Abstract

How do you feel when you ride your bike into a strong wind? Do your legs feel like lead? How about when the wind is at your back? Does that make you feel ready for the Tour de France? In this science fair project, you'll discover that wind-powered devices, like pinwheels, also react in different ways to the direction of the wind.

Objective
To determine how much power a pinwheel generates at different orientations to a wind source.

Introduction
On a breezy summer afternoon, have you ever watched sailboats zigzagging their way into a strong wind? When the boats point in favorable directions against the wind, they race along with their sails forming smooth, tight curves, but when they "come about" and cross through the wind, their sails temporarily become floppy, and flutter like flags, then power to the boat is lost. In this science fair project, you'll discover that wind-powered devices like wind turbines also experience changes in the amount of power they can produce when the wind direction changes. Wind turbines are machines that change the energy in wind into mechanical energy or electrical energy. Windmills are examples of wind turbines that convert wind energy into mechanical energy. The Netherlands is a country well-known for its windmills that have been used for centuries to grind corn, drain land, and cut wood. Wind farms, on the other hand, are examples of wind turbines that convert wind energy into electrical energy. In California, you can see rows of wind turbines along windy ridges and mountain passes. The wind turbines on these wind farms connect directly into power grids and produce 30 percent of the entire world's wind-generated electricity. Don't miss the animation in the bibliography of a wind turbine in action, converting wind energy into electrical energy for a power grid. As shown in Figure 1, below, a wind turbine has a rotor with blades that are connected to a shaft. As wind energy hits the blades, the rotor turns, which causes the shaft to turn as well. As the shaft turns, it is able to do work and produce either mechanical or electrical energy.

Figure 1. This drawing shows two important parts of a wind turbine, the rotor and the shaft. This wind turbine is a horizontal-axis wind turbine because the shaft is parallel (horizontal) to the ground.
In the design of a wind turbine, the shaft can be positioned either horizontally or vertically, relative to the ground. If the shaft is positioned horizontally, parallel to the ground, then the turbine is called a horizontal-axis wind turbine. If the shaft is positioned vertically, perpendicular to the ground, like a flag pole, then it is called a vertical-axis wind turbine. The horizontal-axis wind turbines are the most commonly used around the world today in wind farms and in windmills. They have greater efficiency than the vertical-axis wind turbines, but also must be kept pointed into the wind. Small horizontal-axis wind turbines point with a simple wind vane tail, which swivels the rotor so that it faces the wind head on. Larger horizontal-axis wind turbines must rely on motors and wind sensors to position them so they point into the wind. They are mounted on tall towers, which give them access to stronger winds, but they have the disadvantages of higher and more complicated installation and higher transportation costs than vertical-axis wind turbines. Vertical-axis wind turbines have the advantage of not needing to point into the wind, so they are a good choice when the wind direction is highly variable. They are also mounted lower to the ground, usually without a high tower, so they are easier to install and access for maintenance. The drawbacks are that the wind speeds are lower closer to the ground than on the top of a high tower, which means less wind energy is available to generate power, and the winds closer to the ground also tend to be more turbulent (changing in both direction and speed), which puts mechanical stresses on the turbine. In this science fair project, you will build a horizontal-axis wind turbine that can do real work. OK, don't get too excitedyour wind turbine won't be doing your chores or taking out the trash for you, but it will be lifting some small weights a couple of feet off the ground. You'll also figure out how much power your wind turbine can generate as you move the wind source to different places around the rotor. First, let's cover some important equations you'll need to know in order to do this science fair project. Power is defined in Equation 1 as the rate at which work is performed. Rate means how something changes with time. For example, if you have to raise a rock from the ground to a table, you could raise the rock slowly or you could raise it quickly. Either way, the work you've done will be the same, but the power needed to raise the rock quickly is greater than the power needed to raise it slowly. Equation 1:

Work Power = Time Power is in watts (W). Work is in joules (J) or newton-meters (N . m). Time is in seconds (sec).

You will calculate how much work you did to raise the rock from the ground to the table with Equations 2 and 3, below. First figure out the force on the rock due to gravity (by calculating the rock's weight), and then measure the distance that you moved the rock, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. This drawing shows the force and distance involved in calculating the work required to lift a rock from the ground to the table.
Equation 2:

Force = Mass of rock Gravitational acceleration

Equation 3:

Force is in newtons (N). Mass is in kilograms (kg). Gravitational acceleration is 9.81 meters per second squared (m/sec2) Work = Force Distance Work is in joules (J) or newton-meters (N . m). Force is in newtons (N). Distance is in meters (m).

