Tech Bowl 7

shipping lanes

a sea lane. The regular route ships take over the water.

space transportation

a new mode of transportation that uses unmanned and manned flights to explore the universe.

structure

a vehicle subsystem that provides a rigid framework to protect the vehicle's contents and support other systems

transportation

the movement of people and materials from one place to another

water transportation

transportation through, and supported by, water. This includes ships, sailboats, rafts, barges, tugboats, and submarines.

periapsis

The point in the path of an orbiting body at which it is nearest to the body that it orbits.

apoapsis

The point in the path of an orbiting body at which it is farthest away from the body that it orbits.

Thrust to Weight Ratio

The comparison of how much thrust a propulsion system produces to the weight of the vehicle. Thrust to Weight Ratios less than one mean the vehicle won't move.

Thrust

The pushing or pulling force exerted by the engine of an aircraft or rocket

Orbiting

travelling in a circular or nearly circular path around another object

Trajectory

the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving while being pulled on by other forces

1st Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can be converted from one form to another.

Thermal energy

heat, is the vibration and movement of the atoms and molecules within substances

Radiant energy

is electromagnetic energy that travels in transverse waves. It is the only energy form that can flow through empty space.

Electrical energy

energy made available by the flow of electric charge through a conductor.

Mechanical energy

energy stored in the movement of objects

Chemical energy

is energy stored in the bonds of atoms and molecules.

Nuclear energy

is energy stored in the nucleus of an atom — the energy that holds the nucleus together.

Non Renewable Energy

a source of energy that exsists in limited quantities and once used, cannot be replaced except over the course of millions of years

Renewable Energy

Any source of energy that can be continually produced and is inexhaustible given current conditions.

Power Systems

A system that processes a source of energy and operates a load.

Load

A system that requires energy to do it's work.

Sankey Diagrams

picrotrial representations of energy conversions; an arrow (left to right) repersents the energy changes taking place; the width of the arrow represents the power or energy involved at a given stage; degraded energy is shown with an arrow up or down

turbine

Any machine that converts kinetic energy into mechanical (rotational) energy.

generator

Any machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

wind mill

A machine that uses the wind's energy to mill grain.

wind turbine

A machine that uses the wind's energy to create electricity.

nacelle

The "box" behind a wind turbine's blades contains the wind turbine's instrumentation cluster, gear box, and generator.

multimeter

An instrument that can measure useful electrical quantities such as voltage, current, resistance.

breadboard

A device that allows one to connect wires without soldering.

Ohm's Law

Ohm's Law is the equation V=IR and relates voltage, current, and resistance in simple circuits.

Faraday's Law of Induction

This law states that when a changing magnetic flux passes through a coil of wire, a voltage will be induced across that wire.

Blades

Structures connected to a central hub that are pushed by the wind causing them to rotate. They commonly have an airfoil shape with the curve on the back.

Tower

Structure that holds turbine and nacelle in the air stream

Air foil

an object such as an airplane wing or a bird wing with one flat side and one curved side. This causes a pressure difference with low pressure on the curved side and high pressure on the flat side. This produces a lifting force.

Vector

A quantity that involves both magnitude and direction.

Scalar

A quantity that does not involve direction.

Displacement

A net distance traveled including direction; An objects change in position.

Two-Dimensional Vectors

Vectors that lie flat in a plane and can be written as the sum of a horizontal vector and a vertical vector.

Unit Vectors

Special vectors that have a magnitude of 1. These include horizontal basis vector, i, and vertical basis vector, j.

Position

An objects location in a certain space.

Newton's First Law

An object will continue in its state of motion unless compelled to change by a force impressed upon it. Also called Law of Inertia

Inertia

An object's natural resistance to changes in their state of motion.

Newton's Second Law

Predicts what will happen when an unbalanced force does act on an object: the object's velocity will change / the object will accelerate.

Newton's Third Law

To ever action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.

Weight

The gravitational force exerted on an object by the Earth (or by whatever planet it happens to be on).

Normal Force

The component of the contact force that is perpendicular to the surface. (When an object is in contact with a surface, the surface exerts a contact force on the object.)

Friction Force

The component of the contact force that is parallel to the surface. (When an object is in contact with a surface, the surface exerts a contact force on the object).