How to convert energy from a waterwheel to a light bulb?
October 24th, 2009 | by Michael |
My son is due 8-23-09 asked:
For physics class I have to design my own experiment.
I want to conduct an experiment answering how to convert energy from a waterwheel to a light bulb.
How exactly can I get the energy to convert?
Will I have to get a generator or something?
I know the basis of what I want to do, I just need help with how I can go about building a waterwheel and it successfully converting energy to light a light bulb.
Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance!
RODOLFO
For physics class I have to design my own experiment.
I want to conduct an experiment answering how to convert energy from a waterwheel to a light bulb.
How exactly can I get the energy to convert?
Will I have to get a generator or something?
I know the basis of what I want to do, I just need help with how I can go about building a waterwheel and it successfully converting energy to light a light bulb.
Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance!
RODOLFO
5 Responses to “How to convert energy from a waterwheel to a light bulb?”
By Hugo on Oct 27, 2009 | Reply
Your on the correct line you would have to connect the waterwheel with a generator and then connect the generator to the light bulb. =]
By arthurpj1765 on Oct 27, 2009 | Reply
Buy water jug with faucet, small DC motor use on toys & one wheel or small impeller same as air condition impeller & small flashlight bulb 3 volts. Preparation fix the small impeller to the small dc motor, connect the bulb to the DC motor supply line + & - . Put the water jug higher than the DC motor & open the water jug faucet. Allign the impeller that the wheel will be hit by running water & see the light bulb will lit as soon the impeller or wheel turn. Note: don’t allow the DC motor to be wet with water cover it by plastic or plastic tape.
By Midatlantian on Oct 28, 2009 | Reply
If you take a bicycle wheel, and find a way to mount it in a frame of some sort so that it can rotate freely, you can bolt an old bicycle generator onto the frame. The generator sort of rolls along the side of the wheel, and if the wheel rotates, even at a modest speed, it should generate enough electricity to light a bulb. You will need to wrap the rotating part of the generator with rubber so that it can get enough traction to rotate against the rim of the wheel, since you will need to remove the tire to build paddles or buckets onto it.
(If you try to simply connect a generator to the axle of a rotating water wheel, I think you will find that you will not get enough speed to generate much power. If you want to proceed that way, you need to consider a gear train to increase the speed of rotation of the generator.)
Then you will need to take the tire off of the wheel, and glue small paddles or better: buckets onto the rim, enough that they will catch water and cause the wheel to rotate. You will have to experiment to see how large each little bucket will need to be to get the force needed to rotate the generator.
i am sure that there are many other approaches to this, but some of these ideas may be helpful.
By katielovesrush on Oct 29, 2009 | Reply
use a generator or something……….yup. that should work
By Aphrodite on Oct 30, 2009 | Reply
You’re still in school even though you’re pregnant?