Preliminary Course Assessable Task 1
By Edward Hawkins
09.04.13

Title Page | p. 1 | Part A: Historical Developments * Materials * Transport * Tool-Making * Chemical Knowledge * Communication Knowledge * ElectricityPart B: Electric Motors: * Diagram: DC motor * Rotating Magnetic Fields in an Electric Motor | p. 3 | | p. 3 | | p. 3 | | p. 4 | | p. 5 | | p. 6 | | p. 7 | | p. 8 | | p. 8 | | p. 8 | Bibliography | p. 9 |
Table of Contents

Part A: Historical Developments

Materials: Salvinia Molesta Mimic
Salvinia Molesta hairs
Salvinia Molesta hairs
The Brazilian fern Salvinia molesta has proliferated around the Americas and Australia in part because its surface is dotted with oddly shaped hairs that trap air, reduce friction, and help the plant stay afloat. In the November 1 issue of the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Ohio State University engineers describe how they recreated the texture, which resembles a carpet of tiny eggbeater-shaped fibers. In nature, air pockets trapped at the base of Salvinia's hairs reduce friction in the water and help the plant float, while a sticky region at the tips of the eggbeaters clings lightly to the water, providing stability. In tests, the coating performed just as the Salvinia hairs do, the bases of the hairs were hydrophobic, while the tips of the hairs were hydrophilic and so water droplets did not penetrate between the hairs, but instead clung to the tops of the eggbeater structures - even when the coating sample was turned on its side to a 90-degree vertical.
With commercial development, the coating could reduce drag and boost buoyancy and stability on boats and submarines. This would result in much greater fuel efficiency and preservation of momentum. The synthetic material is also adverse to oxidisation and can be made to be fairly durable, which is vastly beneficial for its practical uses but offers an environmental danger in its oceanic context as the hairs are likely to break off from the material. This pollutant would not only float, but its hydrophobic/philic properties combined with its microscopic nature would be detrimental to marine species.

Transport: Maglev Train
While maglev transportation was first proposed more than a century ago, the first commercial maglev train made its test debut in Shanghai, China, in 2002, using the train developed by German company Transrapid International. Traveling at an average speed of 267 mph (430 kmh), the 19 mile (30 km) journey takes less than 10 minutes on the maglev train as opposed to an hour-long taxi ride. The world record rail speed was recorded with a Japanese maglev train exceeding 580kph.
ERS system
ERS system
Maglev is short for magnetic levitation, which means that these trains will float over a guideway using the basic principles of magnets to replace the old steel wheel and track trains. There are 2 different systems currently used to levitate the existing trains in Germany, USA, Japan and China: ERS (Electromagnetic Suspension) and EDS (electrodynamic suspension). The major difference between the two is the use of liquid nitrogen to supercool the magnets in the EDS system. These supercooled magnetic are able to conduct and hold a current after the power supply is shut-off. This drastically reduces the large amount of electricity needed to power the systems, one of the major barriers between the concept and its global commercial use. However, where the system is implemented they have been incredibly successful, providing many commuters with a practical alternative. Unfortunately, the current models are expensive to run and maintain due to the energy and materials required, the production of both result in a large carbon-footprint, exaggerated by the systems required proximity to dense populations.

Tool Making: Computer Aided Design
Example of CAD application
Example of CAD application
Beginning in the 1980s computer-aided design programs reduced the need of draftsmen significantly, especially in small to mid-sized companies. Their affordability and ability to run on personal computers also allowed engineers to do their own drafting work, eliminating the need for entire departments. In today's world, many students in universities do not learn manual drafting techniques because they are not required to do so. The days of hand drawing for final drawings are virtually over. Universities no longer require the use of protractors and compasses to create drawings, instead there are several classes that focus on the use of CAD software. CAD has become an especially important technology within the scope of computer-aided technologies, with benefits such as lower product development costs and a greatly shortened design cycle. The accuracy, flexibility and ease of access provided by CAD technology has completely revolutionised every industry it is incorporated into and is now used to model, design and communicate any physical system to the point where it is universally understandable, linking the many stages of industrial process, from the experts and specialists to the blue collars. Over the last couple of decades this has resulted in a significant shift in employment areas away from the middlemen to the two working ends of the process, resulting in increased productivity and efficiency in many fields in society.

