Littlebrook Power Station - short report
Littlebrook is an oil-fired power station, which uses oil to produce electricity. The oil is transported by the sea. It is powered by heavy fuel oil this means it has to bring tonnes of oil from other countries. Littlebrook is located on the banks of the river Thames in Dartford. In the 1990s the CEGB was privatised from that came out npower RWE Innogy from that two companies came out international power. RWE then took over which made RWE npower. There has to be lots of work done in the power station like: Finance - the finance department is probably the most important in the power station. Marketing Team - this would include a team which goes to the market to buy and sell the electricity on the market. The company has to also buy electricity from other companies at a cheaper rate so they don't lose profit. The marketing team also have to buy supplies from other countries i.e. at the moment most of the oil in the world is in the Middle East and in Latin America. The company don't have to pay that much for transportation because there are next to the River Thames. In the power station there are about 120 people working this includes the workers the receptionists, catering, security and also the actual worker who are in the power station. In a power station all kinds of people work there. One of the main ones is people like: Security - are there to protect the worker and
Investigation to find out whether or not it is correct to call a rubber band elastic.
Elastic band investigation Aim: - to find out whether or not it is correct to call a rubber band elastic. Plan: - The factors affecting the elasticity of a rubber band are: * Downward force applied to the band * The type of rubber the band is made from. * The length of the band * Cross sectional area of band The variable I am going to investigate is the effect of weight on the rubber band. This is a continuous variable. I am going to measure the distance the rubber band has stretched after each amount of weight is placed on it. I am going to keep taking lengths until the band brakes. Pilot test: - To decide what amount of mass to step up in I am going to run a preliminary experiment. I am going to find the elastic limit of three rubber bands. To do this I added weights until the band snapped. Test Number of masses at which band broke 2 3 22 20 25 To work out how many masses to go up in I am going to divide the number of masses at which the band broke into 10 equal pieces. This gives me 2.2, 2.0 and 2.5 as 2 is the average round number I will use this. To make the experiment a fair test I will do the experiment three times to gain a fair average. Each of these times I will also use the same type of rubber band as a different type of rubber could effect how far the band will stretch and therefore my results. I will also try to add the weights gently so that
How may the study of earthquake waves be used to interpret the earth's internal structure and composition
How may the study of earthquake waves be used to interpret the earth's internal structure and composition? Studying the different waves that are given off in an eathquake can identify the internal composition and structure of the earth. There are three types of wave Primary or 'push' waves (P-waves), Secondary or 'shock' waves (S-waves) and Longitudal or 'long' waves (L-waves). The waves that must be studied to interpret the earth's internal structure and composition are 'Body Waves' Body waves are another name for P or S waves. Earthquakes occur most commonly in seismic zones; these zones are related with oceanic ridges, young fold mountains and island arcs. Earthquake foci are located at depths under the surface up to a maximum of approximately 700km. They are grouped into shallow (0-70km), Intermediate (70-300km) and Deep (300-700km). The zone in which earthquake foci are found is called the Benioff zone. The focus of any earthquake cannot be found any deeper than about 700km, this suggests that the composition of the earth below this depth is different from above it and so is not adequate for earthquake foci to be located and therefore it must change from a rock that can be easily fractured to a less easily fracturable rock. When an earthquake occurs, it produces waves that radiate out from the epicentre (The point on the surface directly above the focus). The body
Investigate Whether Elastic Bands and Springs Behave the Same Way.
SCENARIO: Investigate whether elastic bands and springs behave the same way. AIM: When a load(weight) is applied to either an elastic band or a spring, do they return to their original length i.e. is the extension directly proportional to the load. BACK GROUND INFORMATION: The structure of elastic bands and springs are different. By studying a Newton metre, I noticed that the marks between each Newton applied were equidistant. This implies that a spring returns to the original length, therefore the load and length are directly proportional. This is because the structure of a spring is coiled. Therefore the molecules have been twisted and pulled apart, this creates the spring, as the molecules try to pull themselves back together. An elastic band is made of polymers. Hooke's Law states when a material is stretched, the change in length is directly proportional to the stretching force applied. However when an elastic limit is reached the material will be deformed and no longer obey the law. When a material is stretched, the molecules are pulled further away from each other, weakening the bonds, if the bonds break then the molecules cannot return to their original state. This is known as the elastic limit. Therefore, the number of molecules will effect the elastic limit of a material. The more molecules there are the more energy is needed to weaken the bonds. When a load
Investigation into Hookes Law - investigate the effect of mass on the extension of a spring.
Physics Coursework Investigation into Hookes Law Aim: To investigate the effect of mass on the extension of a spring. Prediction: My prediction is that, as you increase the mass, the extension of the spring will also increase. E.g. the double the mass, the double the extension. So I am saying that the results should be near enough consistent while increasing in the extension until I reach the end of the experiment. I will now support this prediction with some scientific knowledge. Hookes law is when forces are applied to a solid object which can result in extension. Hookes law is also able to predict how a spring (or other stretchable object) when force is applied to it. So this will show extension into the spring after the force is applied. Equipment: The equipment which will be required for the testing of Hookes Law are: * Clamp and Stand * Weights 50grams each * A measuring apparatus (preferable a 1 metre ruler) * Spring Diagram: Fair Test: I will try to keep this a fair test by only investigating 1 variable. So these are the things that will stay the same through out the experiment: * The Thickness of the spring * The length of the spring * The material of the spring The things that will vary throughout the experiment will be the mass and the extension. But I will only investigate and vary the mass myself because the extension will change as a cause of
The Investigation was about how waves travel.
