Wind Power C

[Frogger4907]

I personally think that the building aspect of the event is a little more limited than Wind Power. So as of right now, it seems Like there is a much larger emphasis on how well you do on the test. Building a thermos-like device just doesn't seem as fun as building a wind turbine-like device. I thi nk the scores for the building portion will be in a very small range. leaving most of the scores based on the test. I am a little biased because I am a builder... But nonetheless, I am somewhat optimistic to see how the event will turn out.

I completely agree, except with the last statement...

[OptimusPrime]

I agree that there should be a larger emphasis on the test to make sure that physics is well represented. I remember the first year wind power came out was a nightmare since there were no score adjustments. My team (back when I was in div B) saw the test as more of a tiebreaker than anything else and never really looked at the physics or renewable energy. Even when the scores were scaled, the problem was that we had to assemble a huge binder of random stats since that's what was on those tests, and it was almost impossible to find every random fact out there. The other problem is, if the test is restricted to heat questions alone, I don't see how you could go very deep since those topics are only a chapter or two inmost high school textbooks.

As for the building part, it certainly doesn't sound as interesting as building a wind turbine. And it may be that I just haven't looked into it, but I was under the impression that most of the engineering for insulation went into the materials. It seems like if we had to build an insulating box, the majority of its insulating strength would come from buying the best materials on the market. That's not to say physical assembly won't have any impact, but it just seems like this is an event you can do well in just by spending some money.

[Schrodingerscat]

Not every test in science Olympiad seems to stick to high school level to my experience, as some of them appear to largely be based on first or second year college courses, although they do tend to stick to requiring only algebraic calculations and avoiding integral and differential physics problems. Maybe not 50% like wind power, but 10% sounds like the test would not be significant enough to be considered very important. Could involve heat engines, interpreting various thermodynamic diagrams such as PV and T-s, heat transfer problems which do not require calculus/differential equations, specific heat calculations, etc.

[newyork471]

how do you build a descent blade assembly? State is in two days... i need some help.

[kjhsscioly]

with that little time, you would be best off cutting blades on an angle from a plastic cup, and mounting them with superglue on a CD

[devin159]

Having never competed on the national level, and having finally won our state tournament yesterday, is there anyone who can tell me what the winning voltages at the national tournament were last year? I know that this info is completely subjective and almost completely useless, but it might indicate where I stand

[eeldj123]

Having never competed on the national level, and having finally won our state tournament yesterday, is there anyone who can tell me what the winning voltages at the national tournament were last year? I know that this info is completely subjective and almost completely useless, but it might indicate where I stand

(From personal experience) It doesn't matter due to the resistor.

[kjhsscioly]

we had our state tournament, where the team who got second place had very narrow blades, slightly bent up at the corners, and they did much better than ours four bladed design that covered the max diameter. Think popsicle stick sized overall, with a bulge in the middle for the cd center.

[ichaelm]

The value is completely irrelevant to this year, but last year Troy got the top combined blade score of 3.154 volts, with 1.900 on high and 1.254 on low.

[whadk]

From my experience, using McDonald Coffee cup was the best choice for my wind blades. The highest I've ever gotten was like 2100 or,,, 2.1
i had two blades (though I recommend 3 because some law,,, idk,,,? states that 3 blades the best for that,, whatever)
and used balsa wood (wow) to connect the blades to the CD. Went pretty darn well though,,,
WITH
A HECK A LOT OF adjustments,, that's all