The purpose of this project is to design a turbine which is as efficient as possible to create a high amount of electricity. The aim is to design the blades so that the wind can be caught to turn the turbine. Windmills are one of the renewable energy sources, which are used in many places all over the world to create electricity. If a source is renewable it means that it can be renewed in a lifetime, some examples are: solar energy, wind power, Hydroelectric power, biomass and others. Unlike renewable energy, non renewable energy sources were created even before the dinosaurs and once they are used up they can’t be renewed. Even Though nonrenewable energy is very efficient, there is one problem. If the three sources, coal, gas, and oil, are burned, they release the gas CO2 which creates the greenhouse effect and leads to global warming. To stop global warming we need to use more renewable energy sources such as windmills. Although wind mills aren't very efficient it still helps to have well designed and many windmills. There were three designs tested to see which one is the most efficient one. The first design that was done had eight little bowls (half cubs) to catch the wind. When the first design was tested it was a disappointment to see that it didn't work really well, we had a voltage of 0.5. One problem probably was that the cubs were slowing down the wind mill when they were turning. Then it was decided to make the blades longer and not as wide, which made the turbine even worse and the voltage went down to 0.03. Next, the blades were designed out of paper and they were made longer. The blades were angled to catch the wind and only 4 blades were put in place. The design worked better and generated 0.06 voltage, which isn't very efficient but it can still help us to reduce pollution and the amount of nonrenewable energy which is used.
When you drive around in a car you can see windmills sanding around everywhere. But how do they create energy?
First of all it is very important to have an efficient turbine which catches the wind so that the blades can be kinetically pushed and turned. When a turbine is turned then the wire inside of the generator spins. A generator is behind the windmill and it turns mechanical force into electrical current. An electrical current can be created if the wire turns inside of a magnetic field (two magnets). A reaction makes the electrons break from the atom and it creates a flow of electrons, making the electrons jump from one atom to another.This flow is kinetic, which is the motion or the release of energy. In this case it is the motion of electrons.
This means that if the wire is turned faster then flow of electrons will get stronger and the voltage will increases, this is what makes the speed of the windmill so important.
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Created with images by Pexels - "agriculture beautiful clouds"