). Now imagine all of that energy concentrated int the small area of a quarter. Splat.
Tools of the trade:
An assembled coil is in the background. The coil itself (left foreground) is about 10 turns of 14 gauge wire (wire that would normally carry no more than 15 A in commercial use, and will melt if used with 166 A). The quarter is sandwiched between two cylinders of G10 fiberglass (right background) to center it within the coil. (Wood had been used in the past, but the G10 survives and can be reused from year to year.) Tape holds it all in place.
Centering the quarter and ensuring it is perpendicular to the magnetic field is crucial to making sure the forces compress the coin rather than twist it. Oh, yes, and the vial contains fragments of copper coils used in past experiments. The lighter colored pieces are probably stainless steel chipped off of the box that is used to contain the explosion of the coil.
This last photo shows the interior of the box used to contain the explosion of the magnet coil. You can see the copper from the used coils embedded in it. I also notice that the stainless steel panels on those three sides appear to have been added after the fact to the inside of Lexan panels that appear to have been the original design plan.
The Physics Details:
I collected a lot more details this year than I managed to get last year, correcting some of the information I used for back-of-the-envelope example in PHY2049 this year and last. [I had remembered the 1 MA current, but not that it was the induced current in the coin or the number of turns, and did not have enough info to estimate the R or L of the circuit being used here.] I now know he used 14 AWG 200C copper magnet wire with 10 turns in the coil. That info, and my estimate that the coil has an inner diameter of 2.4 cm (to fit around a quarter) and a length of between 1.7 cm (absolute minimum for the wire diameter) and 2 cm, are essential to a qualitative understanding of what is going on.
The length of the coil plus 10 cm for each lead is about 1 m, so we can estimate its resistance at about 0.008 ohm. All other conductors are large bus bars and will contribute little to the resistance of the circuit.
The coil that produces the magnetic field is too short to be correctly modeled as a solenoid. If we do that anyway, however, we require about 92 kA to produce 58 T, while 65 kA (see below) produces 41 T. These numbers assume 10 turns and a 2 cm length. Only 78 kA is needed to make 58 T (or 48 T from 65 kA) if the solenoid is 1.7 cm long. We always want the coil as tightly wound as possible!
We also get an inductance L = 2 uH for a 2 cm coil. An on-line calculator (of unknown reliability) says those dimensions would give 1.8 uH, while 1.7 cm gives 2.0 uH. I will use L = 2 uH as a conservative value. Notice that a shorter length makes the inductance bigger, which is a bad thing.
The RC time constant of 1.4 us (micro seconds), with an initial current of 900 kA, tells us what would happen if there was no coil (inductance) in the circuit. Unfortunately, the coil does not like a rapidly rising current. It would take 250 us (0.25 ms) for the current to reach 570 kA if we had just the coil with an ideal 7200 V battery. However, this is actually an un-driven LCR circuit, with all three elements playing a role. The circuit has an inductive time constant of 500 us and a natural frequency of about 53,000 rad/s. The solution to this problem says a peak current of 65 kA will be reached after 19 us. A smaller inductance makes the current bigger, by the way. The estimated inductance is a critical quantity. Reducing the inductance to 1.8 uH will increase the current to 78 kA. Notice that this is just what we need to produce 58 T in a 1.7 cm coil.
Faraday's Law says the large dB/dt produces a large EMF around the edge of the coin, which acts like a single turn in a 10:1 transformer. This leads to a rough estimate of an induced current of 650 kA (perhaps 780 or 920 kA) around the edge of the coin.
Even with "only" I = 65 kA and B = 41 T, the compressive force due to the 650 kA current induced in the outer edge of the coin would be something like 2 MN. If we really have I = 78 kA and B = 58 T, the force increases to 3.4 MN.
This force only acts for a micro second or so at the peak of the sine function that describes the current (before the coil is torn apart by the equal and opposite repulsive force of the field on the coil). The total impulse is not very large, although the total energy is significant even if a lot of it is wasted.
A standard quarter is electromagnetically compressed to the size of a dime in, literally, the blink of an eye, a flash of light, and a loud crack.
The forces on the coin are produced by an estimated 100 kA current in a 10-turn copper solenoid winding. The induced current (about 1 MA) in the outer edge of the copper core of the quarter interacts with an estimated 58 T magnetic field produced by the solenoid, compressing the quarter radially. The peak field last for about a millionth of a second because the coil is vaporized by that current.
