OCR Gateway Science

Collecting Energy from the Sun

The Sun is the source of energy for the Earth Without solar energy there would be no life on Earth Light from the Sun allows plants to photosynthesise Heat from the Sun provides warmth for living

Photocells & Solar Cells

Photocells change light into ELECTRICITY Solar cells uses light from the Sun to make ELECTRICITY The larger the AREA of a photocell, the more ELECTRICITY is produced Photocells produce a Direct Current (dc)

Photocells need little maintenance They are strong and robust They dont need fuel or long cables They do not pollute the atmosphere They use a renewable energy source

How do Photocells work?

only

Higher paper

Made of two types of silicon (Si) joined together, n-type (negative) and p-type (positive). When these are joined, it is called a p-n junction. When light photons (packets of energy) are absorbed by the silicon, electrons are freed and move into the ntype layer and into an external circuit where they are used.

Renewable sources of energy

Useful energy can be harvested from: The Sun electricity and heat Wind kinetic energy electricity Waves - kinetic energy electricity Tidal - kinetic energy electricity Geothermal heat and electricity Biomass heat, electricity and chemical

Temperature differences between land surfaces cause convection currents WINDS!

Electricity is a very useful form of energy

The Sun is the origin of wind, waves, biomass. The Moon affects the tides. The Earths hot core supplies heat for geothermal energy.

Passive Solar Heating

Using direct sunlight for heating

Large

South-facing windows, small Northlots of sunlight in

facing windows allow

Happens in a greenhouse, used in modern house design

Short wavelength light passes through glass and heats contents then re-radiated at a longer wavelength that cannot escape back through glass
hence the Greenhouse effect

Solar reflectors are curved to bring parallel rays from the Sun to a focus which concentrates the energy in one spot.

Generating Electricity
A dynamo is an electrical generator It produces AC not DC! Any relative motion of a magnet and coil will make a current flow in the coil.

This wheel rubs on the bicycle wheel causing a magnet to rotate inside a coil of wire

so this lamp runs off AC produced and doesnt need a battery!

The National Grid

The National Grid is a network of power stations, sub-stations, transformers and pylons which supply electricity to consumers.
It supplies a.c. at 25,000V from the power station, stepped up by transformers to 400,000V in the pylons then stepped down for the consumers 240V a.c. for domestic users.

Electricity is easy to generate (from lots of different sources), store (in batteries), change (by transformers), transport (via pylons), its clean and easy to use.

Transformers
There are 3 main parts to any transformer: Iron Core (laminated to stop it getting too hot)

Primary coil, carrying an AC current in, at a certain voltage Secondary coil, carrying an AC current away, at a different voltage

Transformers only work with AC A STEP-UP transformer changes the VOLTAGE UP (and current down), with MORE turns on SECONDARY. A STEP-DOWN transformer changes the VOLTAGE DOWN (and current up), with FEWER turns on the SECONDARY COIL).

Electricity Power Stations

Heat from burning fuel used to boil water and produce steam Pressurised steam turns turbine

Power stations can be COAL fired, GAS fired, OIL fired or NUCLEAR theyre only used to produce HEAT Generator produces Turbine turns Alternating shaft in generator Current at 50Hz

Nuclear Power Stations

As fossil fuels become more scarce, Nuclear Power Stations could be used to replace them.

FOR :
NUCLEAR POWER FOSSIL FUELS ARE NOT USED NO GREENHOUSE GASES ARE DISCHARGED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE

AGAINST :
NUCLEAR POWER RADIOACTIVE WASTE IS DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH HIGH COSTS RISK OF ACCIDENTS LIKE CHERNOBYL

SHOULD THE UK HAVE MORE NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS?

Measuring Power & Paying for Electricity rate at which energy is used Power is the
Power = Energy Time Power = Voltage x Current Power is measured in Watts

but also
Energy is measured in kWh, kiloWatt hours

Energy = Power x Time

Energy used = Power rating in kW x time in hours
For example: A 7000W (7kW) shower is used for 3 hours in a week, Thats 7kW x 3h = 21kWh
Cost = energy x cost per kWh

If each kWh unit costs 10p each, The shower costs 2.10 to run each week

Off-Peak Electricity

If Electricity is used at night it is cheaper!

This is because electricity still has to be produced but most consumers do not need to use it. E.g. you can programme a washing machine or dishwasher to go through its cycle at night.

Advantages: Cheaper! Disadvantages: Inconvenient; not supervised; change to personal routine; noisy.

Problems with Nuclear Power Power Stations dont produce smoke or Nuclear
CO2 but they do produce Radioactive Waste Low-level radioactive waste which can be diluted Problems with Radioactive Waste: in the seaIt causes IONISATION which changes the structure of atoms High-level radioactivecells and waste which has to be DNA can be changed underground in areas stored in steel drums deepso cells behave differently - MUTATION where the rock is solid and dense.

Nuclear Radiations

Radioactivity is measured with a GM (Geiger-Muller) tube connected to a ratemeter. This has a loudspeaker attached so that the radioactivity being detected can be heard. Nuclear radiations come from the nucleus of the atom! Alpha particles are helium nuclei, with 2+ charges. Beta particles are high energy electrons, with 1- charge. Gamma rays are electromagnetic waves, with no charge.

Background Radiation
This is ionising radiation that is always present in the environment. The level of background radiation is low and does not cause harm.

E.g. Granite contains small amounts of Uranium which decays to Radon, a radioactive gas.

Sources (7): radioactivity in the air; radiation from Space (cosmic rays); rocks; food; medical uses; nuclear power; nuclear weapons testing
(these last two make up just 1%).

