Week 5: We're halfway there!!!

Hi guys! We’re officially halfway through!! These exclamation points may make it seem like I’m happy but actually I’m really confused!! Why is time moving so fast?!! Anyways, here’s the rundown of my week. Disclaimer: I didn’t do much except for work.

 

Monday I wasn’t feeling super good so I stayed home from work and did some work from home! I desperately wish I had more to add but I really just stayed in all day.

 

At work on Tuesday I began comparing the data I had collected last week. The data I collected modeled the exponential decay of the capacitor’s voltage drop, and by plotting this data in a graphing  software called Origin and by changing the plot from a linear fit to a natural log fit, it changes how the data looks (so from exponential to linear) and I am able to get a linear curve fit! The slope gives me the time constant of the circuit (the time constant varies depending on which resistance I use). I fiddled around with that for a little bit then went home. After I got back, me and my roommate went to good ol' Trader Joes and got the ingredients necessary to make a nice lil charcuterie board! We invited a few of the other interns over and we all snacked and talked. I had a great time!

 

At work on Wednesday I started a new, but similar project. This time I am measuring the difference in the voltage drop of 5 or 6 different capacitors in a circuit versus the voltage drop of the circuit itself (no capacitors attached). This is to, once again, help me with taking measurements, but also to help me be able to practice analyzing data. I soldered a few small capacitors to a chip and once again connected it to the cryocooler to find the voltage drop of each capacitor. I also took this data for each capacitor at different resistances as well. I finished all that I could, then went home.

 

Thursday was a pretty easy work day. I went in to finish the data collection, then once I was done I went home and started doing the graphing stuff I mentioned earlier. Once I find the time constants of both the bare wires of the circuit and then the time constant for the capacitor attached to the circuit, I plot them together for each resistance. With that I will be able to see how much the bare wire contributes to the overall voltage drop of the capacitor since you have to take the parasitic capacitance of the circuit wires into account! I think if I am able to see a difference, I will take the measurements again but at cryogenic temperature. After work, me and my roommate adventured out to the mall where we bought a bunch of goodies. Not to flex or anything, but I bought the Shining Fates pokemon Elite Trainer box for like $30. The retail price on those is about $60!

 

On Friday I worked from home and at around 1pm went on a tour of Capitol Hill hosted by our AIP Mather Policy intern, Ruthie! The experience was super cool, and I learned a lot of new things! My favorite part was walking into the building called Capitol Rotunda (I think?) that has a ceiling so high you could fit the Statue of Liberty in it! After the tour we stopped by the cafeteria, and can I just say, the dessert bar was insane. They had these little capitol building shaped cakes, and also just a lot of yummy looking cake in general. Anyways, props to Ruthie for setting this up! It was a really great experience!

 

Saturday I didn’t really do anything again (LOL). In my defense I honestly have not been feeling the greatest. I think it's the humidity and bad air quality finally getting to me. I slept in which was good, then made a trip to Target and got some much needed groceries. My night was peaceful, I got some PopEyes and read for a while.

 

Usually I don’t write about my Sundays, just because usually I rot in bed all day. But since I’ve been doing that a looooot this week, I decided to take it upon myself to get up and do something. So, I did some cleaning, ate my leftover Popeyes, ventured out to go get some boba (I immensely regretted doing this, I decided to walk there right after it had rained so I walked like 20 minutes in super humid 90 degree weather) and did some more NIST work.

 

All in all, not a bad week. I wish I could’ve been out and about more, but it was super hot and humid out, plus bad air quality, which is weather I really don't deal well with. I’m looking forward to this upcoming week though! There are a few events planned and I’m excited to attend those. Happy early 4th of July!!