MBAMRadioLab

=Lab Report Title= Date of Publication (Date of Most Recent Edits)


 * Participants**: Mike B
 * Purpose**: The purpose of this lab is to to build an AM radio from basic parts found around the classroom.
 * Lab Documents**: Include a link to any documentation provided for the lab or any references used in writing the lab report.


 * Brief Description of Experiment**: In this experiment, we took basic items found around the classroom (wire, tin foil, text book, marker, tape, high resistance earphone, and a diode), and put them together and built a basic AM radio. We put up an antenna on the outside of the school, to help us get better reception, we also set up our ground to one of the grounds, in an electrical outlet.
 * Data**:

The first step to build the radio was to calculate what the values of your resistor and inductor needed to be. To do this, you need to set the target radio station equal to the equation for resonant frequency To make sure our radios will tune to the correct channel we were trying to get, we had to calculate the resonant frequency of the RLC circuit in the radio. In a RLC circuit, if you have an AC power source, the inductor and compacitor will work together to amplify the voltage and current going through them. If you set your AC power source's frequency to be equal to the resonant frequency (the frequency that the inductor and compacitor work best to amplify the current) you will be able to make the current much stronger than its original form. Here is a graph of the Drive Frequency (signals coming in from antenna) Vs. Current going through circuit (what channel comes out the speaker)

This is how a radio works to dial in on a specific channel. Imagine the dotted blue line to be the channel you are trying to dial in, and the red line to be how well you will be able to hear that channel (when tuned to other frequencies). When you set up your radio to have a resonant frequency of 900khz, your radio will amplify the carrier signal of 900khz way more than the other channels, so you will be able to only hear the channel using a carrier signal of 900khz

To send sound to a radio, it takes quite a lot of modulation to the wave in order to get it to your radio finally. First, the __**Sound Wave**__ starts at the radio tower, and it is multiplied with a **__Carrier Wave__**, and that gives you an **__Amplitude Modulated (AM) Wave__**. Now that __**AM Wave**__ excites the electrons in the radio's antenna, and those electrons start to travel through-out the circuit in the radio at the same speed as when they were in the air. The waves get magnified when they come in contact with the Inductor/Compacitor part of the circuit. Next the wave is sent through a diode, which takes the **__AM Wave__** and only lets the current flow through 1 direction. Since the current can only flow in 1 direction, the negative part of the **__AM Wave__** is essentally "cut off" leaving only the tops of that wave there. If you connect the tops of what's left (in a visual diagram) you will get your original **__Sound Wave__** back.

Create a table (when appropriate) including all data collected or calculated during the lab. Be sure to include a heading for each column that includes the units of each measurement. speed = distance / time || The coefficient of static friction was determined to be 0.45. This was calculated from a measured angle using Newton's first law as desribed in the calculations.
 * Sample Calculations:** Describe or reproduce any calculations that are performed during the experiment (other than averaging). For example, if you use a distance and a time to calculate a speed, you should show:
 * //Speed calculation// || The speed in meters per second was calculated by taking the measured distance in meters and dividing by the time elapsed in seconds.
 * Results**: Describe the major result of the experiment and how you arrived at this result. Typically, this will refer back to the purpose. For example, if the purpose was to find the coefficient of friction, you would write:
 * Lab Questions**: Write out and answer any questions that are included as a part of the lab.
 * Conclusion**: A good conclusion will include:
 * A statement about whether you think that the experiment produced a valid and reproducible result and reasoning supporting your statement.
 * A suggestion as to why your experimental results differ from any accepted value or your expected result (if appropriate).
 * A suggestion for a simple improvement to the experiment. Think about what caused problems, measurement inaccuracies, or inappropriate simplifying assumptions and propose a change. A sketch may be helpful.

//Don't forget to link to your lab report from the lab reports page and to include a link to your lab report in your reflection.//