Amateur Science

I am wanting to install a battery assisted solar array that provides a dc line to small (500 watts or so) passive resistance space heaters throughout the house. Since 120 vac converts to 84.84v RMS, wouldn't that be the voltage in DC to deliver an equivalent heating effect?

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Hi Hopefully there is a simple scientific answer to my question? I`m trying to work out the most efficient way to run my spa. The water is contained in an insulated plastic enclosure like a paddling pool. There is a top insulated cover. The water is heated by an electric element and pump which circulates the water. The pump/heater can take the water from 16c to 40c in about 5 hours. The whole thing is inside a room which has been designed to maximise solar gain - so much so it recorded 49c as a maximum last year and regularly stays between 38-45c for about 6 hours a day with no mechanical help. There are no drafts in the room and its well insulated and ca…

So I made alcohol vacuum still. I have the coils submerged in a dry ice and alcohol to keep it super chilled, the coils are made of copper. I'm certain I have no leaks but as soon as I start using the coils I can't reach full vacuum. \ My theory is that sub zero conditions are causing a drop in vacuum pressure. Can someone confirm this? Thanks.

is model a representation of actual phenomena? is it analogous to the actual phenomena or is it actual phenomena itself? for example: is atom actually looking like its model i.e. ball shape? or is atom analogous to ball shape?

Hello people. I have created a device whereas I run magnets in front of a coil on a disk. Buy the nature of the curcuit, the core of the coil changes polarity and the disk spins and I capture the back EMF. Thats all good. I have a run and trigger batteries (12V). Total input of 24V. I have overunity to the tune of some 70V. Basically I put 24V in and 90V+ out! Though the amperage is minute. My goal is to run an inverter with an input from my device at ~ 14V and with enough amp to be viable. Can anyone help? PLEASE!

I know this is probably the dumbest question one could ask, but I couldn't seem to find a answer. In electrolysis, with two copper electrodes, in magnesium sulfate desolved in water, what sticks to the cathode,and what makes the water blue-green. I need to know what to label the stuff.

When living in Paris, you need to manage things up if you want to see the sky. Sun eruptions were great as they could be seen from anywhere. I've also read this article which gives some tips (it's a real mag, the chapter is called "What can (or can't) be seen from the city?"). But i'd like to go further. Is there cities observers here having some hacks to share ? And also, knowing the next big sky events that could be seen from the city ? (At least I'll be up for the Leonid Meteor Shower !)

Hey guys, I'm an artist based in Australia and am needing some advice with the Chladni experiment which I'm going to be incorporating into a sculpture. Is this suitable for the vibration generator? http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Vibration-generator_270849507.html And which signal generator is best? I basically need it to be able to reach the more complex patterns in the sand. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1HZ-500KHz-DDS-Function-Signal-Generator-Module-Sine-Triangle-Square-Wave-dme-/151379109702? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/single-channel-DDS-signal-source-function-generator-5MHz-frequency-counter-/261517827629?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=ite…

Greetings, I was hoping to find some help with a question that I have. I'm an amateur writter and I'm currently developing a short story based on time travel. To that end I was hopingt o find some advice on a specific area. I'm looking for a method to explain how the "machine" could target a specific point in time. My own thoughts led me to the idea of finding something that exists as a constant in the universe but is always changing (that's the only way I can think to explain it). So not being that scientifically minded, I thought I'd seek help here. If anyone has ideas or thoughts they could point me to I'd be greatful. Thank you.

How to convert this following fractional decimal to binary?? 1/2 , 1/4, 1/8 Kindly help me...

Greetings! I am trying to replicate this experiment and having trouble getting the peaks to repel the center fluid. I am using a neodymium 3/4" diameter neodymium magnet. Maybe my magnet is too strong? Or perhaps I am not using the correct thinner? I tried the experiment with both Gum Spirits Turpentine and also Vegetable Oil. I am simply adding droplets of the thinner to the petri dish, but maybe there is a different method at play. This is very much an at-home kitchen experiment, so open to ideas if you've got any! Thanks!

