Mr.Weir

ENG 4C 

Thursday, April 8th

How Does a Clothing Dryer Work

Inside almost every household in North America, you will find a clothing dryer. These are used to dry your clothing after you have washed them. Some people use clothing lines, however, using a dryer is a more efficient, and a faster way to dry your clothes. All dryers have three main components; a rotating tumbler, a heater that is either gas or electric powered, and an exhaust vent.

The rotating tumbler is what holds your clothing inside the machine itself. The purpose of the heater is to heat the air which passes through the clothing, as well as the water within the clothes. As the water heats up, it will turn into steam, hence the exhaust vent. The exhaust vent allows the steam to leave the machine, as well as the house or building it is inside of. 

The primary goal of a dryer is to have hot, dry air circulating through the machine as the clothes tumble in a circular motion, removing wet steam from the clothing. The tumbler is the heart of the machine, ensuring that the clothes don't get tangled up. In a home dryer, the drum will rotate one way for thirty seconds, and then the other for the same amount of time. Air is pulled into the machine and heated with the gas or electric powered heater. Once the air is heated, it enters the drum and passes through the clothes as the drum rotates. Passing and falling through the hot air inside the dryer allows the clothes to dry. The air that leaves the dryer passes through a lint filter, catching all the debris before passing through the exhaust vent. This whole process will only take you an hour, instead of a full day outside. You will no longer have to depend on wind or sunny weather to dry your clothing, making this more efficient. 

Donev et al explain that the three 3 visible components of a wind turbine are as follow:

Rotor blades - One side of the blade is curved and the other is flat. Wind will flow more quickly along the curved edge and this creates a difference in pressure, thus the blade starts to rotate.

Nacelle -  The nacelle is the pod or the enclosure behind the blades that contains a set of gears and a generator.

Tower - This is the tall structure that is typically between 50 - 100 meters above the ground. The rotor blades and nacelle are mounted at the top of the tower. 

On top of each wind turbine is a wind vane and anemometer which indicates the direction and speed of the wind. Depending on the direction of the wind, the wind vane allows the turbine to rotate on the tower and face the wind directly (Woodford).

According to Acciona’s video, How does a wind turbine work?, the blades of a wind turbine are made out of light and resisting material to effectively rotate even in very light winds. The blades are attached to the wind turbine through the hub. Behind the hub and the blades are the nacelle. Inside the nacelle, the low-speed shaft spins at the same speed as the blades. However, to generate electricity, it is necessary to increase the turning speed of the low-speed shaft. A gearbox increases the speed from the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and is now at a speed of 1500 revolutions per minute. The gearbox is connected to a generator which takes the kinetic energy and turns it into electrical energy. The electrical energy is now transported through the interior of the tower to the base where a transformer changes the electricity to the correct voltage to be transported to the substation and ultimately to the consumer.

Wind turbines are not only considered to be a clean and sustainable source of power but it also creates power without burning fossil fuels. There is no impact on the environment in terms of drilling and mining and a huge advantage is that wind will never run out (Woodford).

Works Cited

Acciona. “How does a wind turbine work/Sustainability.” Youtube, 23 February 2016, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DILJJwsFl3w 

Donev et al. (2019). Energy Education - Wind turbine. 

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Wind_turbine. Accessed: April 11, 2021.

Woodford, Chris. “How Do Wind Turbines Work?” Explain That Stuff, 29 Sept. 2020, 

www.explainthatstuff.com/windturbines.html. Accessed: April 11, 2021.

Kory Moxam

April 18, 2021

 

Have you ever been out for a drive and see solar panels in a field or on top of someone’s house and wonder how they worked? Well, I’m about to tell you. 

 

According to CertainTeed a company based out of Mississauga, Each individual solar panel is made by constructing a layer of silicon cells, a metal frame, a glass casing surrounded by a special film, and wiring together.  For maximum effect, the panels are grouped together into an ordered series and placed on rooftops of houses or in large outdoor spaces such as open fields.  The solar cells, which are also referred to as photovoltaic cells, absorb the sunlight during daylight hours. 

