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Projects
Monorail transportation
system based on rail gun technology
In the spirit of Earth Week, we decided to
build a device that would demonstrate the principles of magnetic (Lorentz)
force and propel a projectile along a linear track using only electric
current and permanent magnets. The diagrams show various views of copper
rails, which serve as the tracks sitting atop the housing for the extremely
strong magnets. Once the power source is hooked up to the rails and current
begins to flow, the Lorentz force accelerates the projectile (car or train)
along the track until the polarity is switched, reversing the direction of
motion. The same principles are used in the design of rollercoasters such
as Vertical Velocity and the monorail at Disney World.
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 Sonoluminescence
– Sound into Light
Another project the Engineering Club
is currently undertaking involves converting sound energy into visible light
energy. In the experiment, a bubble is injected into a sphere filled with
liquid (water or glycerol) while two piezoelectric transducers are attached
to opposite sides of the sphere. The transducers are basically tiny
speakers that can produce sound waves at very high frequencies (~24kHz). The
natural resonant frequency of the glass flask is in the neighborhood of
24kHz, and exciting the flask in such a manner produces a standing wave in
the water. An air bubble is then injected into the flask, and because the
standing wave it will travel to the center of the flask. At the proper
frequency this bubble will undergo cavitation and in the process release a
photon. The light flash should last approximately 50 picoseconds, so what
will be observed is constant, visible (blue) light. Our goal is to first
produce sonoluminescence and then make measurements of the bubble size and
duration of flash using a photomultiplier tube.
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Future
Projects
In the near future we will begin discussing
the design of a cosmic ray detector. Cosmic rays are particles produced by
supernovae, neutron stars, black holes, and even our own sun. Most cosmic
rays are actually high-energy protons; when these protons enter Earth’s
atmosphere, they interact with the gases in the atmosphere and produce other
smaller particles called muons. Our idea is to detect these muons when they
reach the surface of the Earth. We will accomplish this by looking for
coincidental signatures left in multiple detectors made of plastic scintillator. Ultimately, we would like to install this detector in the
floor or on a wall in the new science building. To visualize the muon
location, a colored light would flash in the approximate region where the
muon passed through immediately upon detection.
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