The energy needed (about 4600 J) is delivered by a 178 uF capacitor charged to 7200 V. The capacitor, which contains about 1.28 coulombs of charge, takes several minutes to reach its final voltage. A display next to the demonstration included a page on the principles of operation of a quarter shrinker from "Stoneridge Engineering", the Teslamania web site of Bert Hickman that gave additional details for a system similar to the one we saw. My independent calculations at the bottom of this article roughly confirm what is on that page and the display at the magnet lab.
Side comment. You would get 4600 J of energy if you dropped 47 kg (about 100 pounds) a distance of 10 m (about 33 feet). Now imagine all of that energy concentrated int the small area of a quarter. Splat.
Tools of the trade:
An assembled coil is in the background. The coil itself (left foreground) is about 10 turns of 14 gauge wire (wire that would normally carry no more than 15 A in commercial use, and will melt if used with 166 A). The quarter is sandwiched between two cylinders of G10 fiberglass (right background) to center it within the coil. (Wood had been used in the past, but the G10 survives and can be reused from year to year.) Tape holds it all in place.
Centering the quarter and ensuring it is perpendicular to the magnetic field is crucial to making sure the forces compress the coin rather than twist it. Oh, yes, and the vial contains fragments of copper coils used in past experiments. The lighter colored pieces are probably stainless steel chipped off of the box that is used to contain the explosion of the coil.
This last photo shows the interior of the box used to contain the explosion of the magnet coil. You can see the copper from the used coils embedded in it. I also notice that the stainless steel panels on those three sides appear to have been added after the fact to the inside of Lexan panels that appear to have been the original design plan.
The Physics Details:
I collected a lot more details this year than I managed to get last year, correcting some of the information I used for back-of-the-envelope example in PHY2049 this year and last. [I had remembered the 1 MA current, but not that it was the induced current in the coin or the number of turns, and did not have enough info to estimate the R or L of the circuit being used here.] I now know he used 14 AWG 200C copper magnet wire with 10 turns in the coil. That info, and my estimate that the coil has an inner diameter of 2.4 cm (to fit around a quarter) and a length of between 1.7 cm (absolute minimum for the wire diameter) and 2 cm, are essential to a qualitative understanding of what is going on.
The length of the coil plus 10 cm for each lead is about 1 m, so we can estimate its resistance at about 0.008 ohm. All other conductors are large bus bars and will contribute little to the resistance of the circuit.
The coil that produces the magnetic field is too short to be correctly modeled as a solenoid. If we do that anyway, however, we require about 92 kA to produce 58 T, while 65 kA (see below) produces 41 T. These numbers assume 10 turns and a 2 cm length. Only 78 kA is needed to make 58 T (or 48 T from 65 kA) if the solenoid is 1.7 cm long. We always want the coil as tightly wound as possible!
We also get an inductance L = 2 uH for a 2 cm coil. An on-line calculator (of unknown reliability) says those dimensions would give 1.8 uH, while 1.7 cm gives 2.0 uH. I will use L = 2 uH as a conservative value. Notice that a shorter length makes the inductance bigger, which is a bad thing.
The RC time constant of 1.4 us (micro seconds), with an initial current of 900 kA, tells us what would happen if there was no coil (inductance) in the circuit. Unfortunately, the coil does not like a rapidly rising current. It would take 250 us (0.25 ms) for the current to reach 570 kA if we had just the coil with an ideal 7200 V battery. However, this is actually an un-driven LCR circuit, with all three elements playing a role. The circuit has an inductive time constant of 500 us and a natural frequency of about 53,000 rad/s. The solution to this problem says a peak current of 65 kA will be reached after 19 us. A smaller inductance makes the current bigger, by the way. The estimated inductance is a critical quantity. Reducing the inductance to 1.8 uH will increase the current to 78 kA. Notice that this is just what we need to produce 58 T in a 1.7 cm coil.
Faraday's Law says the large dB/dt produces a large EMF around the edge of the coin, which acts like a single turn in a 10:1 transformer. This leads to a rough estimate of an induced current of 650 kA (perhaps 780 or 920 kA) around the edge of the coin.
Even with "only" I = 65 kA and B = 41 T, the compressive force due to the 650 kA current induced in the outer edge of the coin would be something like 2 MN. If we really have I = 78 kA and B = 58 T, the force increases to 3.4 MN.
