Physics: Principles and Problems

Chapter 29: Solid-State Electronics

Problem of the Week

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Haze
When dust, smoke, pollen, or tiny droplets of water float in the air, the sky becomes hazy. Over the last few hundred years, the skies around the globe have become much more hazy due to industrial smoke, car pollution, and forest burning. Because haze scatters sunlight back into space, there might be a slight cooling effect in the northern hemisphere that would alter weather patterns. On hazy days, people with light skin can receive a sunburn even when in the shade. In some regions, haze can be so thick that shadows are faint or nonexistent.
LED haze detectors costs less than $20 and can be put together in under an hour.

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Sun Photometer
A Sun Photometer is a device to measure the intensity of light from the sun. Because haze reduces the intensity through scattering, the photometer also measures haze. You have probably heard of a Light Emitting Diode, a semiconducting device that generates light when a current passes through it. This process can be reversed: light falling on a LED produces a small current that can be detected. A device that makes use of a LED to measure haze is quite simple to construct, and that is the Problem of the Week.
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Haze Photometer

<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=gif::::/sites/dl/free/0078458137/193800/POWproblem1.gif','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (0.0K)</a> At the web-based Haze Sun Photometer Atmosphere Network, HAZE-SPAN, amateur scientists worldwide share their atmospheric haze data. Most members use the simple LED haze photometer. Instruction for making this device can be found at their site, http://www.concord.org/haze/. To gain first hand experience with semiconducting devices, build a LED haze detector.
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