(((((it's magic))))))

Thank you for your patience in class yesterday; I think our project actually went as good as it could, kinda like a first draft on a writing project, and so if it did not go well for you, it probably will go much better when we do it over.  I have never done this before myself, but I think this will be a fascinating and enlightening project; radio and television has always been just "magic"- what I mean is it made no sense to me.  Hopefully, we will start to get glimmerings of how it works.


Here is a video from 1943--that's right in the middle of WWII!-- explaining how radio is broadcast.  In your notes, copy the flow chart near the end (at 8 minutes) that shows the steps, even if you don't entirely understand. A Blast from the Past!

Here is a video that talks through all the steps of building a crystal radio; however, it is not precisely the same as the version we are making.  We will be building the capacitor next; that is the paper towel tube with the aluminum foil/paper slider, so pay special attention to that.  So, somehow get a hold of a paper towel tube by next Monday! 

 We will also need to find various sound amplifiers, like do you have an old corded phone in your junk pile?  We may need to build some earphones, requiring strong magnets (neodymium) 

This is a schematic of what we are going to build -- it's like a code --can you figure any of it out?

The parts are as follows: antenna, capacitor, coil, earphones, diode.  (A diode is a little bitty part that makes all the electrons go in one direction only--like a one-way street.)  We are missing a ground wire.

TEXTBOOK READING:  If you finished watching the NASA videos having to do with the electromagnetic spectrum (from the last blog) , you may skim over  chapter 13, section 2 from your textbook, and proceed to reading  section 13.3 (chapter 13, section 3) pages 403-406 ONLY on radio and television communication.

If you did not yet watch all the videos from last blog, time to do so.