The wind turbine you will build is not ambitious enough to lift a rock, but it will be able to hoist several paper clips high into the air. Now it's time to spin some wheels!

Terms, Concepts, and Questions to Start Background Research

Wind turbine

Mechanical energy Electrical energy Rotor Shaft Work Horizontal-axis wind turbine Vertical-axis wind turbine Efficiency Wind vane Power Rate Force Gravity

Questions
What are the parts of a wind turbine? How does a wind turbine work? What are the advantages and disadvantages of horizontal-axis wind turbines and vertical-axis wind turbines?

Bibliography
This source defines and describes different types of wind turbines, and highlights their advantages and disadvantages:

Wikipedia Contributors. (2008, June 3). Wind Turbine. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 3, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wind_turbine&oldid=216857001

This source shows an animation of a wind turbine in action: U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. (2005, September 14). How Does a Wind Turbine Work? Retrieved June 6, 2008, fromhttp://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_animation.html

For help creating graphs, try this website: National Center for Education Statistics (n.d.). Create a Graph. Retrieved May 23, 2008, from http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/CreateAGraph/default.aspx

Materials and Equipment

Pinwheel, store-bought or homemade Scissors 8.5-inch x 8.5-inch sheet of paper (if making your own pinwheel) Ruler Pen Nail Wooden skewer, available at grocery stores Tape, any kind Empty oatmeal canister with plastic lid Handful of rocks (or heavy objects to keep the oatmeal canister weighted down) Small compression spring (approximately inch long and able to fit over skewer); available at hardware stores Clear tape Spool of thread (1) Paper clips, #1 size (5) Measuring tape Room in your home that is free from drafts Hair dryer Table or chair Sticky notes, small size

A helper Stopwatch Lab notebook Graph paper

Experimental Procedure
Making Your Rotor
1. If you are using a store-bought pinwheel: a. 2. Remove the pinwheel blades from the shaft by cutting off the plastic, flanged tip of the shaft. Now you have a store-bought rotor ready to go on the skewer.

If you are making your own pinwheel: a. Fold the square of paper along the diagonal and then unfold it back into a square again. Fold the square of paper again along the other diagonal and unfold it back into a square again. Your paper will now look like a square with a big "X," made by creases. Measure approximately 2 inches out from the center along each crease and make a dash mark with your pen, like in Figure 3, below. Make four holes with a nail near the corners of your square in approximately the same positions as those shown in Figure 3, represented by the black dots (the dots only represent location, not size of the holes). Use caution with the nail and be careful not to poke the nail into the surface underneath the paper. Make one final hole with the nail in the center of your square.

b.

c.
d.

Figure 3. This drawing shows the holes, creases, and cuts needed to make your own pinwheel.
e. From each corner of the square, cut down along the crease with the scissors until you reach the mark you made with the pen. Now you are ready to form your pinwheel and make your homemade rotor.

Building Your Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Using scissors or the nail, carefully cut two small holes on opposite sides of the oatmeal canister, approximately 1 inch down from the top of the canister. Use Figure 4 below as a guide. Remove the lid and place the rocks inside the canister. Thread the skewer through the two holes. Thread the compression spring onto one end of the skewer. Thread the rotor, either store-bought or homemade, onto the skewer next to the compression spring.

a. b.

If using the store-bought rotor, it is ready to thread onto the skewer. If using the homemade rotor, it must be formed first, as follows:

 6.

Pick up each of the holes at the corners of the square and fold them, one at a time, over onto the middle hole, so that they are all on top of one another. Then thread all five holes onto the skewer.

On the side of the rotor that will face the wind source, tape the rotor, either store-bought or homemade, securely with tape around the skewer so that it cannot "slip" as it rotates. To make sure it is secure, blow on the rotor. If the rotor is taped securely, the skewer shaft will rotate as the blades spin. Cut approximately 1-2 feet of thread with the scissors. Tie one end of the thread to the end of the skewer that does not have the rotor on it. Tie the other end of the thread to one paper clip.

7. 8. 9.

10. Attach 2-4 more paper clips to the first paper clip to increase the weight (load) that your horizontal-axis wind turbine will be lifting. You want enough weight that the thread is not slack, but not so much weight that the turbine cannot lift it. Your wind turbine should look similar to the one in Figure 4. 11. Extend the thread its full length and measure its length with the measuring tape, from the skewer to the top of the first paper clip. Note this measurement in your lab notebook. Now you are ready to start testing!

