Friday 31 January 2014

INDUCTION STOVE- AN ENGINEER'S TOUCH


Induction stove is a prime example of transferring of Electric energy to Heat energy.
INDUCTION STOVE

Before i begin to say the working of induction stove.We have to know about Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction and eddy currents.

PRINCIPLE:

MICHAEL FARADAY

Law 1: When there is a change in magnetic field an emf is induced in the coil.

EDDY CURRENT

Law 2: When the alternating current flows through the coil an alternating magnetic field is produced.

Eddy current:

When the stationary magnetic field is moved around the moving conductor (or) when the stationary conductor is placed in an alternating magnetic field , the current is induced in the form of circulating loops known as eddy currents.

WORKING:



When an alternating current flows through the coil which has been placed inside the induction stove, an oscillating magnetic field is created and this alternating magnetic field will induce eddy currents in the vessel that is placed above the stove which contains the food that has to be cooked. This eddy current flows through the electrical resistance of the vessel and produces heat. This heat is used to cook the food . That is why vessels containing ferromagnetic metal is placed in the induction stove. Aluminium and copper vessels does not work on an induction stove because of the magnetic and electrical  properties. Aluminum and copper cookware are more conductive than steel, and the skin depth in these materials is larger since they are non-magnetic. The current flows in a thicker layer in the metal, encounters less resistance and so produces less heat. The induction cooker will not work efficiently with such pots. 


For its merits and demerits and its impact on environment refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooking

Sunday 26 January 2014

IBN AL-HAYTHAM


IBN AL-HAYTHAM

When we look in to the early physics there was a dominance of the Europeans and the man I am going to explain you is a non-European and was also known as "FATHER OF OPTICS". Can you guess his name.He is none other than Ibn al-Haytham. He is a great polymath who lived during the year 965 to 1040.

In today,s scientific world everything has to be proven . But in the early days this was not the case. The Greeks believed that scientific fact can be discovered through reason, or simply attributed to the actions of the gods. Ibn al-Haytham knew better. He was the first scientist in history to insist that everything be proven through a given method for discovering new information- Which is  a scientific method.

In today's scientific world, the science textbooks  mostly consists of only Galileo, Issac Newton etc. But these scientists stood on the shoulders of this Great man. Without his ideas we many may be still living in a time when superstition will be the basics of science.

HIS DISCOVERIES:

All science textbooks consist of Newton discovered gravity but this is not true. He wrote books about the laws governing the movement of bodies which was later known as Newton’s third law of motion and the attraction between two bodies – gravity. It was only Ibn al-Hathyam books which depicted about gravity and not an apple's story.
He also calculated  the depth of the atmosphere. He studied the basics of calculus  which is the engineering formulas that we are using it today.He completely opposed astrology as a scientific subject, He came to the conclusion that the ideas of astrology were not rooted in any type of science, but in the thoughts and feelings of astrologers.
In his book, The Book of Optics, he was the first to disprove the ancient Greek idea that light comes out of the eye, bounces off objects, and comes back to the eye. He further explored into the way the eye itself works. Using dissections , he was able to begin to explain how light enters the eye, is focused, and is projected to the back of the eye.
PIN-HOLE PRINCIPLE
He is the first to study the phenomenon of the pinhole camera. The same concept was firstly told by him.The concept of a pinhole camera is very simple. A box with a tiny hole on one side is able to project an image of whatever is outside onto a side of the box on the inside.Today also the camera works on this principle only but with the addition of lenses and other certain features. Ibn al-Haytham was able to build these pinhole cameras hundreds of years before the modern development of photography as we know it.
He also studied the way light is affected when moving through a medium such as water or gasses. From this, he was able to explain why the sky changes color at twilight.The translation of The Book of Optics had a huge impact on Europe. From it, later European scholars were able to build the same devices as he did, and understand the way light works. From this, such important things as eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, and cameras were developed. He wrote about the mistakes of the Ptolemaic model of how the stars and planets move.