Chemical Knowledge: Chlorofluorocarbons
Growth of the hole in the Ozone Layer
Growth of the hole in the Ozone Layer
In the 1930s chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) became an industrial staple due to their non-flammable and non-toxic properties and were used extensively in refrigerants, propellants and solvents. However, in 1974, Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina conducted research into the effects of CFCs in the atmosphere and its detrimental effects on the ozone layer. It was shown that, due to CFCs’ low reactivity, they had a long lifespan and often found themselves in the atmosphere for decades. UV radiation eventually causes the CFCs to break down, producing highly volatile chlorine which decomposed ozone into chlorine oxide and oxygen. The most quoted effect of CFCs on the environment is its relation to the large ozone hole in the atmosphere above Antarctica. The major consequence of this hole is the excess UV radiation which is able to attack the biosphere, especially where the hole exists above human populations in Australia, New Zealand and South America as UV radiation is linked to many forms of cell malformations including skin cancer and cataracts. Fortunately, this information lead to the Montreal Protocol, 1987, reducing and, in 2000, banning the production of CFCs. The identification and removal of other Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) followed shortly after.

Communication Knowledge: VoIP
The technology underpinning VoIP was initially developed in the late 1970s, but it took almost 20 years to evolve from a computer novelty into a household service. It's now used by hundreds of thousands of people every day. The importance of VoIP phone system, converting analogue voice signals into digital data packets to facilitate two-way transmission of conversations in real time using the Internet, lies in its functionality, multiple features and several other advantages including cost-savings. Its major advantage is its practical portability in a communication device, but also has a host of features to uplift the quality of business communications leading to increased productivity. VoIP systems offer business houses the technological infrastructure eminently required in today's global marketplace. Businesses are taking advantage of VoIP and its important features like unified communications to videoconferencing and data sharing to build rapport with business associates and clients around the world. The technology utilizes the Internet to transmit voice data for telecommunication purposes and is incredibly practical to today’s individuals, however, his technology perhaps needs some further refinement as the common complaints are an increase in dropped calls and poorer voice quality.

Electricity: Silicon Micro-transistor
3D model of the transistor
3D model of the transistor
In Febuary, 2012, a group of physicists at the University of New South Wales created the first intentional single atom transistor. The UNSW team used a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to see and manipulate atoms at the surface of the silicon crystal inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Using a lithographic process, they patterned phosphorus atoms into functional devices on the crystal, then covered them with a non-reactive layer of hydrogen. Hydrogen atoms were removed selectively in precisely defined regions with the super-fine metal tip of the STM. A controlled chemical reaction then incorporated phosphorus atoms into the silicon surface. Finally, the structure was encapsulated with a silicon layer and the device contacted electrically using an intricate system of alignment markers on the silicon chip to align metallic connects.The electronic properties of the device were in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions for a single phosphorus atom transistor.
The team believed that the silicon coating would increase its potential for future manufacturing. The transistor is known as the critical component of computer technology and this breakthrough heralds the start of commercial quantum computing almost 10 years prior to recent predictions based on Moore’s Law. Computer components of this size will result in unprecedented computational efficiency and practicality including the ability to reassess the viability of nanobots, such as those planned to be used in medicine.

Part B: Electric Motors
Copper Coil
Copper Coil
Diagram: DC Motor

Supporting Paperclip
Supporting Paperclip

Magnet
Magnet
S
S
N
N

D sized Battery
D sized Battery
Rubber band
Rubber band

Rotating Magnetic Fields in an Electrical Motor:
Magnetic torque refers to the force produced within the magnetic field of a moving magnet or conductor. In the magnetic torque model, the moving magnetic field created by the spinning magnet produces enough torque in the other magnets field to be able to turn it. However, as previously stated, magnetic torque can be produced by moving a conductor to create current in the wire. Inversely, a conductor carrying a current within a magnetic field will created enough force to rotate the conductor, if possible. This is why the modified coil carrying an electrical current spins when positioned above a magnet (as shown in the above diagram).

Bibliography

Electric motors and generators. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/electricmotors.html#DCmotors. [Accessed 01 April 2013].
Physicists Create a Working Transistor From a Single Atom. 2013. NYTimes.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/science/physicists-create-a-working-transistor-from-a-single-atom.html?_r=2&. [Accessed 04 April 2013].
"How VoIP Works". 2013. HowStuffWorks. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm. [Accessed 04 April 2013].
The Ozone Hole-Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theozonehole.com/cfc.htm. [Accessed 04 April 2013].
Laser rangefinder. 2013. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_rangefinder#Laser_measuring_tools. [Accessed 06 April 2013].
Biomimetics: New synthetic waterproofing and super-slippery materials inspired by. 2013. American Society of Plant Biologists. [ONLINE] Available at: http://my.aspb.org/blogpost/700968/134288/Biomimetics-New-synthetic-waterproofing-and-super-slippery-materials-inspired-by-plants. [Accessed 06 April 2013].
"How Maglev Trains Work". 2013. HowStuffWorks. [ONLINE] Available at: http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/maglev-train.htm. [Accessed 06 April 2013].
Computer-aided design. 2013. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_design. [Accessed 07 April 2013].