Figure 4. These photographs show how to build a horizontal-axis wind turbine using a homemade (on the left) or store-bought (on the right) pinwheel.

Testing Your Pinwheel

1. 2. Place your wind turbine at the edge of a chair or table in a room free from drafts and close to an electrical outlet, as in Figure 4. You will be testing your wind turbine at five different points around the rotor, as shown in Figure 5. To mark these points on the table, extend and lock your measuring tape so that it is approximately 6 inches longer than the radius of your rotor. Hold one end of the measuring tape directly below the point where the rotor meets the skewer, and the other end of the measuring tape at the approximate points around the pinwheel, shown in Figure 5. Mark the points on the table with small sticky notes. When you begin the test, you will hold the handle of your hair dryer on the sticky notes and the blower end will point at the rotor. The goal is to have 1-2 inches between the rotor and the blower. If you don't have enough room, or have too much space, then adjust your sticky notes outward or inward.

Figure 5. This top-view drawing of the homemade wind turbine shows the five approximate points around the rotor that will be marked and tested.

3.

Now you're ready to put your wind turbine to work! Although it is possible to do testing with one person, it is easier with a helper. Have one of you operate the stopwatch and the other person hold the hair dryer. To get an idea of what is going to happen, turn your hair dryer on low and slowly move it from one sticky note to the next as you watch the pinwheel spin. Make some notes in your lab notebook about how your pinwheel behaved as you moved the hair dryer around. Now you're ready to test! Extend the thread and its load of paper clips to its full length. Place the handle of your hair dryer on the first sticky note. Point your hair dryer away from the rotor and turn the hair dryer on low. When the helper says, "Go!" and starts the stopwatch, point the hair dryer directly at the rotor and leave it there. Try to keep the hair dryer at the same level for each of your trials. Observe the motion of the paper clips. When the top of the first paperclip reaches the skewer, the helper should stop the stopwatch. If the paper clips fail to rise all the way to the skewer, then stop the stopwatch when the paper clips stop moving. Turn off your hair dryer and fill out the time it took to raise the paper clips or the time at which they stopped moving in a Time Data Table in your lab notebook, like the one below.

4.

5.
6. 7.

8.

Time Data Table Position of Wind Source Around Rotor (deg) 0 45 Trial 1: Time to Raise Load (sec) Trial 2: Time to Raise Load (sec) Trial 3: Time to Raise Load (sec) Average Time of Trials (sec)

90 135 180
9.

Distance and Work Data Table Position of Wind Source Around Rotor (deg) 0 45 90 135 180
10. Measure and record the distance that the paper clips were raised in a Distance and Work Data Table, like the one above, in your lab notebook. 11. Repeat steps 4-9 for all the sticky note positions. 12. Then perform two more trials with steps 4-9, for each hair dryer position. Be sure to record all your data in the tables in your lab notebook.

Trial 1: Distance Paper Clips Were Raised (inches)

Trial 2: Distance Paper Clips Were Raised (inches)

Trial 3: Distance Paper Clips Were Raised (inches)

Average Distance and Conversion to Meters (m) (1 inch =0.0254 m)

Average Work Done = Force Due to Gravity Average Distance (N . m )

Analyzing Your Data

1. 2. Average the times of your trials for each hair dryer position and record your calculations in your Time Data Table. Average the distances that your paper clips were raised for each position of the hair dryer around the rotor, then convert your averages to meters by multiplying each one by 0.0254. Record your calculations in your Distance and Work Data Table. Calculate the mass of your load in kilograms (kg). One #1 paper clip has a mass of 0.00043 kg, so if you used three paperclips, then the mass of your load would be three times this number. Record the combined mass of your paper clips in your lab notebook. Calculate the force (in newtons) that the combined mass of the paper clips experiences due to gravity by multiplying the mass of the paper clips (in kg) by 9.81 (m/sec ). Record this force in your lab notebook. 5. Calculate the average work you did for each position around the rotor by multiplying the force on the paper clips due to gravity by the average distance you raised the paper clips (in meters). Record the average work done in your Distance and Work Data Table. Calculate the power your wind turbine achieved for each position around the rotor using the average work that you calculated in your Distance and Work Data Table and the average time you calculated in your Time Data Table. Record your calculations in a Position vs. Power Data Table, like the one below.
2

3.