The most amazing fact is that he wrote 200 books out of which there is only 50 books survived till today. Whatever he had discovered we may not also have discovered today.He was not a person who cared for the fame and prestige. The unawareness in today’s world about his contributions is unsettling. When his books were translated into Latin as the Spanish conquered Muslim lands in the Iberian Peninsula, he was not referred to by his name, but rather as “Alhazen”. The practice of changing the names of great Muslim scholars to more European sounding names was common in the European Renaissance, as a means to discredit Muslims and erase their contributions to Christian Europe.
Regardless, of his brilliant mind inspired countless others who stood on his shoulders. It is not a stretch to say that without his research, the modern world of science that we know today would not exist.
Hope my readers gained some knowledge about him and his contributions mean a lot to this modern science. And this post will standstill in my blog and it cannot be erased like the past. Hope everyone knows him.


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Tuesday 5 November 2013

MARS ORBITER MISSION

Yesterday, will be scripted in the India’s development towards space. A day after Diwali rockets was fired in this part of the country, "the big one" blasted off from the first launch pad in Sriharikota on yesterday afternoon at 2:38 PM, firing the ambition of a nation, and the imagination of many others.
PSLV-C25 ROCKET AT SRIHARIKO

I just want to update my readers about the MARS MISSION. Before going to the mars mission, we have to know that India have taken a giant leap in the area of space. Why this mission is a giant leap because of all the planets in the solar system, Mars has sparked the greatest human interest. The conditions in Mars are believed to be hospitable since the planet is similar to Earth in many ways.
The Mars Orbiter Mission is the INDIA'S FIRST INTERPLANETARY MISSION to planet. Mars with an orbiter craft is designed to orbit the mars in an elliptical path. 
LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL

Firstly we have to know the objective of this mission.

There are vastly two types of objectives

TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES:
  • Design and realization of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise phase of 300 days; Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.
  • Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
  • Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.

SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES:
  • Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.
PAYLOADS:
Generally, the payloads consists of three categories namely
  • Atmospheric studies
In this it involves the use of LYMAN ALPHA PHOTOMETER (LAP) and METHANE SENSOR FOR MARS (MSM).
  • Particle Environment Studies
This involves the usage of MARS EXOSPHERIC NEUTRAL COMPOSITION ANALYZER (MENCA).
  • Surface Imaging Studies
In this area it involves the usage of MARS COLOR CAMERA (MCC) and THERMAL INFRARED IMAGING SPECTROMETER (TIS).

MISSION PROFILE:

TRAJECTORY DESIGN
The Launch Vehicle - PSLV-C25 will inject the Spacecraft into an Elliptical Parking Orbit with a perigee of 250 km and an apogee of 23,500 km. With six Liquid Engine firing, the spacecraft is gradually maneuvered into a hyperbolic trajectory with which it escapes from the Earth’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) and arrives at the Mars Sphere of Influence. When spacecraft reaches nearest point of Mars , it is maneuvered in to an elliptical orbit around Mars by firing the Liquid Engine.

The mission consists of following three phases: 
MARTIAN ORBIT


1. Geo Centric Phase:
In this phase, the spacecraft is injected into an elliptic parking orbit by the launcher. There are six main engines in the spacecraft when these burns the spacecraft will gradually move carefully into a hyperbolic trajectory from where the spacecraft escapes from the Earth’s surface of influence (SOI). The SOI of earth ends at 918347 km from the surface of the earth beyond which the perturbing force on the orbiter is mainly due to the Sun. One primary concern is how to get the spacecraft to Mars, on the least amount of fuel. ISRO uses a method of travel called a Hohmann Transfer Orbit – or a Minimum Energy Transfer Orbit – to send a spacecraft from Earth to Mars with the least amount of fuel possible.
2. Helio Centric Phase
The spacecraft will leave Earth in a direction tangential to Earth’s orbit and encounters Mars tangentially to its orbit. The flight path is roughly one half of an ellipse around sun. Eventually it will intersect the orbit of Mars at the exact moment when Mars is there too. This trajectory becomes possible with certain allowances when the relative position of Earth, Mars and Sun form an angle of approximately 44o. Such an arrangement recurs periodically at intervals of about 780 days. Minimum energy opportunities for Earth-Mars occur in November 2013, January 2016, May2018 etc.