This force only acts for a micro second or so at the peak of the sine function that describes the current (before the coil is torn apart by the equal and opposite repulsive force of the field on the coil). The total impulse is not very large, although the total energy is significant even if a lot of it is wasted.
Tesla at the Magnet Lab
"Conducting" Electricity
The large Tesla coil shown here was producing about 250 kV at 200 kHz. The presence of an aluminum rod nearby alters the spark pattern because the current being carried off by the sparks is drawn to the grounded conductor rather than something like the overhead lights up by the ceiling.
The sparks look purple because of the emission lines from nitrogen gas. (The spark results when air molecules, mostly nitrogen, get ripped apart by the high voltage. The current is carried by a plasma.) A bare hand works almost as well as an aluminum rod, since your body is a conductor.
At high frequencies (such as 200,000 Hz), the current flows over the surface of the body. The only risk is from a burn at the point of contact. Based on the reaction of one other demonstrator, you can definitely feel it. This photo was really spectacular. The yellow spots you see are where it is burning his hand.
Important Note:
Frequency is the difference between life and death. A low frequency (such as 50 or 60 Hz) Alternating Current would be fatal at those voltages. That would go through your body and, partly because it is so well matched to the frequency our nervous system operates at, would stop the heart. In contrast, we easily get 200 kV from a van de Graaff generator in lecture demos, but the resulting small Direct Current only produces a painful shock.
Musical Reindeer
The sparks emanating from a small stuffed reindeer sitting on a smaller Tesla coil produced music. (Click the photo for a much bigger version.)
What was happening was that the air gets heated by the glowing discharge you see in the photo. If the intensity of the sparks varies at 5000 times per second (too fast to see or photograph), you get a sound wave of 5000 Hz produced in the air instead of the crackling sound of the sparks. They modulating the amplitude of the voltage delivered to the coil (and putting wires in the stuffed animal to produce many sharp points for spark production) with a music source, and you hear music.
The music went away, or was altered, if a rod was used to draw off the current in a single spark rather than the discharge you see here. Very nice.
The large Tesla coil shown here was producing about 250 kV at 200 kHz. The presence of an aluminum rod nearby alters the spark pattern because the current being carried off by the sparks is drawn to the grounded conductor rather than something like the overhead lights up by the ceiling.
The sparks look purple because of the emission lines from nitrogen gas. (The spark results when air molecules, mostly nitrogen, get ripped apart by the high voltage. The current is carried by a plasma.) A bare hand works almost as well as an aluminum rod, since your body is a conductor.
At high frequencies (such as 200,000 Hz), the current flows over the surface of the body. The only risk is from a burn at the point of contact. Based on the reaction of one other demonstrator, you can definitely feel it. This photo was really spectacular. The yellow spots you see are where it is burning his hand.
Important Note:
Frequency is the difference between life and death. A low frequency (such as 50 or 60 Hz) Alternating Current would be fatal at those voltages. That would go through your body and, partly because it is so well matched to the frequency our nervous system operates at, would stop the heart. In contrast, we easily get 200 kV from a van de Graaff generator in lecture demos, but the resulting small Direct Current only produces a painful shock.
Musical Reindeer
The sparks emanating from a small stuffed reindeer sitting on a smaller Tesla coil produced music. (Click the photo for a much bigger version.)
What was happening was that the air gets heated by the glowing discharge you see in the photo. If the intensity of the sparks varies at 5000 times per second (too fast to see or photograph), you get a sound wave of 5000 Hz produced in the air instead of the crackling sound of the sparks. They modulating the amplitude of the voltage delivered to the coil (and putting wires in the stuffed animal to produce many sharp points for spark production) with a music source, and you hear music.
The music went away, or was altered, if a rod was used to draw off the current in a single spark rather than the discharge you see here. Very nice.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Lecture Schedule for Mag Lab Open House
I got an e-mail today with the details for the special lectures that will be given in conjunction with the open house at the Magnet Lab on Saturday. Click the picture to see a bigger version.
The open house runs from 10 AM to 3 PM on Saturday, February 23. These are the only events that have a specific schedule. Everything else is self-guided with small presentations taking place every 15 to 30 minutes at various locations along the tour.
The open house runs from 10 AM to 3 PM on Saturday, February 23. These are the only events that have a specific schedule. Everything else is self-guided with small presentations taking place every 15 to 30 minutes at various locations along the tour.
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