Electricity

Daniel Miranian
Period-7
Journal 4-3

I. I found out that one blade wind turbines typically run at higher tip ratios than two or three blade wind turbines. However, they are not as efficient as higher blade designs. Additionally, the noise that is produced by the spinning of the blades increases exponentially. Therefore, one blade wind turbine designs are not very popular, especially, they are located near people.

II. This past week in class we continued testing our wind turbines. It was cool to be able to use calculators to collect data from the instruments. I was surprised that our one and two blade designs produced the most power. We also watched a video about Nikola Telsa on Thursday. It highlighted his life accomplishments and explained his many setbacks. I was unaware that he helped design so many different machines that we still use today. Without his innovative ideas, our world would certainly be much different today.

III. I think that Tesla could be classified as a genius who went crazy. At the start of his work with electricity he led a rather normal life. However, after years of devoting his life to his work began to lose touch with the outside world. One way that Tesla could be called mad is that cut off all communication socially with the outside world. He holed himself up in his laboratory and for hours on end. However, he could also be called genius because he thought years ahead of his time. For example, he wondered if he could make a current alternate, when DC was the only available way to power things. He was even criticized by his professor in college for even proposing such an outlandish idea. However, he went on to successfully create AC along with numerous other ingenious inventions.

IV. Tesla was no doubt an incredible thinker and inventor. However, at times he seemed very socially immature. From watching the video he did not seem socially awkward in the sense that he just could not communicate with people. Instead he missed key subtle parts of conversation. For example, he took Thomas Edison literally when he said he would pay him $50,000 for improving his DC turbine. This failure led him to eventually start working on his own. If Tesla had not split from Edison when he did he may have become stunted with frustration. Also, Tesla’s desire to focus on science rather than interacting with others allowed him to concentrate at a much higher level than most. In conclusion, I would say sometimes you have to lead a miserable life filled with sacrifices to actually accomplish real change.

V. For next week I would like to find out more about what happened to Thomas Edison after he lost the war of the currents to Tesla.