3. Martian Phase
The spacecraft arrives at the Mars Sphere of Influence in a hyperbolic trajectory. At the time the spacecraft reaches the closest approach to Mars, it is captured into planned orbit around mars which is called the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre. The ISRO plans to launch the Mars Orbiter Mission during the November 2013 window utilizing minimum energy transfer opportunity.

SPACECRAFT:
DISASSEMBLED SPACECRAFT

The spacecraft configuration is a balanced mix of design from flight proven IRS/INSAT/Chandrayaan-1 bus. Modifications required for Mars mission are in the areas of Communication, Power, and Propulsion systems.
SPACECRAFT

The specifications of the space craft are:
  • 390 liters capacity propellant tanks accommodate a maximum of 852 kg of propellant which is adequate with sufficient margins.
  • A Liquid Engine of 440 N thrust is used for orbit raising and insertion in Martian Orbit.
  • The spacecraft requires three solar panels (size 1800 X 1400 mm) to compensate for the lower solar irradiance.
  • Antenna System consists of Low Gain Antenna (LGA), Medium Gain Antenna (MGA), and High Gain Antenna (HGA). 
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Tuesday 29 October 2013

WEIGHT OF THE EARTH

To begin, let me tell how I got this question? HOW TO DETERMINE THE WEIGHT OF THE EARTH?I and my friend were discussing and he told that there was a post in fb where teacher is  asking the weight of the Earth to the student.So I started to surf on the net.The weight of the earth is approximately about 6 x 1024 Kilograms. After knowing the reason of determining the earth weight , I feel ashamed of India education system as I have completed across these topics and my exposure was very less as I don't have system at home till 12th standard. Now  I will share the answer to you.
THE EARTH














GRAVITATIONAL FORCE


This will be easy for you to understand.Imagine this scenario, step on the weighing machine (scale) in your room and weigh yourself. Now suppose you take the scale, travel to the moon, and stand on it again.The new number will be about 1/6 of what you weighed on Earth. Finally, imagine traveling out into deep space and weighing yourself once more. You will weigh nothing. From this it clearly depicts that weight is variable because weight is a force that depends on something pulling on you. It is the force of gravity, which depends on the mass of the object that is attracting you.

The answer is simply the below equation

where,

G- constant that is 6.67259 x 10-11 m3/kg s2.
F- force of attraction between them.
R- radius of the Earth ( 6,400,000 meters)

Finding a person mass will only involve counting all of the atoms in his body. Now it turns into a complex problem. It turns out that the rate at which an object accelerates due to the force of gravity, called g depends of the mass of the object doing the pulling.

In the case of Earth, we have:

You can now open your room window and take your scale out of the window and count how many seconds it takes to hit the sidewalk. Then measure the distance from your window to the ground, and you can compute the acceleration of the scale. The answer you will get is 9.8 m s-2. Knowing this value of g for Earth's surface, along with the constant G and the 6,731-kilometer distance to Earth's center, you can then calculate Earth's mass to be 6 x 1024 kilograms.
            From this you can calculate the mass of the Earth.


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Saturday 19 October 2013

KERS

I am a big fan of  Fernando Alonso who is a Formula one Spanish driver.I love him as he drives fast and efficient.So, I want to share a technology used in F1 which is related to power generation.All of you are interested in renewable power generation like Solar ,Wind,etc.The energy that is used in the F1 is also Eco-friendly one.The technology name is KERS.I will also explain its working.Mostly, the sport becomes popular if you mix technology in it.As F1 is the most popular sport which has fans worldwide. I want to share a knowledge on this technology.
KERS ENABLED F1 CAR



LOGO
Generally, in F1(formula one) a car with most prominent aerodynamics model can have the potential to win the title. Other than the aerodynamics model there is a technology named KERS 


KERS- The acronym KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System. The device recovers the kinetic energy that is present in the waste heat created by the car’s braking process. It stores that energy and converts it into power that can be called upon to boost acceleration .

