.png){kind=small}
Regenerative
Energy
An ICAN EduInEarth Awareness Program
.png)
What is regenerative energy?
Renewable energy uses energy sources that are not "used up". For example, solar power from the sun is renewable as we won't "use up" all the sunlight from the sun. Examples of non-renewable energy sources include fossil fuels like coal and oil. Once we use or burn these resources, they are gone forever.
Why is renewable energy important?
ICAN knows that much of the world relies on non-renewable energy to heat and cool their homes, power their electronic devices, and power their cars. Once these energy sources are used up, they will be gone forever. Developing technologies that can efficiently use renewable energy sources is critical to our future.
Major Types of Renewable Energy
Wind Power - Large wind turbines generate electricity from the power of the wind.
Solar Energy - The rays from the sun can help to heat a building or a pool. They can also be turned into electricity using solar cells.
Hydropower - Water from a dam or a river can be used to spin turbines and generate electricity.
Wave and Tidal Power - This new technology is working on ways to harness the vast power of the ocean's waves and tides.
Geothermal Energy - Heat from inside the Earth can be used to heat homes and buildings with heat pumps. Steam from inside the Earth can also be used to generate electricity.
Biomass Energy - Plants gather energy from the sun by photosynthesis. We can harness this energy by burning plants such as trees as well as creating fuel from plants such as ethanol and biodiesel. Even gas from trash and manure can be used to create energy.
Sustainable energy: Quantum chemistry
Computer simulations of electronic and structural properties can give detailed insight into atomic-scale processes in functional materials. Such studies play an important role in the quest for better strategies to harvest and store renewable energy.
But what is
QUANTUM?
Quantum mechanics (QM) is the part of physics that tells us how the things that make up atoms work. QM also tells us how electromagnetic waves like light work.
.png)
QM is a mathematical framework (rules written in math) for much of modern physics and chemistry. Quantum mechanics helps us make sense of the smallest things in nature like protons, neutrons and electrons. Complex mathematics is used to study subatomic particles and electromagnetic waves because they act in very strange ways. Quantum mechanics is important to physics and chemistry.
Quantum is a Latin word that means 'how much'. So a quantum of energy is a specific amount of energy. Light sources such as candles or lasers shoot out (or "emit") light in bits called photons. Photons are like packets. Each one has a certain little bit of energy.
ICAN aims to train young minds to make use of
QUANTUM MECHANICS and TECHNOLOGY to create a new form of sustainable energy.
Quantum physics is a branch of physics that deals with things that are very, very small, and which are on the level of the atom and smaller.
Many of the phenomenon that occur at this very tiny level are highly non-intuitive and make absolutely no sense, even to the smartest of scientists. Quite simply, there are things that happen on the level of the atom which sound like they belong in science fiction, and not in the real world. But experiments have repeatedly proven that these things do actually happen. One such quantum "weirdness" which I'm going to talk about the most, is the Many-Worlds theory which states that there may be different parallel universes in which there are outcomes different from ours.
So there may be a universe were the dinosaurs are still around, or another universe where JFK was not killed. Or there may be other universes where you exist but are a significantly different person. The number of possibilities is infinite. Sounds unbelievable doesn't it? But some well-respected physicists believe in it. As it turns out, the Many-Worlds theory comes about as a result of thinking very deeply about what happens at the very tiny level of the quantum world. So it wasn't just "made up" because it sounds cool.
ICAN is using quality resources to ensure students get proven and well-received materials. Having access to contents that are used globally enables students the best kind of learning they deserve.
With the help of PBS Learning Media, students can explore motion, energy, light, and more in Physical Science. Engineering design can be introduced through a video on "Funny Boats," potential and kinetic energy can be investigated with catapults and roller coasters, and sound waves can be experimented with using the resources in Physical Science. Additional topics include the periodic table, thunder and lightning, and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Quantum Science Materials for students
ICAN aims to teach students to understand complex science topics like this!
Solution to Schrödinger's equation for the hydrogen atom at different energy levels. The brighter areas represent a higher probability of finding an electron.
Quantum Mechanics is not easy to learn. Why?
ICAN is here to impart this knowledge to our students!
QM is a challenging subject for several reasons:
-
QM explains things in very different ways from what we learn about the world when we are children.
-
Understanding QM requires more mathematics than algebra and simple calculus. It also requires matrix algebra, complex numbers, probability theory, and partial differential equations.
-
Physicists are not sure what some of the equations of QM tell us about the real world.
-
QM suggests that atoms and subatomic particles behave in strange ways, completely unlike anything we see in our everyday lives.
-
QM describes things that are extremely small, so we cannot see some of them without special equipment, and we cannot see many of them at all.
QM describes nature in a way that is different from how we usually think about science. It tells us how likely to happen some things are, rather than telling us that they certainly will happen.
QUANTUM
MECHANICS
Crash Course
ICAN EDUTOSPACE