 

Inside each solar cell is a thin semiconductor wafer made from two layers of silicon. One layer of the wafer is positively charged, and the other layer of the wafer is negatively charged, this forms an electric field. When light energy from the sun strikes a solar cell, it provides energy to the cell and causes electrons to unfasten from atoms within the semiconductor wafer. Those unfastened electrons begin to move by the electric field surrounding the wafer, and this movement creates an electrical current.  

 

Now the solar panels are working efficiently to change sunlight into electricity, but the electricity produced is called direct current (or DC) electricity, this is not the type of electricity that powers most homes The type of electricity used to power homes is alternating current (or AC) electricity. Thankfully, DC electricity can easily be changed into AC electricity by a gadget called an inverter. In newer solar systems, these inverters can be designed as one inverter for the whole system or as individual microinverters attached behind the panels.

 

When it is dark and cloudy outside, the solar panels may not consume enough sunlight which is used for energy. If no one is home through the day during sunlight, the panels can collect extra energy which means you have more than needed to run your home. If you have to much energy the electrical companies will sometimes credit your account. This is known as net metering as the energy goes to and from the home. 

Now you know how solar panels work to convert sunlight into energy to run your home.
 

Trevor Weir 

ENG4C

April 8th, 2021

A Breakdown of the Digestive System

      The digestive system is a system we use daily to break down the food we eat so our body can absorb nutrients and energy that keep us alive. The digestive system is a system of organs that all have a responsibility from the moment food enters our mouth to when it exits our body. This system includes: mouth, salivary glands, esophagus, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, small intestine, colon, and rectum. All of these organs are attached together from top to bottom in a lengthy, bendy way. (Davis, 2021).

     The digestive tract starts at the mouth where food is chewed and saliva works to start digesting carbohydrates. The food then moves into the esophagus where a muscle process called peristalsis pushes the food into the stomach, as can be seen in figure 1 (Digestive System, 2021). This figure is used to help readers get a clear visual of how the digestive system works, looks and its functions. With its clear function definitions it’s easy to find which organ does what function and vice versa. Once in the stomach the food is blended with the digestive juices. Enzymes in the stomach break down proteins from your food and hydrochloric acid kills any bacteria from your food. Then the liver makes bile which is a digestive juice that helps the breakdown and digestion of fats and some vitamins. After the liver comes the pancreas which is home to tons of enzymes. 

         Next is the small intestine. 90% of the digestion and absorption of food occurs in the small intestine, the main purpose of the small intestine is to absorb nutrients and minerals from food. (Mandal, 2019). The second last stop of the digestive system is at the large intestine where indigestible food and water are processed, then stored awaiting their final destination. Finally, the food is now solid waste and your body has no use for it anymore, it is taken to the anus to be exited from the body, this can be seen in figure 2 (North to South Summary, 2021). Figure 2 is used to clarify the steps in order of the digestive system. It shows top to bottom how food enters the body all the way up to how it exits, giving the ready a very clear picture of the order of the digestive system.

Figure 1: Digestive System (2021)

Figure 2: North to South Summary (2021)

Works Cited

“Digestive System”, digital photograph, Smidge, retrieved on 8 April 2021,

https://www.getsmidge.com/pages/how-digestion-works

“North to South Summary”, digital photograph, Smidge, retrieved on 8 April 2021,

https://www.getsmidge.com/pages/how-digestion-works

Mandal, Ananya.. “What Does the Small Intestine Do?”. News Medical, 28 Jun. 2019,

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news-medical.net/amp/health/What-Does-the-Small-Intestine-Do.aspx 

Davis, Charles P.. “Medical Definition of Digestive System”. Medical Net, 29 Mar. 2021,

https://www.medicinenet.com/digestive_system/definition.htm

With the hot and humid weather lurking just around the corner, many people are going to be relying on their air conditioners to get a good nights sleep. Just looking at an air conditioner it’s pretty easy to have a basic understanding of what is happening — the air conditioner pulls the hot air in, cools it and then blows the cooled air back into our house. Popping open the air conditioner will tell us a bit more about what is actually going on.