Alpha, Beta and Gamma emissions Radiation Alpha Beta Gamma

Ionising Power Range in air Very strong About 5cm Medium About 1m Weak Very large, its intensity decreases with distance Reduced by lead and concrete

What stops it?

paper

A few mm of Aluminium

Ionisation the ability to remove an electron from an atom, causing

the atom to become charged. Alpha has 2 + charges so has a great ionising effect, beta has 1 charge so a lesser ionising effect.
Alpha and Beta particles are not good inside the body they cannot escape from inside so dont swallow any remember Mr Litvinienko? killed with Polonium 210, an alpha emitter!

Safe handling of radioactive material

Radiation from radioactive materials damages living cells
The amount of damage depends on the type and amount of radiation.

During handling of radioactive materials: Special protective clothing is worn Keep as far away from the source as is possible Use shielding to absorb radiation Use the material for as short a time as possible Use tongs or remote handling when moving sources When not in use, the source is kept in lead-lined containers

Uses of Radioactivity
ALPHA particles are used in smoke detectors. If smoke passes into the detector it reduces the alpha particles being detected and an alarm sounds.

BETA particles are used to measure and control the thickness of paper (and thin metal foils). Very thin sheets allow more beta particles to be detected and vice versa.

GAMMA rays are used to check castings/welds in industry and have many uses in medicine for diagnosis and therapy.

The Earths Magnetic Field

Earth behaves as if it contains a large magnet at its centre. The magnetic field is the same shape as that around a bar magnet with concentrations around the N and S geographic poles (which are actually S and N MAGNETIC poles).

Cosmic rays (particles really!) from the Sun travelling close to the speed of light interact with the Earths magnetic field, which causes moving lights to be seen in the sky where the magnetic fields are strongest. These are the AURORAS.
(In the North the NORTHERN LIGHTS AURORA BOREALIS)

The Moon
It is thought that the Moon, Earths natural satellite, was formed after the Earth was hit by another large planet-sized object in the early days of the Solar System.
The Moon was formed from the lighter, less dense rocks thrown away from the Earth during the collision the Earths dense iron core remained.
The Earth and Moon are about 4.6 billion years old younger than the Universe at 13.6 billion years old

There is no Iron on the Moon. The density of the Earth is 5500kg/m3 compared to the Moons density of 3300kg/m3. Oxygen content of rocks on Moon and Earth are similar.

The Solar System

The Solar System consists of

The Sun The Thats anything that Planets orbits the Sun! Satellites have a near Planets (Moons) circular Asteroids orbit, Comets have an Comets elliptical orbit.
The Circular force of gravity pulls the planets towards the Sun its a CENTRIPETAL force pulling
towards the centre of a circle!

Elliptical

Space is

Is anybody out there? BIG

, so the way we travel and communicate at the moment takes TIME

In 1974, scientists sent a coded message towards a star system near to the edge of our galaxy. The message gave information about life on Earthbut they dont expect a reply for at least 40,000 years!

Unmanned spacecraft have been sent into space

to park satellites in orbit to fly past the planets in our Solar System and send back information to explore the surfaces of nearby planets such as Mars to monitor the Suns activity Manned spacecraft have been sent into space to orbit the Earth to land on the Moon to launch and maintain satellites

Astronauts Spacesuits keep their bodies at normal temperatures and pressures and protect them from harmful radiation

Threats to Earth
During its 4.6 billion year history, the Earth has been hit by asteroids and meteorites.
Maybe 70% of all species on Earth, including the dinosaurs, became extinct after an asteroid collision some 65 million years ago.
These collisions cause: Huge craters

Hot rocks to rain down Tsunamis Clouds of dust and water vapour in the upper atmosphere Sunlight being unable to penetrate these clouds to the surface Huge environmental changes

Comets
A comet is a chunk of ice, dust and rock
When a comet comes near to the Sun, its core warms up and a glowing tail is thrown out consisting of debris.

Some asteroids and comets have orbital paths that are close to the earths orbit. They are called NEOs Near Earth Objects. About 100 NEOs pass close enough to Earth to be classed as a threat each year! The orbit of a comet is highly elliptical. Most planets pass close to the Sun, inside Mercurys orbit, then they pass well outside the orbit of Pluto. The comets tail is caused by the Solar Wind and always points away from the Sun. Some comet tails may be hundreds of millions of kilometres long!

The Big Bang Theory

Around 14 billion years ago, all the matter in the Universe was in one tiny place, a singularity. The temperature was 1000 million million million million Celsius. A massive fireball of particles and radiation expanded out into space where it cooled down. After about 1 second electrons, protons and neutrons were formed, after about 3 seconds simple atoms such as hydrogen and helium were forming.

This was the Big Bang.

Let there be light! And there was light. Genesis 1 v 3

This is a picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of some of the most distant galaxies. It has taken light 12 billion years to get to us!

Red Shift
Some of the most compelling evidence for the expansion of the Universe after the Big Bang is given by Red Shift, noticed by Edwin Hubble, who saw that light from distant stars was shifted towards the red end of the spectrum with a longer wavelength. This meant that stars and galaxies were moving apart and away from one another.

This is the Doppler Effect. You notice this with sound waves when a police car goes past you and the pitch of the sound it makes falls. Coming to you high pitch Going away from you low pitch

The same happens with light Coming to you Blue shift Going away from you Red shift

Life Cycle of a star

NEBULA clouds of gas and dust PROTOSTAR beneath the dust, a core of material is glowing hot MAIN SEQUENCE STAR Nuclear Fusion begins

RED GIANT the star core contracts but the outer layers cool and expand

Massive stars
Small

stars

WHITE DWARF Hot core BLACK DWARF Cold core

Large stars
SUPERNOVA Core collapses, star explodes NEUTRON STAR Remaining core

SUPERNOVA NEUTRON STAR BLACK HOLE Core so dense, not even light escapes