astronomy

PrISUm

PrISUm is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PrISUm rather than just read about it. In short: PrISUm Solar Car is the multidisciplinary student-run solar car racing team from Iowa State University that designs and builds solar powered vehicles to compete in the American Solar Challenge (ASC). The club was founded in 1989 by a group of engineering honor students from Tau Beta Pi and was simply known as the ISU Solar Car Project.

Key takeaways

PrISUm belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PrISUm to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PrISUm from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PrISUm Solar Car is the multidisciplinary student-run solar car racing team from Iowa State University that designs and builds solar powered vehicles to compete in the American Solar Challenge (ASC). The club was founded in 1989 by a group of engineering honor students from Tau Beta Pi and was simply known as the ISU Solar Car Project. In 1990, the team adopted the name of its first car, PrISUm.

Achievements Since 1989, Team PrISUm has built and raced 14 different cars and is one of only a handful of teams to have qualified and raced a new vehicle for almost every Sunrayce and American Solar Challenge races. Team PrISUm made the first solar car from the state of Iowa with its entrance in the 1990 GM Sunrayce USA.

Team Composition Team PrISUm consists of about 120 team members from the Iowa State University campus and welcomes students from all majors interested in working on any aspect of the diverse project. The team has three distinct divisions that are each necessary for successfully designing, racing, and teaching the public about solar cars.

The Electrical Division is responsible for designing and building the battery system, solar array, power electronics, controls and software for the car. The Mechanical Division is responsible for the design, testing, and fabrication of the outside shell of the vehicle and all the mechanical components for the car. The Business Division is responsible for fundraising, project budgeting, outreach, recruiting, and media.

Cars by year 1990: ‘’PrISUm’’: GM Sunrayce USA: Placed 17 out of 34; Best Teamwork, Day 7; Most Improved, Day 5 1993: ‘’PrISUm II’’: Sunrayce: Placed 10 out of 36 1995: ‘’PrISUm CYnergy’’: Sunrayce: Placed 19 out of 38; an accident at over 45mph on the last day totaled the car, but left the driver with a minor leg fracture 1997: ‘’PrISUm ExCYtor’’: Sunrayce: Placed 26 out of 36 1999: ‘’PrISUm Phoenix’’: Sunrayce: Qualified 1st place, Finished 2nd place in Stock Class; 5th out of 29 overall; Formula Sun: 4th place finish 2001: ‘’PrISUm Odyssey’’: ASC: Placed 16 out of 30 2003: ‘’PrISUm Spectrum’’: ASC: Placed 18 out of 20 2005: ‘’PrISUm Fusion’’: Formula Sun: 1st place in stock class; 2nd place overall; NASC: Placed 11 out of 20; 3rd place in Stock Class 2008: ‘’PrISUm Sol Invictus’’: NASC: Placed 8th out of 15 2010: "PrISUm Anthelion": ASC: Placed 11th out of 13 2011: "PrISUm Anthelion": FSGP: Placed 4th out of 10 2012: "PrISUm Hyperion": ASC: Placed 2nd out of 12; Fast lap during FSGP, Best electrical and mechanical system design awards 2013: "PrISUm Hyperion": FSGP: Placed 3rd out of 9; Fast lap 2014: "PrISUm Phaeton": ASC: Placed 3rd out of 10; Fast lap during FSGP, Best mechanical system design award 2015: "PrISUm Phaeton": FSGP: Placed 1st out of 15; Fast lap

References PrISUm Website The Solar Plan

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PrISUm

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PrISUm claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PrISUm before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PrISUm ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PrISUm

In research: PrISUm appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PrISUm in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PrISUm is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1989 establishments in Iowa, Iowa State University, Solar car racing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PrISUm outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PrISUm in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PrISUm means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PrISUm out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PrISUm in simple terms?

Why does PrISUm matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PrISUm?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PrISUm.