There are multiple types of air conditioning systems on the market but they all generally work the same way and consist of the same 3 main components: a condenser coil, an evaporator coil and a compressor (Carrier, n.d.). Inside the coils is a chemical, most commonly referred to as refrigerant, and it works in unison with the 3 main components to provide cool air to wherever the unit is installed.

The first point of contact for the hot air from inside your house is the evaporator coil which is cooled by the refrigerant which absorbs the heat for the air, changing it from a liquid to a gas (Coolray, 2016). The gas makes its way to the compressor where it is then squeezed between two solid objects, decreasing the gas’s volume and raising its temperature in preparation for condensing. Now the refrigerant is a hot vapour, it comes to the condenser where it is exposed to the outside air, where the heat from your house is pushed into the outside air and the refrigerant is changed back into a liquid. Now that the refrigerant has taken the hot air from your house and pushed it outside, it makes its way back to the start to repeat the cycle over and over again until the air inside of your house reaches its desired temperature (Howard, 2019).

Refrigeration units are incredible and are used every day in many different ways from your refrigerator to keep your milk cold, refrigeration trailers on trucks to transport cold products across the country or an air conditioner in your house that allows you to escape the intense summer heat.

Works Cited

How Do Air Conditioners Work? (n.d.). Carrier. Retrieved April 9, 2021 from https://www.carrier.com/residential/en/us/products/air-conditioners/how-do-air-conditioners-work/

How Does an Air Conditioner Work? (2016, May 11). Coolray. Retrieved April 9, 2021, from https://www.coolray.com/help-guides/how-does-an-air-conditioner-work

How Does Air Conditioning Work? (2019, August 9). Howard Air. Retrieved April 9, 2021, from https://howardair.com/how-does-air-conditioning-work/#:~:text=The%20air%20conditioner%20sucks%20air,business%20reaches%20the%20desired%20temperature.

Department of Energy. (2014). How an Air Conditioner Works.  Retrieved April 9, 2021, from https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-saver-101-home-cooling-infographic

Most people in this day and age have some type of computer could be a laptop, desktop, tablet, or even a cell phone. But what makes a computer be able to process the information that you want to do. The parts of a  computer are as followed Motherboard, processor, hard drive, ram, video card, power supply, tower to hold these parts in, keyboard, mouse, and a monitor. It takes a few steps inside the computer to process information to either the printer or your monitor. You start by putting the information you want by inputting it in with your keyboard and mouse.

 It then travels through to the main motherboard which then processes the information to the hard drive for storage information and from the hard drive it comes back to the motherboard for processing again and then will come back through the output which is connected to your monitor. Think of a computer like a human body. We have our fingers and mouth for input are brain is like the motherboard and hard drive for storing information we then will process that information we stored in our brain back to our hand or mouth which then we output. The graph below shows the steps that computers do to be able for us to view what we are doing on the computer.

Works cited

“How Do Computers Work? A Simple Introduction.” Explain That Stuff, 12 Apr. 2020, www.explainthatstuff.com/howcomputerswork.html. 

Geeks on Site. “How Does a Computer Work?” Geeks on Site, 13 Aug. 2018, www.geeksonsite.com/blog/how-does-a-computer-work/#:~:text=A%20computer%20is%20a%20machine,back%20through%20an%20output%20device.&text=To%20better%20imagine%20how%20a,inside%20will%20make%20it%20easier. 

Mr. Trevor Weir

ENG4C

April 11, 2021

How do Wind Turbines Work

Have you ever passed a wind farm and found yourself fascinated by all the turbines standing at attention, facing the same direction and waving their three arms in a hypnotizing way. We know that these majestic objects generate electricity, but how exactly do wind turbines work? 

