Wind Power

This event involves the construction of a device that can turn wind into energy and the answering of questions relating to alternative energy.

Building the Device
Half of your score for Physical Science Lab is how well you do on the building. You have to create a windmill like object using a CD and other materials. During competition, they will attach your device to a CD motor. They will then place a fan in front of your device and turn it on. Your blade will spin therefore creating voltage. The higher your voltage, the better your score. You must include a standard CD in your windmill. When you plan to build your device, there are many factors to consider. Some of them include:

Windmill Diameter Blade Width Curve of the Blade Blade Pitch Number of Blades

Something else you might want to think about is how heavy your device is. If your device is lighter, it can spin faster, therefore producing more voltage. You can use various items to construct your blades. Balsa wood is sometimes used as it is very light. You could also find different items around your house to use as blades. Plastic cups, when cut in half, can be a good idea. You just have to experiment with different factors. According to the New York Coaches Conference, taller towers increase energy production. They also say that doubling the diameter of the circle made by the blades produces a 4-fold increase in power. For more information on good windmills, look at this site Turbine Designs. There are various pages here discussing turbine designs.

For the competition, you are allowed to bring in 2 devices.

Studying
The other half of your score is the written portion. The rules recommend that you look at Alliant Energy and American Wind Energy Association. You have to know about alternative energy forms, such as wind power, solar power, geothermal energy, etc. You have to be able to identify advantages and disadvantages and environmental concerns of each energy form. Another thing that you need to be able to do is interpret data regarding the energy usage and the availability.

The Competition
For the building set-up, there will be 2 stations: high speed and low speed. You will be given 5 minutes to set-up and test your device in front of each fan (5 minutes for high, 5 minutes for low). Once you are ready, you may tell the event supervisor to start the fan. The fan will run for one minute and the highest voltage within the time frame will be recorded as your score.

Once you have completed the device testing, you will get 40 minutes to complete the stations/written part.

Scoring
For this event, the highest score wins. Your voltage score is calculated like this: Voltage Score = Low speed voltage (mV) + High speed voltage (mV) Your final score is calculated like this: Final Score = Voltage Score + Station Score (300 point base) The station score is based on a 300 point scale (if you have 30 questions, each is worth 10 points.)

The tiebreaker is the team that has the best high-speed performance.

Links
New York Coaches Conference