4.

6.

Position vs. Power Data Table Position of Wind Source Around Rotor (deg) 0 45 90 Power=Average Work Done Divided By Average Time (W)

135 180

7.
8.

Plot how the power changed with position around the rotor. Label the y-axis Power (W) and the x-axis Orientation to the Wind Source (deg). You can make the line graph by hand or use a website like Create a Graph to make the graph on the computer and print it. Which orientation to the wind (position of the hair dryer) produced the most power for your pinwheel? Which orientation produced the least? Were there any orientations that produced nearly equal power?

Variations
Compare the power to wind-source orientation curves for two different types of pinwheels. Determine the best orientation to the wind for an 8-blade pinwheel. Cut off one blade at a time and evaluate how the power changes. For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Energy & Power Project Ideas.

Credits
Kristin Strong, Science Buddies The wind turbine design for this project was modified from: The NEED Project Contributors. (2007). Wonders of Wind Teacher Guide. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.need.org/needpdf/WondersofWindTeacher.pdf This project was inspired by: Flannery, Morgan P. (2008). Wind PowerIs Bigger Better? Do large, wide wind turbine blades generate more power than small, narrow blades? PG&E 2004 Bay Area Science Fair Awards. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/edusafety/training/pec/basf/sciencefair2004.shtml Last edit date: 2008-10-09 22:00:00

t's hard to believe that the same water that you use every day to quench your thirst, cook with, bathe in, swim in, and wash your clothes and dishes, is capable of another trickit can make electricity! Electricity can be generated through the flow or through the fall of water. A big, fast-flowing river, for instance, contains a lot of moving energy that provides enough pressure to turn the blades of a turbine and run an electric generator. This same pressure can also be created though through the fall of water from a great height. Dams are the way we store water and raise it to a great height to create pressure. The more water that is stored, the higher the height of the reservoir becomes, and the greater the pressure that is available to run an electric generator. In this energy and power science fair project, you'll make a small model of a dam and poke holes at different points along the dam wall to investigate the places where the pressure and the potential for generating electricity is the greatest.

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Objective
To determine the best location on a dam to generate electricity by investigating how the height of water above a hole in the dam wall affects the length of the stream flow from that hole.

with this science project.

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Introduction
Electricity is a big part of your life. Can you imagine not being able to turn on a light, the TV, the computer, or your video game console? What about having no way to easily wash and dry your clothes, or keep your food cold? When the power goes out in a big storm, it's a big deal! It is always a high priority for power workers to get it turned back on. From where does all that electricity come? Electricity is a secondary energy source, meaning that it has to be made from some other source of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power, wind, or water. When electricity is made from the force or energy of moving waterwater that is flowing or fallingit is called hydroelectricity (hydro means "water"). Hydroelectricity has been around since the late 1800's. Today, hydropower is a popular way to generate electricity, supplying the world with nearly one-fourth of what it needs, and reaching more than 1 billion people. Hydroelectric power has several advantages. Unlike fossil fuels, water is a source of renewable energy, meaning that it can be naturally replenished at a rate faster or similar to the rate that people use it up. Hydroelectric power is also low-polluting, dams to harness it can create recreational lakes, and the power can help with flood control and irrigation. Its disadvantages are that it can damage animal habitats or ecosystems, and in a failure, can cause flooding, such as the Teton Dam and Johnstown flood catastrophes, which you can read about in the Bibliography. Engineers weigh all these advantages and disadvantages before deciding whether or not to build a hydroelectric power plant. Hydroelectricity is made through the flow or fall of water. A big, fast-flowing river, for instance, contains a lot of moving energy that provides enough water pressure to turn the blades of a turbine and run an electric generator. This same water pressure can also be created though through the fall of water from a great height. A dam is the way we store water and raise it to a great height to create water pressure. Dams are among some of the biggest manmade structures ever built.

Science Fair Project Guide Other Ideas Like This Energy & Power Project Ideas My Favorites

Project Summary
Difficulty 5 7

Time required

Very Short (a day or less) Acces s to a batht ub or other area suitab le for testin g with water .

Prerequi sites

Readil Material y Availabili availa ty ble Cost Very Low

(unde r $20) Use cautio n when pokin g holes with the nail.

Safety

Figure 1. This photo shows the Hungry Horse Dam in the state of Montana. (Bonneville Power Administration, United States Department of Energy, 2003.)