Donev et al explain that the three 3 visible components of a wind turbine are as follow:

Rotor blades - One side of the blade is curved and the other is flat. Wind will flow more quickly along the curved edge and this creates a difference in pressure, thus the blade starts to rotate.

Nacelle -  The nacelle is the pod or the enclosure behind the blades that contains a set of gears and a generator.

Tower - This is the tall structure that is typically between 50 - 100 meters above the ground. The rotor blades and nacelle are mounted at the top of the tower (Donev et al.).

On top of each wind turbine is a wind vane and anemometer which indicates the direction and speed of the wind. Depending on the direction of the wind, the wind vane allows the turbine to rotate on the tower and face the wind directly (Woodford).

According to Acciona’s video, How does a wind turbine work?, the blades of a wind turbine are made out of light and resisting material to effectively rotate even in very light winds. The blades are attached to the wind turbine through the hub. Behind the hub and the blades are the nacelle. Inside the nacelle, the low-speed shaft spins at the same speed as the blades. However, to generate electricity, it is necessary to increase the turning speed of the low-speed shaft. A gearbox increases the speed from the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and is now at a speed of 1500 revolutions per minute. The gearbox is connected to a generator which takes the kinetic energy and turns it into electrical energy. The electrical energy is now transported through the interior of the tower to the base where a transformer changes the electricity to the correct voltage to be transported to the substation and ultimately to the consumer (see fig. 1) (Acconia).

Fig. 1 How Wind Power Works (Layton).

Wind turbines are not only considered to be a clean and sustainable source of power but it also creates power without burning fossil fuels. There is no impact on the environment in terms of drilling and mining and a huge advantage is that wind will never run out (Woodford).

Works Cited

Acciona. “How does a wind turbine work/Sustainability.” Youtube, 23 February 2016, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DILJJwsFl3w 

Donev et al. (2019). Energy Education - Wind turbine. 

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Wind_turbine. Accessed: April 11, 2021.

Woodford, Chris. “How Do Wind Turbines Work?” Explain That Stuff, 29 Sept. 2020, 

www.explainthatstuff.com/windturbines.html. Accessed: April 11, 2021.

Layton, Julia. “How Wind Power Works” HowStuffWorks.com. 18 April 2020, 

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-power.htm. 

Accessed: April 20, 2021.

Have you ever wondered how a nuclear reactor works?  Who hasn’t?  It’s not really that simple as I will be explaining in my paper. I will try and stick to the basics to keep it understandable. Firstly, you start with 12.5ft tall control rods filled with 350 uranium pellets and they are then placed within a reactor core.  These uranium pellets then get struck by free neutrons, causing the uranium atom to break into multiple atoms which then generate heat. The kinetic energy of these atoms moving and separating over time creates more and more heat within the rods. They attempt to cool these rods with water. The rods are submerged in at least 10ft of water (depending on the size of the reactor) to the surface of the generator for safety purposes. This water is then heated by the kinetic energy created by the atoms until the water is brought to the point of boiling. As we all know, when water boils, it also evaporates and creates steam. This steam then travels through a system of pipes to a turbine that is connected to a generator. As the turbine spins, it generates electricity. The steam is then sent along another system of pipes filled with cold water allowing the steam to then condense back into the water for reuse within the generator

 

 

(How Does an Air Fryer Work? – Basic Working Principle of Air Fryer, 2020)

How Does an Air Fryer Work? – Basic Working Principle of Air Fryer. 21 May 2020, appliancearena.in/guides/how-does-an-air-fryer-work/#:~:text=How%20does%20an%20Air%20Fryer%20work%3F%201%20Working,it%20is%20quite%20understandable%20that%20after%20a%20. 

(Sophie Bird, 2021)

Bird, Sophie. “How Does an Air Fryer Work?” TechRadar, TechRadar, 27 Mar. 2021, www.techradar.com/news/how-does-an-air-fryer-work.