Diary Entry - April

Nearly all groups have moved onto testing the number of blades. It is interesting to note that some children say they can tell how well a turbine is working by how it sounds when it is running. You can certainly hear the turbines with the higher numbers of blades stall and see it happen in the data logging graph.

Between testing the children have been learning about the links between electricity and magnetism. The illustrations have involved compass and wire, an electromagnet and a model electric motor. This was needed as children asked how the wind energy became electrical energy. The motor model showed how electricity moved the rotor and another model showed how spinning the rotor through the magnets created electricity.

We are a step closer to being able to measure the electrical output as I have sourced some precision drive motors for computers that I will use as generators. I have a number of different ways of mounting them onto the pylon ( most involve at least one piece of Meccano). It was originally intended to use a moving coil gauge to measure the electrical output from the motor but I have ordered a visible voltmeter where LED’s light up.

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