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Dams block the flow of a river or stream and create a lake or reservoir behind them, which acts as a source of stored energy (a battery is another example of a reservoir of stored energy). The dam raises the surface water up to a great height, giving it potential energy, the potential to do work. Water flows from the reservoir and through a dam by way of a special intake gate called a penstock. It's kind of like one of those water tunnels you slide through at a water park in the summer. Water rushes down the penstock and turns the blades of a turbine, which is connected through a metal shaft to an electric generator. As the turbine turns, giant magnets inside the generator rotate past copper coils and alternating current is made. This current is then transformed in a transformer to a higher-voltage current so the electricity can be sent over long distances to homes in cities far away from the power plant.

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Does something not look right on your screen? Did you receive an error? Please take a moment and Let Us Know what isn't working so we Figure 2. This animation shows how a hydroelectric power plant makes electricity. (United States Geological can fix it!

Survey, 2008.)

What determines how much electricity a hydroelectric power plant can produce? There are several factors, but two of the most important are the water flow rate through the dam, and the distance from the surface of the reservoir to the penstock. These determine how much energy can be released when the water is lowered, in a controlled way, from the reservoir. You can approximate the hydroelectric power production of a dam with this equation: Equation 1:

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Power = Water Flow Rate Acceleration Due to Gravity Reservoir Height Coefficient of Efficiency Power is in kilowatts (kW). Water flow rate is in cubic meters per second (m /s).
3

Acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 meters per second

squared (m/s2).

Height is in meters (m). Coefficient of efficiency ranges from 0 to 1, with modern

power plants having the highest efficiency.

In this power and energy science fair project, you will investigate how the distance between the surface of the reservoir and the penstock affects the flow out of the penstock. Do you think a deeper reservoir will create a different flow than a shallow reservoir? It's time to find out!

Terms, Concepts, and Questions to Start Background Research

Hydroelectricity Hydropower Generate Fossil fuel Renewable energy Habitat Ecosystem Water pressure Dam Reservoir Potential energy Penstock Turbine Electric generator Magnet Alternating current Transformer

Voltage Bernoulli equation

Questions
What are the advantages and disadvantages of hydroelectric power? What are the parts of hydroelectric power plant? How does a hydroelectric power plant make electricity? What factors are important in determining how much electricity a hydroelectric power plant can produce? What are the different types of dams?

Bibliography
These sources describe the parts of a hydroelectric power plant and how it makes electricity:

Bonsor, K. (2009). How Hydropower Plants Work. Retrieved February 13, 2009, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/hydropowerplant.htm Energy Information Administration. (2008, October). Energy Kid's Page: HydropowerEnergy from Moving Water. Retrieved February 17, 2009, fromhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/wat er.html Perlman, H. (2008, November 7). Hydroelectric power: How it works. Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html Wikipedia Contributors. (2009, February 13). Teton Dam. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Teton_Dam&oldid=270481818 Wikipedia Contributors. (2009, February 22). Johnstown Flood. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Johnstown_Flood&oldid=272408495

These articles describe two historic dam failures:

This source discusses the Bernoulli equation, which describes the way liquids move and provides an equation for calculating the velocity of the stream flow from the height of the reservoir:

The Millennium Mathematics Project Contributors. (2009). Testing Bernoulli: A Simple Experiment. Retrieved February 17, 2009, fromhttp://plus.maths.org/issue2/bottle/index.html

Visit these pages, from PG&E, a California power, gas, and electric company, for more information about electricity:

Pacific Gas and Electric Company. (2002). Electricity Generation and Distribution. Retrieved March 4, 2009, fromhttp://www.pge.com/microsite/pge_dgz/more/electricity_gen.ht ml Pacific Gas and Electric Company. (2002). Alternative Energy Sources. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://www.pge.com/microsite/pge_dgz/more/alternative.html

For help creating graphs, try this website:

National Center for Education Statistics (n.d.). Create a Graph. Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/CreateAGraph/default.aspx

Materials and Equipment

Note: This science fair project requires access to a bathtub, garage, or outdoor area where you can experiment with slow-flowing water and not damage anything with water. Plastic milk jug, 1-gallon Permanent marker Ruler, metric Small nail, 1 inch long Duct tape Tape measure Stepping stool, or bricks or blocks of wood Timer Lab notebook Graph paper

Experimental Procedure
Note: Your milk jug will serve as a model of a reservoir, with one side of the milk jug acting as a model of a dam wall.

