Energy Efficient House
For this Project my group was given the task to build a reflector to reflect sun into the north window of our solar house.
Physics Concepts:In the process of designing our houses, we learned many concepts both new and old. Here is a list with explanations of a few of our concepts:Heat: total energy of molecular motion in a substance. (See 1st law of Thermodynamics)
Temperature: measure of the average energy of molecular motion in a substance.
Fluids - a substance that has the ability to flow.
States of Matter - due to the energy possessed and movement of atoms within matter, matter turns into a solid, liquid, or gas.
Pressure (due to liquid) - Density x Depth; the deeper the fluid, the more pressure it will exert. Similarly, the denser a liquid is the more pressure it exerts.
Types of Heat Transfers:
Conduction - transfer of heat through a material. For example, if you hold a cube of ice, the warmth of your hand is conducted to the ice cube melting it.
Convection - transfer of heat through a fluid (see fluids). For example, noodles in a boiling pot of water move due to convection currents in the water.
Radiation - Energy transmitted as rays, waves, or particles. For example, your skin tans in the sun due to the Sun's rays which are a form of radiation.
Insulation - Lack of transfer of heat. (Objects that don't conduct well)
Laws/Principles:
Thermal Conductivity - Heat always travels from hot to cold as well as high pressure to low pressure.
Archimedes' Principle - "An immersed object is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces." --Archimedes
Bernoulli's Principle - states that when the speed of a fluid's flow increases, its pressure decreases.
Specific Heat - a property that states that materials with a high specific heat capacity need a lot of energy to heat up, but hold the heat for a long time (for example, water), while materials with a low specific heat capacity take very little energy to heat up but lose the energy rapidly.
Laws of Thermodynamics -
0th Law- (Temperature) If 2 systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are also in equilibrium. (a=b, b=c, then a=c)
1st Law- (Conservation of Energy) Energy is neither created nor destroyed--heat is a form of energy.
2nd Law- (Stability) Entropy increases; disorder increases.
3rd Law- (Absolute Zero) Nothing can reach absolute zero-- heat always exists.
Temperature: measure of the average energy of molecular motion in a substance.
Fluids - a substance that has the ability to flow.
States of Matter - due to the energy possessed and movement of atoms within matter, matter turns into a solid, liquid, or gas.
Pressure (due to liquid) - Density x Depth; the deeper the fluid, the more pressure it will exert. Similarly, the denser a liquid is the more pressure it exerts.
Types of Heat Transfers:
Conduction - transfer of heat through a material. For example, if you hold a cube of ice, the warmth of your hand is conducted to the ice cube melting it.
Convection - transfer of heat through a fluid (see fluids). For example, noodles in a boiling pot of water move due to convection currents in the water.
Radiation - Energy transmitted as rays, waves, or particles. For example, your skin tans in the sun due to the Sun's rays which are a form of radiation.
Insulation - Lack of transfer of heat. (Objects that don't conduct well)
Laws/Principles:
Thermal Conductivity - Heat always travels from hot to cold as well as high pressure to low pressure.
Archimedes' Principle - "An immersed object is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces." --Archimedes
Bernoulli's Principle - states that when the speed of a fluid's flow increases, its pressure decreases.
Specific Heat - a property that states that materials with a high specific heat capacity need a lot of energy to heat up, but hold the heat for a long time (for example, water), while materials with a low specific heat capacity take very little energy to heat up but lose the energy rapidly.
Laws of Thermodynamics -
0th Law- (Temperature) If 2 systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are also in equilibrium. (a=b, b=c, then a=c)
1st Law- (Conservation of Energy) Energy is neither created nor destroyed--heat is a form of energy.
2nd Law- (Stability) Entropy increases; disorder increases.
3rd Law- (Absolute Zero) Nothing can reach absolute zero-- heat always exists.
Reflection
If I was asked if I could of changed one thing about my group I wouldn't change a thing. Every thing went splendid in my group. We where able to maintain all our responsibility's with great haste and precision. We have made so much improvements from the first project