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From: Infinite Potential Mission 3: Power to the People (pp: 63)
Water Wheel

In this activity, you will have the opportunity to explore water wheel design. You will construct a simple wheel. From your observations, you will suggest and evaluate new designs.
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Water Wheel

The coal-fired power plants that Larry’s research helps to improve use turbines that power generators. Hydroelectric energy uses the same principles to generate electrical energy. However, instead of utilizing the mechanical energy of steam to spin a turbine, hydroelectric energy spins turbines using the mechanical energy provided by water. A water wheel, set in motion, is driven by the flow of water through its paddles.

As you might imagine, the efficiency of the entire process is dependent upon the design of the wheel. Wheels that harness more of the water’s energy can meet higher energy demands. In this activity, you will have the opportunity to explore water wheel design. You will construct a simple water wheel. From your observations, you will suggest and evaluate new designs.

Materials
  • Lab 4 Data Sheet
  • several pieces of rotelle (wagon-wheel) pasta
  • paper clips
  • 4 cups
  • water-proof clay
  • water
  • materials provided by instructor

Lab Prep
  1. Use print and online resources to learn about the history of water wheels. How were water wheels used by ancient cultures? What tasks did they accomplish? How are historic water wheels different from the turbines found in today’s hydroelectric plants?
  2. Roll out a thin strip of waterproof clay. Firmly press this strip along the outer rim of a piece of rotelle (wagon-wheel) pasta. Make sure that the rim is completely covered with a thick layer of clay.
  3. Along the length of the clay, insert materials provided by your instructor to form a pattern of paddle-like extensions.
  4. Open and straighten a paper clip.
  5. Insert the straightened paper clip into the center of the pasta wheel so that the paper clip acts as an axle.
  6. Use two lumps of clay to anchor both ends of the axle to the rim of your widemouth cup. The wheel should be positioned over the center of the cup. Spin the wheel. Adjust as needed to ensure that the wheel rotates freely.

Make Observations
  1. Fill the other cup with water. Carefully pour the water onto the paddles of your water wheel. What do you observe?
  2. Suppose you were to increase the height from which the water was poured. How might that affect the spin? Create a hypothesis. Then, test your hypothesis. Explain your observations in terms of the potential energy content of the poured water.
  3. Compose a list of factors that might affect the efficiency of the observed energy transformation. (When evaluating wheel efficiency, why do you think that it is critical to maintain the same height from which the water is poured?)
  4. Select one of the listed factors, and explain how you would measure its effect on the efficiency of the energy transfer and transformation. With your instructor’s approval, create a new wheel design to improve efficiency of the transformation. Now compare your new design to your first design.
  5. Is the new wheel more efficient? Explain. Can you further improve its operation? If so, how?
  6. Once again, with your instructor’s approval, create a new design. Is the new design more efficient? Explain.
Journal Question

Journal Question
How might using a denser liquid in place of water affect the wheel’s movement and how could this relate to energy generation?

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