I have a silly question for which I have no practical application for the knowledge other than satisfying my own curiosity. I go camping a lot and sometimes if I am camping and it is very rainy outside I may opt to urinate into an empty Coca-Cola bottle (plastic NOT glass) rather than leave my tent and get wet. I will then close the lid tightly and put the bottle somewhere out of the way. A while later I tend to notice that the sides of the bottle have imploded a little as though some of the air from the bottle has been removed. Why is this? At first I thought that the heat from the urine would cause the air in the bottle to expand pushing some of the air out of t…

I would not name it amateur science at all due to me not structured and science is a highly structured biz. I test out different shapes of mouth pieces for lip reed instruments like Trumpet like new instruments. Very laid back non ambitious just for fun "sci" not real science. It is really fun. Take the trumpets they have way back in time. Baroque Trumpet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_trumpet Here is a Trumpet guy on internet giving all the right dimensions. Making a PVC Natrual Trumpet he mispelled natural there. He gives both inch and metrics to help us with different thumbs I bought such pvc at a local mall cost almost nothing. The exp…

I am in the 7th grade and I have to create a science project that is an invention and that people would want to buy. I am lost for ideas. Any help would be appreciated.

I am planning on using some online schematics to make my multimeter also convertible to a gaussmeter. One DIY page said I could find a Hall Effect Sensor in CD ROM and DVD players. Where might this be located in the players? We have a few old DVD players so I suppose I'll extract the motor, laser, variable resistor dials and some other things too.

Geothermal energy especially in volcanic regions.dig as much as possible and send fresh water to turn in to steam and run power generator

Can I connect my DC motor straight to a 9V battery? or do I need a resistor in between? I've tried it and the motor spins, but will having no resistor ruin the motor? Also, when I connect the two wires to complete the circuit, I see small sparks, is that normal?

4 * AA 3ah 1.3v batteries transformed to 500k volts and 0.008mA. Is it safe? I know human skin has between 1-100k ohms resistance and the human heart requires about 0.01mA to be deadly so i presume its safe. I dont know how transformers work or the inards of carrying current to the heart etc so just curious.

I really hope you don't mind me asking questions here as Im not a science head. Instead im a craftsman. Normally Google is my best friend when if comes to finding out stuff but im stumped here to get the right help. Basically I make suncatchers using crystals. . combinations of faceted spheres and octagons. For display purposes I want to be able to refract them on a wall using artificial light. Iv tried this with no success. Does it need to be a super strong bulb held close or far?or is there a type of light or bulb that I should be using to achieve good results? Hope someone can help Thanks in advance Dave

With some recently acquired components from an old television my Physics teacher wasn't using anymore (he pulled out the old cathode ray tubes, my friends got speakers, I got circuit boards), I decided to utilize the capacitors to make a bank in order to form a single stage coilgun, before moving onto a multi-stage coilgun with the same components. Here is a basic schematic, which I put together earlier, though I feel as though I am missing something here. Afraid of making what we call "the magic smoke" instead of a functioning circuit of components, I decided to play this one safe. I am probably going overkill with four capacitors with such high capacitance,…

Hi all, I'm new here. My professional background is in computers and airplanes, but about a year ago I started getting really curious about how telescope mirrors were made. I know that typically they are coated with aluminum in a very good vacuum. What follows is a dreamed up alternative process that is almost certainly less effective (or totally useless?), but since this is far out of my profession I need some help coming up with some reasonable hypotheses for what might happen if this were tried (not just what I wish would happen). Right now I live in a hotel room for work, but perhaps later this year I will have a garage again and may try it myself. Most hobb…

hello, there have been built by MIT researchers and others, vacuum tubes without using heaters to activate a cathode of thorium coated metal to produce current. A seemingly simple crystalline coating of pure diamond on a metal substrate introduced into a standard amplifying tube seems to work and create a useable current flow with which to produce a "filamentless" tube, without the heat and power consumption of a filament, longer proposed lifespan, and of course a vast improvement in overall amplifiier efficiency....I read about this in S.A. magazine's October 1992 issue....would it be possible to get a diamond coated piece of metal, say a 1/8" copper rod, about an inch …

Here is an experimental video I made in which an ink drop comes to life. No computer graphics or animation were used - it's all live action. Instead, I relied on some science to produce the special effects. Hope you enjoy the video, and I'm curious whether you can guess what's going on Best, Alex aka NoodlersFan.

Hello Scientist Anyone of you know how to made a chemical vapor deposition chamber or furnace that allow to mix 4 types of gas together using stuff that we can find from hardware store? Thanks