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RLC circuit resonance with an oscillating inductor (Jr IS Guest blog by Kyle McNickle)
The purpose of my experiment was to analyze whether the behavior of an RLC (Resistor, Inductor, Capacitor) circuit is noticeably affected by replacing the inductor with an oscillating spring. Common inductors take the form of solenoids which are helical coils of wire that are wrapped around a core. This core can be made of different…
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Stochastic Resonance in a Hysteretic Circuit (Jr IS guest blog by Gabe Dale-Gau)
This project uses an electronic circuit to demonstrate something called stochastic resonance. Stochastic resonance (SR) is present many places in nature–from dictating the timing of ice ages to aiding in fish hearing. So, what is it? SR is simply when a random noise signal serves to boost the strength of another, cleaner signal. Audio is…
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Modeling Solar Sails (Jr IS guest blog post by Nate Smith)
Solar sails utilize the change in momentum of photons as a means of propulsion. This allows spacecraft with solar sails to significantly reduce their mass, since they do not have to carry onboard fuel (in comparison to traditional rocket-based spacecraft). This project aims at designing a program to display the dynamics of a solar-sail-based spacecraft…
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An underwater “scramjet engine” (Jr IS guest blog by Jack Mershon)
I have always thought that one of the most outdated technologies we currently employ in the large scale is propellers for ships. While this isn’t a critical fault in our world it does lead to a lot of inefficiencies. Modern trade ships and super-tankers use millions of tons of fuel annually. This does a great deal…
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Aerodynamics of concave surfaces (JR IS guest blog by Collin Hendershot)
My name is Collin Hendershot. For my Junior Independent Study project I observed the effect of concavity on the aerodynamics of high speed automobiles. The two important aerodynamic characteristics of automobiles are downforce and drag. Downforce is the force of air pushing a car toward the road and drag is the force on the car…
