Research Log #1

Date: May 4, 2016

Name: Andrew Damaso
EQ: How can we use physics to make the world a better place?

Three Points to Prove:

1. How aerodynamics can affect speed.
2. How Hydrodynamics can affect speed.
3. What engineers have developed to help aerodynamics
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Points that this Source/Information Proves: #1: How aerodynamics can affect speed.

Summary:

The website we found states that cars and planes were not designed to go straight through brick walls.
Although they were designed to go through a certain type of wall, and that wall is the air that pushes against us
causing drag. This is where aerodynamics come into play, aerodynamics can greatly affect the speed of an
object depending on its shape. At low speeds it can be hard to notice how air can affect your speed. At high
speeds on windy days it is a bit easier to notice the force of air and drag pushing against you, causing you to
slow down.
There are ways to counter the drag force of air and prevent you from slowing down as much. These are
essentially what aerodynamic modifications are for. If you look at some vehicles, for example, a formula race
car, you’ll see how it’s designed to pass through air with ease causing very little drag. Compared to a Flatbed
truck which has a much greater surface area for air to push against.
Engineers have developed many other ways to prevent the force of drag from slowing you down as
much. Some modifications were invented for speed, along with safety reasons. Some high-end super cars and
formula race cars have spoilers also known as the rear wing. This was not just made for looks, it was invented
to keep the air from lifting the vehicles rear wheels and making it unstable at high speeds.

Excerpts (include four or more):

“at high speeds, and on exceptionally windy days, air resistance (the forces acted upon a moving object by the
air -- also defined as drag) has- a tremendous effect on the way a car accelerates, handles and achieves fuel
mileage.”

“At the speeds they're traveling, and with their extremely light weight, these cars actually begin to experience
lift at some speeds -- physics forces them to take off like an airplane.”

“Lots of production cars include aerodynamic add-ons to generate downforce. While the Nissan GT-R supercar
has been somewhat criticized in the automotive press for its looks, the entire body is designed to channel air
over the car and back through the oval-shaped rear spoiler, generating plenty of downforce. Ferrari's 599 GTB
Fiorano has flying buttress B-pillars designed to channel air to the rear as well -- these help to reduce drag
[source: Classic Driver].”

“As the 1950s and '60s came about, some of the biggest advancements in automobile aerodynamics came
from racing. “
Works Cited (MLA):
"How Aerodynamics Work." HowStuffWorks. PATRICK E. GEORGE, 17 Mar.
2009. Web. 04 May 2016.

Research Log #2
Date: May 5, 2016
Name: Andrew Damaso
EQ: How can we use physics to make the world a better place?

Three points to prove:

1. How can Hydrodynamics affect speed?
2. How does hydrodynamics cause or prevent lift?
3. Does drag affect hydrodynamics?
Point that this Source/information Proves: #2 How does hydrodynamics cause or prevent lift?

Summary:

This article provides information on how the hydrodynamics of a boat can cause lift. First of all,
Hydro means water, Dynamic refers to motion, and lift is a force. For rowing boats the lift is vertical.
Lift is also the force that directly opposes the weight of the boat and holds the frontal part of the boat
in the air.
The trim and sink of the boat both changes as the boat moves through the water. The trim of
the boat is the bow up or down and the bow is the forward part of the hull of a boat. The sink refers to
whether the boat's center of gravity rises or sinks vertically. The boats sea level is changed because
of the changing pressure on the underwater surface of the boat’s hull along with the wave form
developed on the boat’s side. As you go faster, the more the bow of the boat will rise and the back
part of the boat will drop under water, and the boat will be sinking under water. This is also due to the
force of the engine in the back of your boat.
With the hydrodynamic lift there is a positive and negative lift on the boat. The positive lift is
that there is an upward force near the bow, and the negative lift is that there’s a downward lift near
the stern because of the motion of the water past the hull. If the lift on a boat is too strong due to the
wind or waves then there is a pretty good chance that the boat’s bow will rise up vertically causing the
boat to flip over. To make your boat go faster, you need balance out the height and depth of both your
bow and stern.

Excerpts:
“If you want to relate that directly to the term "hydrodynamic lift", the boat is subject to an upward force
(positive lift) near the bow and a downward force (negative lift) near the stern due to the motion of the water
past the hull.

“Hydrodynamic forces, due to the motion of the boat through the water will lift the bow and drop the stern”

“ "Hydrodynamic" is a term that is used when determining the motion or flow of water. It is similar to the more
familiar term "aerodynamic," which relates to the flow of air.”
“The hull of the boat is the first area to be hit by water as you speed forward.”

Works Cited:
"How Does Hull Shape Affect The Speed Of A Boat?" Made Man. N.p., 26
June 2010. Web. 05 May 2016.

