My+Solar+Car+Project


 * Our Solar Car Project

Names: Sam and Sarah**

__Journal #1__ Response When I heard about the solar car project I was wondering what parts we would get in the box. I got a Knex kit for christmas many years ago and I had a lot of fun with it, building everything but a solar car from the instructions. I remember the solar panel being less powerful than I thought it would be and I tried using very bright lights my parents had because they are doctors and it did make the engine go faster than with sunlight.

__Journal #2__ Response

__Journal #3__ Response When the clouds are in front of the sun, the car still moves for a few seconds. This is due to the neuton's law that says bodies that are in motion tend to stay in motion and it is also due to kinetic energy. The car eventually stops because there is an equillibrium of energy when less force is applied to it.

__Journal #4__ Response We can measure the distance the cars move and convert it into Joules. __Journal #5__ Response We measured the distance the car traveled and the time it took to travel the distance. The length was 230 cm

__Journal #6__ Response The solar panel uses conductors to absorb the energy given off by the sun. It also uses positive and negative charges from the conductor to create energy and power a circuit.The electrons in the semiconductor are knocked loose when light hits them which makes the energy flow freely. The energy is used by the motor to create the force that powers the car. .
 * Trial # || Time in (s) ||
 * 1 || 3.38 ||
 * 2 || 3.81 ||
 * 3 || 3.72 ||
 * 4 || 3.69 ||

__Journal #7__ I used tinfoil coming off of the solar panel to point in the opposite direction of the solar panel in case the angle of the sun is not directly on the solar panel