Waves coursework What is the investigation about? The Investigation was about how waves travel. Water waves travel more slowly in shallow water in deeper water. This is can be shown by placing a flat Perspex or glass plate in a bottom of a ripple tank. As the water waves pass into the shallow boundary, the direction of the waves What could I change? We could change the volume of the water, we could change the temperature of the water, we could change the size of the tray, we could have a set time, we could have What will I change? Question If we pushed the tray harder, will it produce more waves? Prediction What equipment will I use? We used a tray so we can do the experience,, A stopwatch so we can time how long we can see the waves , A ruler so we can measure how big the force we pushed the tray. What are all the things we will measure? We will count how many waves will travel along the tray and also time it, when the waves slow down and finally stop we will stop the clock How will you make it a fair test We made it a fair test by measuring the force of push accurately by using a ruler. Keeping the 2000 ml volume of water How will I be safe? We were safe by moving all chairs and stools away from our area. We never messed about and we concentrated on the experiment What range of results will you take and why Will we take "how many waves",
Power Output of a Solar Cell
Is the power output of a solar cell proportional to the sine angle between the incident light and the face of the power cell? The experiment that will be conducted is to see whether or not that there is any connection between the sine angle of light and the power output of a solar cell. Hypothesis The hypothesis for my experiment is that the power output of a solar cell is directly proportional to the sine of the angle between the incident light and the face of the solar cell. The sine of the angle of incidence and the face of the solar cells direction ? to the power out put OR Sin ? ? Pout where ? equals angle of incidence Prediction I predict that the results, when plotted on a graph, will show a strong positive correlation between the total power output of the solar cell that is proportional to the sine of the angle at which the light is shone at the solar cell. Variables Any Indirect light coming from another light source could affect the experiment. Wire temperature causing an increase in resistance Apparatus I will use two digital meters set on 200mA and 2mV range that will allow results to be measured to the nearest 1mA and 1mV respectively. Also a resistance box will be set on a resistance of 50? to try and keep the resistance level during the experiment. A standard lamp powered by mains electricity with a 60W bulb will be used as a light
Investigate the properties of a sensor.
SENSORS COURSEWORK PLAN: We were asked to investigate the properties of a sensor. The sensor I have chosen is a potentiometer. A potentiometer is a device which taps off a fraction of its input to provide a controlled output. It consists of a sliding contact which moves across wire coils to cause a change in resistance. Equal movements of the sliding contact give equal changes in output. We are actually using the potentiometer as a variable resistor so that instead of tapping of a proportion of the potential difference it taps off a part of the resistance. We are using a rotary potentiometer for our experiments. This means that the slider moves in a circular motion across the contacts. For us to be able to conduct tests we must be able to accurately measure how much we have moved the contacts so that we can compare it with the change in resistance. We have decided to measure the movement in degrees. This means we had to fix an arm to the moving contact of the potentiometer so that we could see the moving part of the potentiometer. Then we had to draw a circle on some card and mark of the degrees using a protractor. We then mounted the potentiometer on the card so that it was held firmly in place. This meant that now we could see how many degrees movement gives a certain out put. There are a number of things which we can investigate about the potentiometer: Resolution
As Fast As you can
P2 Topic 9 - As Fast As You Can. Table of Results: Speed Thinking Distance/m Braking Distance/m Stopping Distance/m 20mph 6 6 2 30mph 9 4 23 40mph 2 24 36 50mph 5 38 53 60mph 8 55 73 70mph 21 75 96 After closely analysing the graph, I can now see that Jake is indeed correct because it can be seen that the speed at which you are travelling does affect how quickly you are able to brake. However, this can also be attributed to various other factors. The equation for stopping distance is: It is clear that the results follow a positive correlation and that the stopping distance equals the braking distance plus the thinking distance. Therefore, because the overall stopping distance must be a larger integer then the result for this must possess a steeper gradient. The stopping distance is therefore dependant upon the speed at which you are travelling because as the speed increases, the gradient of the stopping distance increases. This is evident because when the speed is at 30mph, the stopping distance is 23m but when the speed has increased to 60mph then the stopping distance inclines to 73m. Thinking Distance Thinking distance is calculated by the general equation: Thinking distance is the distance covered in the time it takes for a reaction to occur. In what can be a fraction of a second, a substantial amount of ground can be covered. Human
What is the spring constant?
Energy stored in a spring Preliminary investigation What is the spring constant? Planning Aim - to gain an average compression rate of the spring in the trolley in order to find the spring constant. Apparatus Clamp stand 2 clamps 2 bosses, 24 0.98N weights 2 weight holders 3 labels Pencil Sprit level Trolley Ruler (measures to nearest 5 x 10-4m) Diagram Plan - I am going to investigate the spring constant of the spring in the trolley to enable me to calculate the energy stored in the spring in the major investigation. To calculate the spring constant, I need to plot my results onto a graph and draw a line of best fit. The spring constant is equal to the gradient of this straight line. To obtain my results, the above apparatus will be collected and set up as shown above. The spirit level will be used to check that the trolley is perpendicular to the ground. The trolley needs to be perpendicular to the ground for 2 reasons. 1). So that all of the weight of the weights act on the spring and not a component, 2). So that there is no friction between the plunger and it's housing. The variable that is being changed is the force applied to the spring; 0.98N will be added in each of the 12 increments. After each weight has been added to the spring, a pencil mark will be made on the label. When the 12th weight has been added and the pencil mark made, the weights will
