SJK (T) VIVEKANANDA

KUALA LUMPUR
NATIONAL LEVEL SCIENCE FAIR 2016

REPORT BOOK
BY

LITTLE NEWTONS
ADHAVAN KUMARAN
EINDRAKSHE ELAMARAN
HARSHINEE THANASEGARAN
KRSNA SHANGKEERTANA RAMANY
VANISHAA SRINIVASAN

SJK (T) VIVEKANANDA KUALA LUMPUR

REPORT BOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS
NO

TITLE

PAGE

1.

INTRODUCTION

2.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

3.

CONCEPT

4.

OBJECTIVE OF THE EXPERIMENT

5.

HYPOTHESIS

6.

VARIABLES

7.

APPARATUS & MATERIALS

8.

PROCEDURES

9.

DATA COLLECTION & RESULTS

10

10.

DISCUSSION

16

11.

CONCLUSION

18

12.

SAFETY PRECAUTION

19

13.

ILLUSTRATION & DIAGRAMS

21

14.

REFRENCES

23

TOPIC
Efficiency of a Boats Propeller
2

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REPORT BOOK

INTRODUCTION
This research was carried out to study the factors that affect the efficiency of a boats
propeller. The effect of the number of blades (two bladed, three bladed and four bladed),
shapes of the blades (curve and straight tip) and loading capacity was studied. The findings
turns out to show number of the blades, blade shapes and loads of the boat has significant
effect on the speed of the boat (increase or decrease).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Do you think increasing the number of blades will affect the efficiency of a
32 Blade
Propeller

boats propeller?
CONCEPT
Propeller is a fan type mechanical device that transmits power by converting
rotational motion into thrust with 2 or more broad angled blades. They are used
to produce propulsion on boats. The force produced by propellers can be
explained by Bernoullis Principle and Newtons 3rd Law of Motion. The blades are attached
to a hub which is connected to a central shaft that extends from the engines. A boat propeller
spins around a central shaft to create dynamics similar to a rotating screw. When blades spin,
a pressure difference between the forward and rear surfaces is produced, accelerated the
water behind the blade to create force. The angle of the blade is normally varied along the
blades length because each part of the blade travels at different speeds.

OBJECTIVE OF THE EXPERIMENT

Aim 1:
Investigating the Relationship between the Number of the Blades and Speed of the Boat.
Aim 2:
Investigating the Relationship between the Shape of the Blades and Speed of the Boat.
Aim 3:
Investigating the Relationship between the Number of the Blades with 300g Loads and Speed
of the Boat.

HYPOTHESIS
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REPORT BOOK

Hypothesis 1:
As the number of the propellers increases the speed of the boat will decrease.
Hypothesis 2:
Curved shaped tip blade will travel faster compared to the straight shaped tip blade.
Hypothesis 3:
As the load of 300g added to the boat, the speed of the boat will decrease.

VARIABLES
Experiment 1:
Manipulated Variables: Number of the Blades (2, 3, and 4)
Responding Variable : Speed of the Boat
Controlled Variables : Shape and Size of the Boat
Experiment 2:
Manipulated Variables: Shape of the Blades (Curved & Straight Shaped Tip Blades)
Responding Variable : Speed of the Boat
Controlled Variables : Shape and Size of the Boat
Experiment 3:
Manipulated Variables: Number of the Blades (2, 3, and 4)
Responding Variable : Speed of the Boat
Controlled Variables : Load (300g), Shape and Size of the Boat

APPARATUS & MATERIALS

4

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REPORT BOOK

To do the Boat:

1.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Silicon Glue
Battery and Battery Holder (9v)
Styrofoam Cutter
Styrofoam
Lollipop Stick
Tooth Pick
Wires
Switch
Electric Motor (6)
Double Sided Tape
Cards (flags to label the boat)
Iron Solders
Iron De-soldering

To do the Propeller:

SJK (T) VIVEKANANDA KUALA LUMPUR

1
2
3
4
5
6

REPORT BOOK

Zinc Sheet
Geometry Set
Ruler
Masking Tape
Screw
Hammer and Nail

To Conduct the Experiment:

1
2
3
4
5
6

Measuring tape
Water ( 20 liters)
Gutter
Stop watch
Silicone glue.
Metal Load (300g)

PROCEDURES
- To do the Boat:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Draw a boats base frame on a cardboard.

Trace the boats frame on the Styrofoam and cut it according to the shape.
Fix the boat with a motor, battery, switch and wires to complete the circuit.
The motor and battery on the boat are soldered.

