Can you design a better windmill?
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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?

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