Year 11 Physics – Research Task

The World Communicates

Currently, many governments around the world are experimenting with integrating GPS technology into unmanned aerial vehicle. There has also been research conducted to integrate GPS technology into navigation assistance devices for the visually impaired and blind people. Self-driving cars are also being developed that use GPS technology to avoid collision and drive themselves through busy streets. GPS technology in remote sensing and mapping technology also assist farmers in growing and harvesting crops.

The Global Positioning Service is a satellite navigation system developed and maintained by the U.S. The GPS is used in many ways. The most well-known application of the GPS is in navigation for cars and ships. Other everyday uses include tracking down lost phones, laptops and cars and time synchronization. Above the Earth, there is a group of 24 satellites are positioned in an orbit path that ensures that, at anytime and anywhere, eight satellites should be visible. Each of the 24 satellites in orbit around Earth broadcast continuous signals in the form of radio waves. Four or more visible satellites are required to calculate the location of the GSP receiver. Those satellites send signals that are received by the GSP receiver. The time it takes for the signal to reach the receiver it allows us to indicate the distance between the receiver and the position of the satellite when it sent the signal. When four signals are received, the intersection of the signals will represent the location of the receiver. Although in normal conditions, four satellites are used to calculate the position, three satellites can also, to an extent, determine the location of the receiver.

Physical principles involved in relation to the physics of waves. The signals include information about the length of time it took for the signal to be received and the position of the satellite when the signal was sent. GPS has had many impacts on society. GPS has made travelling considerably easier. Nowadays, almost every car has a navigation system, either built-in or bought. These GPS systems help guide drivers to their locations. Car rental offices install GPS trackers in their cars in case any ever got stolen or lost. Airlines and seafaring businesses also use GPS to aid navigation. Cartographers use GPS to construct virtual 3D maps of a region’s topography and altitude and tectonic scientists use GPS to monitor plate movements and to predict as well as monitor earthquakes.
GPS technology also has a positive impact when used in military operations. The first major usage of the GPS was in the First Gulf War in 1991.
With GPS technology, the troops were able steer their way through the landforms and completing military objectives. Research has also shown that friendly fire was cut down significantly as troops could identify between allies and enemies. it can have a negative impact on our society. Recently, there has been growing concern about a new method of drug-trafficking around the world. Drug-dealers leave an inventory of drugs or other illegal items at a specific location and record its location. Other drug-dealers can thus use the coordinates to locate the drugs without meeting face-to-face which reduce the risk of getting caught.

Advantages | Disadvantages | The user knows his or her exact location | Unreliable, the GPS is inoperable when it runs out of battery or if it breaks | GPS has other usages (e.g. geography, monitoring tectonic plates) | They may not work accurately if there is no strong signal |

Electrical Energy in the Home – 1

Luigi Galvani an Italian professor, in 1786 observed that the leg of a dead frog went into spasm when it was touched by a steel knife. Galvani thus concluded that the frog had what he called ‘animal electricity.’ He believed that inside the frog’s body existed a fluid that carried electrical charge and this fluid caused the twitching of