Research Log #3
Date: 5/6/16
Name: Andrew Damaso
EQ: How can we use physics to make the world a better place

Three Points to Prove:

1. How lift makes planes fly
2. How aerodynamics are used to control aircrafts
3. When lift can be bad
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Point that this source/information proves: #1 How lift makes planes fly

Summary:

This website states that an aircraft uses jet engines to generate thrust and overcome drag forces.
Although overcoming drag is very important for an aircraft to take flight, moving air can also generate forces in
the opposite direction of the flow, this force is called lift. What lift does is that it basically prevents the plane
from falling, because of the shape of the wing, fast moving air flows over it causing less pressure while slow
moving air goes under it with more pressure causing it to lift the wings thus lifting the plane. The reason air
moves faster above the wing is because it’s curved, allowing air to move faster along the top. The bottom of the
wing however, is flat and does not let air flow past it easily.
When the Wright brothers made their first flight in 1903, they needed a way to control their aircraft. The
three things that need to be controlled on an aircraft are pitch, roll, and yaw. Pitch is if the nose of the aircraft is
pointing up or down, this is controlled by an elevator or the “flaps” on the wings. The roll is what makes the
plane tilt left and right, ailerons which are also flaps and the yaw controls the direction in which the nose is
pointing. But what do these three things have to do with physics? These controls employ Newton’s Third Law
of Motion because they generate force by deflection the airflow in the opposite direction of the desired
movement.
We know that lift is an essential when flying an aircraft and we know how it works, but when can lift be
something that is undesired? When driving at extremely high speeds lift will cause the back end of your
automobile to rise up making it unstable. This is why some high performance cars have spoilers, what they do is
prevent the air from lifting the car’s rear wheels. Another way that lift can be bad is how an aircraft can stall
when in flight, this is caused by when the smooth airflow over a plane’s wing is disrupted.
Excerpts:
“If we look at the wing of a typical small plane, which has a top surface that is 1.5 - 2.5% longer than the
bottom, we discover that a Cessna 172 would have to fly at over 400 mph to generate enough lift. Clearly,
something in this description of lift is flawed.”

“An airplane in flight is the center of a continuous tug of war between four forces: lift, gravity force or weight,
thrust, and drag. Lift and Drag are considered aerodynamic forces because they exist due to the movement of
the aircraft through the air.”

“Lift is produced by a lower pressure created on the upper surface of an airplane's wing compared to the
pressure on the wing's lower surface, causing the wing to be "lifted" upward.”

Thrust is a force created by a power source which gives an airplane forward motion. It can either "pull" or
"push" an airplane forward. Thrust is that force which overcomes drag. Conventional airplanes utilize engines
as well as propellers to obtain thrust.

Works Cited:
"What Makes An Airplane Fly - Level 1." Aeronautics -. N.p., n.d. Web. 09
May 2016.

Research Log #4
Date: May 6, 2016
Name: Andrew Damaso
EQ: How can we use physics to make the world a better place?

Three points to prove:

1. What is Hydrodynamics?
2. How does hydrodynamics improve speed?
3. Why is Hydrodynamics important?
Point that this Source/information Proves: #1 What is Hydrodynamics?

Summary:

First of all, hydrodynamics is the study of liquids in motion. It’s about the ways that different
forces affect the movement of liquids. Hydrodynamics has to do a lot of fluid mechanics which studies
how forces and energy interact with other fluids excluding gases and liquids. Hydrodynamics is very
largely used in engineering; mainly on the flow through pipes.
Fluid dynamics is a smaller category part of the science of fluid dynamics and with other
subcategories such as fluid statics. This contains the study of aerodynamics because it includes part
of weather prediction. Fluid dynamics include velocity, temperature, and density. Math equations help
to predict the rate of water flow through a pipe, that is a laminar, or uninterrupted, flow. They also try
to predict the level of accuracy the flow of turbulent as it occurs with an object like a dam. Marine
hydrodynamics is another major part of science. A hydrodynamic model uses formulas to explain
how/why water reacts to the environment, and vice versa. Today, these models are computer
generated animations, or formulas that could be used to real life conditions.
The hydrodynamic models look at the conditions in the oceans and other bodies of waters, and
could predict different outcomes. Short term weather conditions are usually predicted by the actions
of the oceans. Ecology of the area could also be forecasted using the models, since the models show
the water level, salinity, currents, and the temperature. This could be very helpful in certain areas just
like the gulf coast of the US where plant life in the water has a great impact on the hurricanes.

Excerpts:
“Hydrodynamic models look at conditions in the oceans and other bodies of water, and can predict various outcomes.”

“Hydrodynamics is the study of liquids in motion. Specifically, it looks at the ways different forces affect the movement of
liquids. A series of equations explain how the conservation laws of mass, energy, and momentum apply to liquids, particularly
those that are not compressed.”

“Before the invention of powered flight and aircraft in the 20th century, the term hydrodynamics was often used
interchangeably with fluid dynamics, because most of fluid mechanics was devoted to studying liquids in motion, rather than
gases in motion. “

“All of the physical sciences, including fluid dynamics, are governed first and foremost by the laws of conservation. These state
that the total amounts of energy, mass, and linear momentum in a closed system remain constant, and that energy and mass can
neither be created nor destroyed.”

Works Cited:
Myers, Josie, and Andrew Jones. WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 09 May 2016.

Research Log #5

Name: Andrew Damaso

Date: September 12, 2017
EQ: How can engineers save the world?