Preparing Your Milk Jug

1. 2. 3. Rinse the milk jug out so that it's clean. Throw away the jug cap. With the ruler and the permanent marker, make three marks on the wall of the milk jug that is opposite the handle: a. b. c. 4. Make the first mark in the center of the wall, 3.5 inches up from the bottom. Make the second mark 1 inch to the left of the center mark and 1 inch up from the bottom. Make the third mark 1 inch to the right of the center mark and 6 inches up from the bottom.

Press the nail into each mark until it pokes through the wall of the milk jug. Once the nail pokes through, rotate it in a circle a few times, to help make a well-defined, circular hole. Be careful with the sharp nail.

Figure 3. This photo shows how to punch holes in the milk jug and how to rotate the nail around the hole to create a well-defined, circular hole.

5.

Cover the three diagonal holes with a strip of duct tape, as shown in Figure 4, pressing on the tape gently to seal the holes.

Figure 4. This photo shows how to cover the holes with duct tape.

6.

Take your milk jugs to the area where you plan to do the testing, such as a bathtub, a garage, or an outdoor area where it is safe to experiment with slow-flowing water. Ask your parents where to test if you are unsure about where a good area might be.

Testing Your Milk Jug

1. Write down in your lab notebook what you think will happen when you fill the milk jug up with water and remove the piece of duct tape. Do you think any of the streams from the holes will be longer than the others? What do you think will happen to the length of the streams over time? Make three data tables in your lab notebook, like the one shown below. Stream Lengths Data Table 1 Lowest Hole Stream Length (cm) Middle Hole Stream Length (cm) Highest Hole Stream Length (cm)

2.

Time (min)

Reservoir Height (cm)

3. 4.

Place your milk jug in the test area on top of the stepping stool, stacked bricks, or blocks. Extend a tape measure from the base of the milk jug out about 18 inches and lock it so that it stays in place in front of the milk jug, as shown in Figure 5.

This photo shows how to set up of the milk jug, stepping stool, and measuring tape.

5. 6. 7.

Fill the milk jug up to the top with tap water. Get your timer ready and reset it to zero. Remove the duct tape from the milk jug and immediately start the timer. This will be your starting time (time = 0 min). table. Then immediately, with the ruler, measure and record the height of the reservoir (from the bottom of the milk jug to the surface of the water), and record your measurement in the data table.

8. Measure and write down the length of each water stream in your data

9.

Repeat step 8 each minute, until the level of water in the milk jug reaches the level of the lowest hole.

10. Repeat steps 59 two more times for your two other data tables.

Analyzing Your Data Table 1. Make three line graphs (one for each data table) that show time (in
minutes) on the x-axis and stream length (in cm) on the y-axis for all the holes. You can make the line graph by hand or use a website like Create a Graph to make the graph on the computer and print it. reservoir height and the hole height for each hole when the stream length went to zero. Is this difference the same for all the holes?

2. Go to your data table and calculate the difference between the 3. Looking at your line graphs, do the shapes of the line graphs look the
same for all three trials? Which hole produced the longest stream length? Did this hole produce the longest stream length over the entire test time? Which hole produced the shortest stream length? Did this hole produce the shortest stream length over the entire test time? Based on your results do you think the water pressure on a dam wall is greatest at the bottom of a dam, the middle, or near the top of a dam? If you were building a dam, where would you make the dam the strongest? Where would you place the penstock? At which hole depth do you think the most electricity can be produced? Based on the results of your experiment, can you predict what would happen if you made a horizontal row of holes, all at the same height, in the dam wall? Would the stream lengths all be the same? Give it a try and see!

Variations

Investigate how hole size affects stream flow for a given hole height. Develop a way to calculate the peak water flow rate out of each hole. (The Bibliography above will give you hints on how to do this with the Bernoulli equation.) Assume an efficiency of 0.9 (common for today's modern power plants), and calculate the power that can be produced with each stream, using Equation 1 in the Introduction. For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Energy & Power Project Ideas.

Credits
Kristin Strong, Science Buddies This science fair project was inspired by the science activity outlined in the following source:

Newton's Apple. (2006). Locks and Dams. Retrieved February 13, 2009, from http://www.newtonsapple.tv/TeacherGuide.php?id=1041

Last edit date: 2009-03-03 12:00:00

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