The Motion-ator

***[Hopefully, you are checking for homework on Friday--please do it today, and enjoy next week as a holiday.] 

Turns out (no pun intended), that a motor is just short for a motion-maker.  In class  today, what we made was an item that turned on its axle. If we put a piece of tape on an end like a flag, that would be sorta like a fan (if you were an ant). We turned (again, no pun) electrical energy and magnetic force into kinetic energy, the energy of motion.

  Continue to work on your motor until you have gotten it to work well. Here is the video to refer to:

Return to your textbook, and review the explanation of electric motors on page 237+.  Particularly pay attention to the diagrams.  In your lab journals, make a similar set of diagrams showing how your own home-made motor works, with detailed explanation for each illustration, and also N/S designations for the magnets. .  Do you see the similarities  as well as the differences between the book and your model?

What are 4 ways of making the motor turn faster?

Also, another explanation that may help you understand how motors work: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/electricmotors.html

Inside a typical motor

Although we've described a number of different parts, you can think of a motor as having just two essential components:

• There's a permanent magnet (or magnets) around the edge of the motor case that remains static, so it's called the stator of a motor.
• Inside the stator, there's the coil, mounted on an axle that spins around at high speed—and this is called the rotor. The rotor also includes the commutator.

If we compare the typical motor to the motor we made, the magnet is the stator (it stays in one place) the coil is the rotor (it rotates) and the commutator, the part that keeps the coil moving in one direction rather than bobbing between north and south poles of the magnet-- on our motor it is the fact that we have insulation on half of one side of the coil end, which turns the power off and on. The axle is the ends that stick out of the coil.  It looks cool if you twist the ends a bit, to make a twirly.

Have a very enjoyable spring break! Make the most of it!

1. Read (again) chapter 8, section 2 to review, and now I think, to understand, about how electricity and magnetism are related, and about electromagnets.  Copy the illustrations and captions if you haven't yet done so, and try to explain to yourself or someone else the AS YOU READ list on page 233.   The next thing we will learn about are motors, which combine electromagnets with permanent magnets to produce motion.

Next Project: Building a "Simple" Motor:

An electric current induces...a ((((((((magnetic field)))))))

fun and interesting...

and now an old-timey video about electromagnetism.  This is a one-hour program made out of 6 10-minute episodes.  I have only watched the first two so far.  It's an old-school cartoon, but the explanations are very helpful.  Take some notes and illustrate.  You just need to watch the first two episodes (twenty minutes,) but if you want to go on to the third episode, that's great.

Lastly, write a paragraph, and make illustrations, about Thursday's experiment.  In your own words, tell what you were trying to do (start at the beginning) and what you may have discovered, the problems you encountered, the different things you tried, in order to discover the link between electricity and magnetism.  Having watched the previous video, and perhaps referring to the reading from the last homework blog, give the best explanation you can.

An electric current induces...a ((((((((magnetic field))))))) 

The homework post will be a little late this morning; if you would like to start reading, here is the article from the web--it is excellent, and if you can, print it out so that you can highlight and take notes from it:

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/magnetism.html

[to print out use https://docs.google.com/document/d/15cJpr6vbV05b5-e47BP_lvO-EQKzQGF9kquYHXbSofM/edit?usp=sharing 16 pages]

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so pay attention to the pictures, and copy them, along with an explanation, into your science journals. Also pay attention to new vocabulary and write it down along with its definition and an example. Pick out the main ideas. You will forget everything you don't already know, unless you somehow interact with it, and what's the point in that?

I will post a few videos later on, but the "work" will be reading and note-taking.  Come to class with questions!

interesting...more on static electricity...you will learn more....than you ever thought possible....

7 minutes

AND now some amazing magnet stuff...

This video is awesome, even if it is probably over most of our heads...

and since that video probably made very little sense (but the narrator had the most amazing voice!)  let's end on a fun and practical note...if anyone has the stuff described in the video, could you bring it to class on Monday?  I would very much like to try out the toothbrush thing and the last bit with the ball bearings.

Now the real work begins>>>Read the textbook, chapter 8, section 2. Take notes in your science journals on vocabulary, write out the main points, "As You Read,"

and copy the illustrations.  Use complete sentences, with the goal of  producing something that you can look back on in future years and still remember what you learned.

Reading and TAKING NOTES!

Your homework is to read the first section of Chapter 8, Magnetism, paying attention to vocabulary and the As You Read topics listed at the beginning of the chapter, which should help you know what to take notes on in your science journals. Also pay a lot of attention to the illustrations, and copy them to your journal, along with explanation. 

Do the MiniLab on page 231; make an illustration and answer the questions in your lab journal.

Answer the Section 1 assessment questions. When you answer a question, use complete sentences which re-state the question.  [What I mean is, when the question asks you to describe what happens when you bring two like magnetic poles together, you don't just say, "1. They stick."  You should write something like this:  "When two like magnetic poles are brought together, they ...blablabla." This way, when you go back to review, your answer makes sense.]

THE GOAL OF THIS HOMEWORK IS TO LEARN THROUGH NOTE-TAKING AND PICTURE-MAKING (drawing what you learn).  If you just read, you will understand less and forget more.  If you take notes, you will keep what you have learned, and even be able to teach others.  I would love to see your lab journals become a record of your journey that you can be proud of.

Perhaps this would be a good time to put your science notebooks in order, as well.  Those of you who forgot "The Story So Far..." please remember on Thursday.

TOPS test

Monday's class will be the TOPS test, and so the best way to prepare for that is to review the packet and to fill out the Story So Far summaries (which should already be done), understanding the main points of each page.  You will turn in The Story So Far along with the test.

Also for homework is to read the last section of Chapter 7, paying attention to vocabulary and the What You'll Learn topics, which you should write  as notes & pictures in your science journals.

Lastly is the math worksheet from class; be sure to use the equations. Answers will be posted shortly. There is probably enough room to show your work on the page. [my way of remembering that 'I' stands for current is that 'I' looks like a wire, and a current travels through a wire.] Answer sheet here  and if you've need another copy of the worksheet/equation sheet: Google this >>> www.sciencewithskinner.com/files/.../Electricity/OhmslawPractProblems....‎

more ohm-work...

here's the list:

1. video: What are volts, ohms, and amps? not a cartoon, but I think you'll get it...

2. Textbook- Chapter 7, section 2  Electric Current: makes notes on vocabulary and major concepts as described at the beginning of the section "As You Read" and also pay good attention to the pictures.  In a science textbook, pictures are more important that words!

3. Do the math worksheet handed out in class.Remember that I want you to show your work. First write the correct form of the equation, then plug in the numbers, then underline or box the answer, which should INCLUDE UNITS!  And this should be on a separate piece of paper, as I mentioned in class.  [I will post an answer sheet in the comments below soon.]