At the beginning of the week, I mainly worked on finalizing the project proposal slides, and practicing the presentation. Overall, I was satisfied with my presentation, as it was interactive, logical and cohesive. However, to improve my presentation skills in the future, I should be calmer and speak more slowly to be more clear and articulate.
After giving the presentation, I reviewed the relevant electromagnetism concepts, such as Faraday’s law and the Lorentz force law, and started thinking about what specific experiment we can implement to demonstrate Faraday’s law clearly. I came to the conclusion that creating a homopolar generator (or Faraday’s disc) may be a feasible option because:
1. the device should not be too complicated to build, but shows the principles of Faraday’s law well;
2. it is the the first electromagnetic generator, and including a section about its history may draw the attention of students who are more humanities-inclined.
However, it may be a little difficult to explain to students how the magnetic field varies and induces an electromotive force since the motion is circular, not linear.
Source: Émile Alglave, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Lastly, I tinkered with the WordPress website, and customized it such that it meets all the requirements and everyone is pleased with the design. My progress appears to be on schedule.
Next week, I hope to develop the hardware design for the Faraday’s disc and create a bill of materials, in preparation for the Design Review in two weeks’ time.