Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Our Team

Owen Ong (Leader), Lee Kai En, Lam Jiajun, Mark Tay - all from S201 :P


Overview

Read the introduction, objectives and theoretical background to the project and then answer the following questions:
  • What main theory or concept is the project based on?
The project is based on physics and mathematics.  These two subjects are taught in primary school , thus we will know parts of the topic.
  • What do you already know about this theory or concept?
We already know a lot of information about physics and mathematics. About the fastest ball challenge, i know about the law of energy conservation which no energy can be created or destroyed. Also, that potential energy which in this case gravitational potential energy , is converted to kinetic energy, so the ball moves by its own when going down the 'slope'. 
For the extraction of caffeine experiment,  we already learnt about some of the separation techniques that is used in the experiment like the separating funnel to separating two liquids that has different desity and does not mix together.  

Objectives

What does the group need to accomplish by the end of the project?
      At the end of the project, our group has to find the angle in which the three-quarter inch ball bearing can travel across a horizontal plane in the shortest time for the Fastest Ball Challenge and to extract caffeine from tea for the Extraction of Caffeine from Beverages.
     
How will you know whether or not your project has been successful?
      To test whether the experiment was successful, we can compare the timing of the angle that we found the best to the rest of the angles, to ensure that the angle really is the best angle. As for the Extraction of Caffeine from Beverages, we used an infrared scan to test the purity of our caffeine samples.

Our Achievements


  • What did you achieve by completing this project? When answering this question, consider both personal and academic development.
We achieved many things by completing this project. First of all, we learnt many new things about physics and chemistry, such as conservation of energy and what different laboratory chemicals and substances do. We also learnt how to manage our time properly, because we had to do experiments in a short period of time and also had only a day and a half to make slides for 2 projects. We also had a great experience 'being' an university student, living in the hall of residences and doing university-level projects. 
  • Post photographs and videos that you recorded during the project here.
Students measuring the weight of Calcium Carbonate to be used for their experiment.

A rotary evaporator.
Our group testing the speed of the ball in the "Fastest Ball Challenge"

  • Describe how the design of your experiment or the design of your product allowed you to achieve the projects desired outcomes.
The experiment we did was not very easy, which made us think harder and explore new ways of doing things, and we learnt a lot from doing that. It was too hard too, thus we were able to do the experiment without too much guidance from the professors or helpers.
  • Identify possible limitations (restrictions) to your project. When answering this question, consider the design of your experiment or the design of your product.
  • Suggest possible improvements that could be made in order to minimize the limitations that you have identified.

Discussion questions from mentor

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Thank you Note

Thank you to NTU Student leaders to help us in this 3 days 2 nights in the campus tour and a lot of time phrases.

Thank you to the NTU Professors and the Student Leaders in Project 3 to aid and help us in the project we were allocated to.

Lastly, Thank you to everybody that has helped us regardless in the camp or the project.