2. Research Experience for Teachers LIGO 2002 John R. Thacker Covington High School

3. Summer in Livingston ! Gaining culture Demonstrations LIGO Experiences Lesson Plan Ideas Data Analysis

4. Culture: it’s surprising where Gravity turns up… “To Martinique, that Monserrat mystique We'll put out to sea And we'll perfect our chemistry By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity …” “To Martinique, that Monserrat mystique We'll put out to sea And we'll perfect our chemistry By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity …” Kokomo - The Beach Boys

5. Culture Meetings... Clean Rooms... Laser Safety... SURF Lectures... Control Room...

6. PEPI Installation

10. Easy does it...

13. Hmmnn......... LIGO Experience

14. Temperature v. Distance Incandescent source Sensor: thermistor Lesson Plan Ideas

15. Using Data Collection System

16. Schematic for MAX187 ADC

17. Switch Box Close Up

19. The Detector

25. So, what were the results ? Temperature decreases by one over the cube root of the distance { y = 3461 X (- 0.31) } Beyond about 8 inches temperature data was marginal Thermistor required about 3 minutes to stabilize

26. Using a Thermistor to Monitor Power Consumed Lesson Plan Ideas

27. Variable DC Input ( 2 VDC to 22 VDC ) Thermistor Output Voltage to ADC Input Voltage to Thermistor 5 VDC 200 Ohm Power Resistor with Thermistor Attached

28. Typical Thermistor Voltage V. Time Curve About 6 minutes to stabilize

29. Curve based on manufacturer data supplied with Thermistor NTC: Negative Thermal Constant

30. So, what were the results ? Voltage thru power resistor varied: 2 – 22 VDC Current thru power resistor calculated : I = V/R Power Consumed: P = I V Graph Power Consumed v. Thermistor voltage

32. Results: For our limited range of voltage input, the results are essentially linear; The results are not expected to be linear for larger voltage values input to the power resistor;

33. Meteor Search Look for Sudden Enhancements to Atmosphere (SEAs) caused by meteor induced ionization trail Meteor Scatter – uses ionization trails to reflect radio waves Trails are typically 80 – 100 km high Used day or night – even for “secure” communications

34. Meteor Search – HOW ? Tune to “empty” frequency in VHF band (41 – 68 MHz) & wait for reception of a distant transmitting station Typical reflections last 1 to 10 seconds

35. Ionization Trail Constructive Interference Geometric optics Geometric Optics

36. Potential SEA’s

37. Solar Flare Search 20 – 100 kHZ band Look for enhanced signals flare heavily ionizes ionosphere down to D layer VLF wave guide ducting occurs – more efficient propagati

38. Demonstrations Pinewood Derby Racetrack Demonstrate Energy Put into the System Positive and Negative Curvature Connection to Gravity

39. The first 16 ft of the 24 ft track

40. Demonstrations Prototype of Starting Block

41. It works !

42. A Peak Inside...

43. Jam Nuts, Anyone ?? Cam

44. Simplify... Prototype of start mechanism

45. The Test Vehicles Integrated Mass Units

46. Don’t leave home without it...

47. Which One Wins ??

48. They’re Off ! !

49. Are the results what you expected ?

50. Mass Forward Mass Aft Just another pretty face Switching lanes...

51. It doesn’t matter which lane you choose...

52. Analyzing LIGO Data

53. Classroom Data Analysis