- To do the Propeller:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Draw 3 circles with same diameter on a zinc sheet using a compass.

Divide the circles into 2, 3 and 4 sections respectively.
Draw a curve tip within each divided sections to form a propellers blade shape.
Cut the zinc sheet according to the blades shape.
Make a hole in the centre of the blade.
Fix the lollipop stick (shaft) to the hole on the blade.
Fix the shaft to the boat and connect it to the electric motor.

- To do the Experiment:
Experiment 1
1. Prepare 6 feet gutter. Fill it with 20 liters of water.
2. Mark the gutters with start and stop point.
3. Prepare and label 3 boats accordingly. Fix each boat with propeller of different number of
blades (Boat 1 = 2blades, Boat 2 = 3blades and Boat 3 = 4blades).
4. Use stop watch to obtain each boats travel time.
5. ON the switch to start the boat.
6. Place Boat 1 at the start point to run in the gutters.
7. Record the travel time from start point to stop point.
8. Conduct 4 more attempts and obtain the average time.
9. Calculate the speed (Speed = Distance/Average Time).
10. Record the result in the table.
11. Repeat step 5 to step 10 for Boat 2 and Boat 3.
Experiment 2
1. Prepare 6 feet gutter. Fill it with 20 liters of water.
2. Mark the gutters with start and stop point.

3. Prepare and label 2 boats accordingly. Fix each boat with propeller of different shapes of
blade (Boat 4 = Curve Shaped Tip Blade & Boat 5 = Straight Shaped Tip Blade).
4. Use stop watch to obtain each boats travel time.
5. ON the switch to start the boat.
6. Place the Boat 4 at the start point to run in the gutters.
7. Record the travel time from start point to stop point.
8. Conduct 4 more attempts and obtain the average time.
9. Calculate the speed (Speed = Distance/Average Time).
10. Record the result in the table.
11. Repeat step 5 to step 10 for Boat 5.
Experiment 3
1. Prepare 6 feet gutter. Fill it with 20 liters of water.
2. Mark the gutters with start and stop point.
3. Prepare and label 3 boats accordingly. Fix each boat with propeller of different number of
blades with 300g loads (Boat 6 = 2blades + 300g, Boat 7 = 3blades + 300g and Boat 8
= 4blades + 300g).
4. Use stop watch to obtain each boats travel time.
5. On the switch to start the boat.
6. Place the Boat 6 at the start point to run in the gutters.
7. Record the travel time from start point to stop point.
8. Conduct 4 more attempts and obtain the average time.
9. Calculate the speed (Speed = Distance/Average Time).
10. Record the result in the table.
11. Repeat step 5 to step 10 for Boat 7 and Boat 8.

DATA COLLECTION & RESULTS

Experiment 1:
Travelled Time (s)

Number of
Blades

Average
Time (s)

Distance
Travelled
(cm)

Speed
(cm/s)

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

3.98

3.80

4.05

4.13

3.89

3.97

163

41.06

4.94

4.86

4.79

4.65

4.58

4.76

163

34.24

5.22

5.05

5.15

5.12

5.32

Table 1: Number of Blades Vs Speed of the Boat

( Boat 3 )

Graph 1: Number of Blades versus Time Travelled of a Boat

5.17

163

31.53

( Boat 3 )

Graph 2: Number of blades versus the Speed of the boat.

Experiment 2:
Travelled Time (s)

Shape of
the Blades

Average
Time (s)

Distance
Travelled
(cm)

Speed
(cm/s)

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

Curve
Shaped
Tip

4.14

5.38

4.99

5.15

4.85

4.90

163

33.27

Straight
Shaped
Tip

4.87

5.32

5.90

5.53

5.97

5.52

163

29.53

Table 1: Shape of Blades versus Speed of the Boat

( Boat 4 )

Graph 1: Shapes of blade versus the Speed of the boat.

Graph 2

Straight Shaped Tip

29.53

Shape of the Blades

Curve Shaped Tip

33.27

Speed (cm/s)

Graph 2: Shape of blades versus the Speed of the boat.

Experiment 3:
Number of
Blades with
300g Loads

Travelled Time (s)

Average
Time (s)

Distance
Travelled
(cm)

Speed
(cm/s)

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

5.11

5.50

5.37

5.44

5.24

5.33

163

30.58

5.44

5.51

5.82

5.75

5.64

5.63

163

28.95

6.22

6.35

6.48

6.49

6.22

6.35

163

25.67

Table 1: Number of Blades with 300g Loads versus Speed of the Boat

( Boat 8 )

Graph 1: Number of Blades with 300g Loads versus the Speed of the boat.

