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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Fukushima: A Model Study, Melinda Kathryn Mckell Jan 2014

Fukushima: A Model Study, Melinda Kathryn Mckell

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

This article investigates the radiation dispersion modeling system available to Japanese authorities during the response phase of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi incident.


Comparative Analysis Of Gps Data, Kiel Von Lindenberg Jan 2014

Comparative Analysis Of Gps Data, Kiel Von Lindenberg

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

The goal of this project is to calculate the distance traveled during a bike ride around the University of South Florida using information gathered by a GPS (Global Positioning System) application on a smartphone. We calculate the route distance in two ways: from latitudes and longitudes using the haversine formula and 2) from velocities and times using the trapezoidal rule. These computed distances were compared to the distance given by the smartphone application.


Voltage Smoothing With A Capacitor, Martin Copello Jan 2014

Voltage Smoothing With A Capacitor, Martin Copello

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

A rectifier is an electrical circuit that converts alternating current to direct current, e.g., a half wave rectifier removes lower valleys of the AC voltage wave. If a capacitor is placed in parallel with a half wave rectifier, the transition from voltage peak to peak is smoothed to closer resemble constant DC voltage. The objective of this project was to model the voltage changes of a half wave rectifier with a parallel capacitor. It was found that the smoothness of the voltage waves increased as the capacitance of the capacitor increased.


Calculating The Solar Energy Of A Flat Plate Collector, Ariane Rosario Jan 2014

Calculating The Solar Energy Of A Flat Plate Collector, Ariane Rosario

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

The amount of solar energy that could be obtained by a flat plate solar collector of one square meter dimension is calculated in three different locations: Tampa FL, Fairbanks AL, and Pontianak Indonesia, considering the varying sunset time for each day of the year. The results show that if the collectors are placed near the equator, more total energy could be obtained. In fact, by placing a solar collector in Pontianak, Indonesia 12.42% more solar energy can be obtained than by placing it in Tampa and 96.9% more solar energy than Alaska.


Rocket Flight Path, Jamie Waters Jan 2014

Rocket Flight Path, Jamie Waters

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

This project uses Newton’s Second Law of Motion, Euler’s method, basic physics, and basic calculus to model the flight path of a rocket. From this, one can find the height and velocity at any point from launch to the maximum altitude, or apogee. This can then be compared to the actual values to see if the method of estimation is a plausible. The rocket used for this project is modeled after Bullistic-1 which was launched by the Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry at the University of South Florida.


Florida Sinkholes And Grout Injection Stabilization, Charles Hunt Griffith Ii Jan 2014

Florida Sinkholes And Grout Injection Stabilization, Charles Hunt Griffith Ii

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

Florida has a major problem when it comes to sinkholes. These sinkholes can become very hazardous to people, homes, and to the landscape as a whole. Florida sits on a carbonate platform which is highly indicative of sinkholes. There are three main types of sinkholes which occur in Florida: dissolution, cover subsidence, and cover collapse. I will compare these types of sinkholes to the underlying formation beneath Florida to see if there is a connection between the types of sinkholes that occur. I will also create a 3D model of grout injection stabilization and calculate its volume to compare to …


Survival Analysis - Breast Cancer, Minh Hoang Pham Jan 2014

Survival Analysis - Breast Cancer, Minh Hoang Pham

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

In this study we used the parametric survival approach to analyze the survival time of African American breast cancer patients. In research about the survival time of patients, the Cox Proportional Hazard model, a semi-parametric method, is primarily used, but this approach does not rely on the distributional assumptions. The parametric method is more consistent with a theoretical approach compared to a semi-parametric approach. We observe that the survival time of African American breast cancer patients follows the Weibull Probability Distribution. First, we fitted the model to represent the survival ability of the general population (African American women diagnosed with …


Modeling Rocket Flight In The Low-Friction Approximation, Logan White Jan 2014

Modeling Rocket Flight In The Low-Friction Approximation, Logan White

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

In a realistic model for rocket dynamics, in the presence of atmospheric drag and altitude-dependent gravity, the exact kinematic equation cannot be integrated in closed form; even when neglecting friction, the exact solution is a combination of elliptic functions of Jacobi type, which are not easy to use in a computational sense. This project provides a precise analysis of the various terms in the full equation (such as gravity, drag, and exhaust momentum), and the numerical ranges for which various approximations are accurate to within 1%. The analysis leads to optimal approximations expressed through elementary functions, which can be implemented …