Can you design a better windmill?
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MC1503, HSb1503

MC1503, HSb1503 photos on flickr
MC1503, HSb1503 videos on you tube
Our Design
A combination of two windmills, one from paper plates and one from orange card in classic beach windmill design

Our Experiment
We tried these two connected in series and parallel. We got enough power to run the radio, even with just the small fan blowing!

Results

Reading 1 Current [ 15] mA
Reading 2 Current [ 14.5] mA

Average Current = [14.75 ] mA
Windspeed at fan = [s ] ms-1
Resistance = [100 ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A) 0.02176

So with a windspeed of [s ] our turbine generates an average current of [14.75 ] mA delivering [21.76 ] mW so in 10 minutes it could generate [21.76 * 600 = 13053 ] mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ 169.5 ] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ 0.9 ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
Want to add in more turbines to make a bigger wind farm.

AC1503

AC1503 photos on flickr
AC1503 videos on you tube
Our Design
Paper plate and coctail sticks. Flower shape.
Our Experiment
Tried it with lots of different speeds, and fans.

Results
Reading 1 Current [10.5] mA
Reading 2 Current [11.3] mA
Reading 3 Current [11.7] mA
Reading 4 Current [11.9] mA
Average Current = [11.35] mA
Windspeed at fan = [1.7] ms-1
Resistance = [100] Ohms
Power = 0.01288w

So with a windspeed of [1.7] our turbine generates an average current of [11.35] mA delivering [12.88]mw so in 10 minutes it could generate [12.88*600] mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [100] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [0.6] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
With more power, you should have less blades and more surface area. With less wind speed you might get more power than otherwise with more blades.

HS1503

HS1503 photos on flickr
HS1503 videos on you tube
Our Design
3 green card blades supported by sticks, but not very evenly spaced around the cork

Our Experiment
Collected some current readings and this one wasn't a great performer, but my second one was. It's the orange one in the wind farm trial. This green one wasn't well balanced.

Results
Reading 1 Current [ 3.2] mA
Reading 2 Current [ 6] mA
Reading 3 Current [ 3] mA
Reading 4 Current [ 4] mA
Average Current = [4.05 ] mA
Windspeed at fan = [s ] ms-1
Resistance = [100 ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A) 0.00164

So with a windspeed of [s ] our turbine generates an average current of [4.05 ] mA delivering [1.64 ] mW so in 10 minutes it could generate [1.64 * 600 = 984.2 ] mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ 12.8 ] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ 0.1 ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
this one was too heavy with the card, try with paper next

kh11010703

kh11010703 photos on flickr
kh11010703 videos on you tube
Our Design
s shaped yellow one

Our Experiment
we tried moving the generator to allow this one to rotate around a vertical (and horizontal) axis but it didn't want to turn

Results
we sadly didn't get any energy out of this one.

Reading 1 Current [ ] mA
Reading 2 Current [ ] mA
Reading 3 Current [ ] mA
Reading 4 Current [ ] mA
Average Current = [I ] mA
Windspeed at fan = [s ] ms-1
Resistance = [R ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A)

So with a windspeed of [s ] our turbine generates an average current of [I ] mA delivering [P ] (convert W to mW) mW per second so in 10 minutes it could generate [P * 600 ] mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ ? ] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ ? ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR THOUGHTS: HOW COULD YOUR WINDMILL BE IMPROVED, HOW COULD THE EXPERIMENT BE IMPROVED, IS 100% EFFICIENCY ENERGY TRANSFER REALISTIC, WHAT WOULD YOU ASK AN EXPERT, HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING, ETC...

ka11010703

ka11010703 photos on flickr
ka11010703 videos on you tube
Our Design
paper plate design

Our Experiment
This one didn't spin very fast but looked very efficient

Results
Reading 1 Current [ 7.2] mA
Reading 2 Current [ 6.9] mA
Reading 3 Current [ 7.3] mA
Reading 4 Current [ 7.7] mA
Average Current = [ 7.275] mA
Windspeed at fan = [s ] ms-1
Resistance = [100 ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A) = 0.00529