Gra
( Boat 8 )

ph 2: Number of Blades with 300g Loads versus the Speed of the boat.

DISCUSSION
Experiment 1:
According to the result, the boats with 2 blades have travelled faster compared to the 3 and 4
blades. This is due to the few factors that affect the efficiency. As the number of the blades
increases the weight of a propeller will increase thus, it will increase the frictional force between
water and the boat. Other than that, increasing number of blades will drag the boat which
eventually slows down the boats speed. In addition, more number of blades moves slowly and it
gives the boat more stability, whereas two blades travel faster with lesser stability, and it splashes
water throughout the path.
Experiment 2:
The different shapes also give different speed to the boat. The curve shaped tip blade tends to
spin faster, which gives the boat more thrust, and increases the speed compared to the straight
shaped tip blade.

The boat with curve shaped tip blade travels 3.74 cm/s faster than the boat

with straight shaped tip blade.

Experiment 3:
The results show that the speed of all three boats has further decrease when loads are added.
However the comparison still shows that 2 blades propeller with loads travels faster compared to
the 3 and 4 blades propeller.

DISCUSSION FAILURE ATTEMPTS AND ACTIONS TAKEN:

Preparation of the Boat:
Shape of the boat was not properly cut due to usage of scissors and cutter.
- Used Styrofoam Cutter
Size of the boat was not sufficient to accommodate the electric motor, battery and switch

together.
- Adjusted the size of the boat.
UHU Glue was not strong enough to stick the boat parts.
PVC cement glue was used however it has eroded the Styrofoam.
- Used Silicone Glue
Tried painting the boat with aerosol paint (spray type) and it has eroded the Styrofoam.
Tried Mural paint the output was not attractive.
- Acrylic Paint

Preparation of the Propeller and Shaft:

Used plastic bottles to do propellers, the output was not satisfactory
- Replaced it with Zinc material.
Propellers were drawn and cut without any measurement
Propeller was flat at the tip of the blade, has no cupping.
- Checked you tube for proper methodology.
A tiny straw was used as shaft, and it caused vibration.
The shaft was short and thin so could not support the electric motor.
- Used lollipop stick for better results.
Preparation for the Experiment:
Gutter was leaking.
- Used Silicone glue to re-glue.
Water splashed as propeller was not completely under the water
- Made the shaft longer to ensure the whole propeller gets into the water.
Boat went sideways due to the position of the propeller
- Realign the propeller to the centre position
CONCLUSION :
The efficiency of propeller will increase if all components and parameters are matched thus will
produce a good result. Hence, this report carries 3 hypotheses to prove the efficiency of a boats
propeller.

The hypothesis of experiment 1 has been proven that as the number of the blades increases the
speed of the boat decreases.
The hypothesis of experiment 2 has been proven that the curve shaped tip blade travels faster
compared to the straight shaped tip blade.
The hypothesis of experiment 3 clearly indicates that adding loads to the boat will further
decrease the speed of the boat.

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS :
A safety precaution is to ensure that a person is not injured unnecessarily when performing
experiments. Below precautions were taken during the experiments to prevent hazard.

 Ensured safety goggles were used while soldering to prevent any foreign objects
from entering the eyes.

Ensured hand gloves were used to prevent injuries during experiments.

Ensured

plastic aprons were used

to avoid spilling anything on the clothes.

Ensured proper attire were used before entering the Science Lab.

ILLUSTRATION AND DIAGRAMS :

DIAGRAM 1: Shows the base frame of the boat.

DIAGRAM 2: Shows how the apparatus connected on the boat.

2 Blade
Propeller

34Blade
Blade
Propeller
Propeller

Curved &
Straight Tip
Blades

number of blades, shapes of blade and 300g loads

REFERENCES
Factors affect the efficiency of a Boats Propeller. Retrieved from
1. BBLADES Professional Propellers (2016), Propeller Performance
http://bblades.com

Metal Loads
(300 grams)
DIAGRAM 3 :

2. Chris Woodford, (August 14, 2015), How Propeller Works

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-propellers-work.html
3. Formula Propeller, (2016), Choosing the Right Propeller
http://www.formulapropeller.com/propellers.html
4. H&H Propeller (2016) How Boat Propeller Works
http://www.hhprop.com/how-boat-props-work.php
5. Julie Hale, (Last updated 2016), Steel Developments
http://www.propellerworld.co.uk/Prop_Basics,_how_propellers_wor.html
6. Wikipedia (May 2016) Propeller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propeller