WORKING

There are basically two types of system-Electrical (battery) and Mechanical (flywheel). Most of the F1 teams have opted for battery i.e., electrical system.


ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WORKING
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Electrical system involves the use of the motor-generator set which is incorporated in the car’s transmission and it converts mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa.Once the energy has been harnessed it is stored in a battery and released when required.











MECHANICAL SYSTEM
MECHANICAL SYSTEM WORKING

The mechanical system captures breaking energy and use it to turn a small flywheel which can spin at up to 80,000 rpm. When extra power is required, the flywheel is connected to the car’s rear wheels.



When we compare the efficiency of both these systems,Mechanical system is more efficient as it does not changes the state.

There is one more option available - HYDRAULIC KERS, where braking energy is used to accumulate hydraulic pressure which is then sent to the wheels when required.

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Friday 18 October 2013

CURVE NEGOTIATION



Yesterday, I was reading Hindu newspaper there is a science & tech area where every Thursday QUESTION CORNER will be asked and answer will be provided.This time the question is based on physics.So I want to share to my readers.Here is a question,Why is it difficult for a huge truck speeding at 50 km/hr to negotiate a curve rather than a motorcycle at the same speed although the radius of the banking is independent of mass?and this question also can also be put as How to avoid skidding? 
I know the answer a little bit but not clear.So I want to share the answer for you.I am a big fan of MOTO GP and I love the cornering of Marc Marques.So I have just attached a photo of his cornering to understand my question.Take a look at the answer also.
MARC MARQUES CORNERING

CENTRIPETAL FORCE-  Any motion in a curved path represents accelerated motion, and requires a force directed towards the center of curvature of the path.
CENTRIPETAL FORCE
SUPER-ELEVATION

Whenever a body is negotiating a curved path, an outward horizontal force known as Centripetal force acts on the body.

That is why when we travel in a bus or a train, we feel we are pushed out while traveling in a curved path.To counter-act this force,outer edge of the road or rail is raised slightly in relation to the inner edge or rail.


DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION
This is known as Super-elevation in case of road and cant in case of railway track. The lifted edge in the road makes thee vehicle to tilt in side i.e., towards the center of the curve because of which a component of the weight of the vehicle will be equal to W.sinθ where θ is the angle through which the outer edge or rail is lifted and acts against the Centripetal force and skidding of the vehicle is prevented.


 In case of a motorcycle, the rider tilts the bike unconsciously towards inside while running on a curved path.However, in case of a truck, it is not possible to do so except the vehicle is tilted slightly equal to the super-elevation in the road.

This makes a large four-wheeled vehicle difficult to negotiate a sharp curve at high speed.

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Thursday 17 October 2013

TUBELIGHT

When you switch on your tube-light, you may wonder if the switch is on the circuit gets closed and the light glows.But this not a fact.Now I shall explain the working of the tube-light.


TUBE-LIGHT
FITTINGS













STARTER
   The tube-light consists of mainly two parts :
  • Starter-small cylindrical shaped.
  • Choke -large square shaped also known as Ballast.
    CHOKE

      To understand the working of the tube-light,we must refer the circuit diagram.The basic circuit  
      diagram is shown below.
    CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
    PRINCIPLE:

    The choke is a large inductor and it consists of a long copper winding over iron lamination. An inductor by nature has a tendency to throw back the stored current in it, every time the power through it is switched OFF.This principle is used in lighting a fluorescent tube light.


    BALLAST INNER VIEW


    STEP 1: When an AC voltage is applied to a tube light fixture, the voltage passes through the choke, the starter, and the filaments of the tube.
    STEP 2: The filaments light up and instantly warm up the tube. The starter holds the current for a moment and then releases to break the circuit.
    STEP 3: This forces the choke to kick back it’s stored current, which again passes through the filaments and ignites the tube light.
    STEP 4: If the tube does not sufficiently charge up, subsequent kicks are delivered by the choke due to rapid switching of the starter, so that finally the tube strikes.



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