So with a windspeed of [s ] our turbine generates an average current of [7.275 ] mA delivering [5.29 ] (convert W to mW) mW per second so in 10 minutes it could generate [5.29 * 600 = 3175] mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ 3175 / 77 = 41.2] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ 0.2 ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR THOUGHTS: HOW COULD YOUR WINDMILL BE IMPROVED, HOW COULD THE EXPERIMENT BE IMPROVED, IS 100% EFFICIENCY ENERGY TRANSFER REALISTIC, WHAT WOULD YOU ASK AN EXPERT, HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING, ETC...

kh11000703

kh11000703 photos on flickr
kh11000703 videos on you tube
Our Design
Green paper beach style windmill

Our Experiment
The wind did turn it very well initially, but then made it fall apart as the wind was too strong for the design.

Results
Reading 1 Current [19.2 ] mA
Average Current = [19.2 ] mA
Windspeed at fan = [5.9 ] ms-1
Resistance = [100 ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A) 0.036864 W

So with a windspeed of [5.9 m/sec ] our turbine generates an average current of [19.2 ] mA delivering [ 36.864] (convert W to mW) mW per second so in 10 minutes it could generate [36.864 * 600 = 22118.4 ] mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ 22118.4 / 77 = 287 ] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ 1.6 ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR THOUGHTS: HOW COULD YOUR WINDMILL BE IMPROVED, HOW COULD THE EXPERIMENT BE IMPROVED, IS 100% EFFICIENCY ENERGY TRANSFER REALISTIC, WHAT WOULD YOU ASK AN EXPERT, HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING, ETC...

ka11000703

ka11000703 photos on flickr
ka11000703 videos on you tube
Our Design
First design with 3 red paper blades and sticks

Our Experiment
REPLACE WITH DESCRIPTION OF YOUR EXPERIMENT

Results
EDIT WITH YOUR VALUES
Reading 1 Current [18.5 ] mA
Reading 2 Current [ 19.5] mA
Reading 3 Current [ 17.3] mA
Reading 4 Current [ 18 ] mA
Average Current = [ 18.3] mA
Windspeed at fan = [s ] ms-1
Resistance = [100 ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A) = 0.03358 W

So with a windspeed of [s ] our turbine generates an average current of [18.3 ] mA delivering [33.5 ] (convert W to mW) mW per second so in 10 minutes it could generate [33.5 * 600 ] 20148.3 mW.

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ 20148.3 / 77 = 261.7] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ 1.5 ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR THOUGHTS: HOW COULD YOUR WINDMILL BE IMPROVED, HOW COULD THE EXPERIMENT BE IMPROVED, IS 100% EFFICIENCY ENERGY TRANSFER REALISTIC, WHAT WOULD YOU ASK AN EXPERT, HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING, ETC...

MAD16001003

MAD16001003 photos on flickr
MAD16001003 videos on you tube
Our Design
Madonna design, Made of paper plates, it evolved into a multi-cup design with 4 cups in the end.

Our Experiment
initial mA readings were 0.37, 0.45, 0.2, 0.4 but later we got the following
Results
Reading 1 Current [ 5.6] mA
Reading 2 Current [ 5.2] mA
Reading 3 Current [ 5.8] mA
Reading 4 Current [ 5.2] mA
Average Current = [ 5.4] mA
Windspeed at fan = [ 4.7 ] ms-1
Resistance = [100 ] Ohms
Power = I * I * R (remember to convert mA to A) = 0.00291 Watts

So with a windspeed of [4.7 ] our turbine generates an average current of [5.4 ] mA delivering [2.91] mW per second so in 10 minutes it could generate [2.91 * 600 ] mW. = 1746 mW

If playing music on an iPod classic consumes about 77mW per second, 10 minutes of turbine time (assuming 100% energy transfer efficiency) can power [ 1746/77 = 22.67 ] seconds of playback time, enough to listen to about [ 0.126 ] 3 minute songs.

Thoughts
Why do wind turbines need to be so big to generate decent amounts of energy?