Three Points to Prove: #1: What are engineers doing to help the environment?
#2: How Earth-Scale Engineering Can Save the Planet.
#3: How can engineering solve the world’s problems.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: #3: How can engineering solve the world’s problems.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

“I believe that if we have enough engineers and enough funding to go with them, we can solve a lot of the
world's biggest problems.”
“There’s a lack of engineers here in the US compared with other countries, and I believe that one of the reasons
for that is because in the US we have this perception that engineers are nerds.”

“Unfortunately here in the US, people often push our youth into professions that either garner higher salaries, or
seem to be more prestigious than engineering; like finance jobs, doctors, and lawyers.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Engineers could save the environment in many ways. The world’s biggest problems can also be solved
by engineers. Civil engineers, computer engineers, mechanical engineers, and chemical engineers could save
the world from ending and could help stop the people from ending the world. For example, Engineers could
come up with better cars that can be reused and recycled. The batteries in tesla’s can be reused but they can’t be
recycled. When the batteries are destroyed or dead, they can’t be used for another purpose but they can only be
thrown away. If people continue to make electric cars that need batteries, then the batteries will just be buried
underground and will take up space on earth. We need to start making solar powered cars that only use the sun
to power it and not a battery or motor.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

TEDxTalks. “How Engineers Will Save the World | Anthony Fasano |

TEDxBergenCommunityCollege.” YouTube,YouTube, 30 Mar. 2016,

I am assuming that this is a reputable and reliable article because it’s a TED Talk and it’s from the Bergen
community college.

Research Log #6

Name: Andrew Damaso

Date: 8 January 2018
EQ: How can engineers save the world?

Three Points to Prove: #1: What engineers are doing to help the environment.
#2: How Earth-Scale Engineering Can Save the Planet.
#3: How can engineering solve the world’s problems.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
Point that this Source/Information Proves: #3: How can engineering solve the world’s problems.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

“More than two decades later, Eric and his colleagues at Microsoft Research have developed analyses that can
predict with impressive accuracy whether a patient with congestive heart failure who is released from the
hospital will be readmitted within 30 days.”

“Rather, this insight comes from what we call “machine learning,” a process by which computer scientists direct
a program to pore through a huge database—in this instance, hundreds of thousands of data points involving
hundreds of evidential variables of some 300,000 patients. The machine is able to “learn” the profiles of those
patients most likely to be readmitted by analyzing the differences between cases for which it knows the
outcome. Using the program, doctors can then plug in a new patient’s data profile to determine the probability
of his or her “bouncing back” to the hospital.”

“My research team has a project in India, for instance, that allows non medical personnel in remote areas to
diagnose certain illnesses with the help of cell phones. Using them, people dial into an enormous database of
medical information, fill in answers to a set of questions, and receive valuable diagnoses on the spot. This
system could someday be used to track and study the spread of diseases, particularly infectious ones. With large
numbers of people performing quick diagnostics that feed into a database, public officials and health care
workers can see where outbreaks are occurring, how fast they’re moving, and what kind of symptoms are
appearing. Machine learning can enter the loop in real time, constantly comparing every new case with every
other case of this and other infectious outbreaks—and looking for patterns that might aid prevention efforts.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Engineers can solve the world’s problems in many different kinds of ways.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

Hey, Tony. "The Next Scientific Revolution." Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no. 11, Nov. 2010, pp. 56-63.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=54604474&site=ehost-live.

I am assuming that this is a reputable and reliable article because it’s on EBSCO and the information comes the
Harvard Business Review.

Research Log #7

Name: Andrew Damaso

Date: 9 January 2018
EQ: How can engineers save the world?

Three Points to Prove: #1: What can engineers do to help the environment?
#2: How Earth-Scale Engineering Can Save the Planet.
#3: How can engineering solve the world’s problems.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: #1: What can engineers do to help the environment?

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

“By the time we reach the Roman Republic, technology had developed into elaborate systems of water and
sewage transportation for which we know the ancient world was famous. We have all heard about the aqueduct
systems across the empire; the Romans knew that drought was a possibility in the Mediterranean climate that
dominated most of the land of the empire so they built massive stone networks to carry water from areas where
it was abundant to areas that could suffer in a drought.”

“Air pollution has been a big issue since the 1960s and many countries introducing a Clean Air Act or
equivalent. Some of the world's largest cities were big polluters until then; over the decades, the remit of the
Environmental Engineer has changed. It used to be control and management of toxic materials and their effects
on the environment - the 1980s was a big problem for Acid Rain ; professionals in the air pollution category
were fundamental to raising awareness of the problems cause and advising on legislation to reduce the output of
relevant gases (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide) into the atmosphere. Today, acid rain still has the
potential to cause harm, but levels have been reduced by 70% in some parts of the world.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Work Cited (correct MLA format):

“why Environmental Engineering is Vital for Our Future.” EvnvironmentalScience.org,
www.environmentalscience.org/environmental-engineering.

I am assuming that this is a reputable and reliable article because it’s a .org and it’s from the John Hopkins
University.