Water Turbine

The created model I decided to use for our group project on the water turbine. This designs objectives is to explain how the turbine operates, observe its principles, and determine the speed of the turbine. The water turbine works based off the direct pressure of  water moving against the wheel, which makes the wheel rotate. In this project the effects of the turbine include height, diameter, force, and momentum  that produces its energy. Along with the other groups projects goes into more depth my project discusses a few important factors to coincide with the others projects as well

The following supplies that were used for this project are:
ballpoint pen tube
washtub
duct tape
hose
hammer
nail
newton scale
non-toxic water glue
notebook
washer
plastic cups (6-5oz.)
plastic plates (3-6" diameter)
plastic bowl
scissors
stop watch
wire coat hanger (16")
wire cutters
wood block (3x6x1 with a hole drilled through it)
string (50')

The definitions listed apply to the procedure of how the project works:

energy- capacity to do work
force- amount of energy exerted on an object
hydroelectricity- electricity generated by turbines that are powered by water
hypothesis- an educated guess based on scientific evidence and tested for accuracy using scientific methods
joule- a unit of work or energy equal to the work done by a force of one newton acting through a distance of one meter
newton- the unit of force in the meter-kilogram-second system equal to the force required to cause an acceleration of one meter per second per second to a mass of one kilogram
turbine- a machine in which the kinetic energy of water or gas is converted to mechanical energy as the fluid reacts to a series of paddles, vanes, etc. arranged in a wheel
variable- a part of a process that changes depending on the situation
vertical- perpendicular to the horizon
water wheel- a wheel driven by falling or moving water and used to power machinery
watt- work done at the rate of one joule per second

During the experiment tests were created to measure the speed of the turbine. In order to do this a speed measuring device was created. With the string of 50' the measurement of the amount of string from the string guide to the side of the washtub. Subtracting this amount from the original 50'. This is the number used to calculate the approximate speed of the turbine 600 inches - 12 inches = 588 inches.

Turbine Speed
To determine the speed of the turbine. Speed is the distance an object travels per unit of time (D/t). To calculate the approximate speed of the turbine, I divided the length of the string by the time ( seconds) it takes to rewind the string onto the collector. Three trials were repeated and the following are the average results of the turbine when placed with a hose (43 inches) under the faucet in the washtub.
Trial 1       15.84 seconds
Trial 2       16.00 seconds
Trial 3       14.41 seconds

Average speed of all 3 trials= 38.22 seconds

To hypothesize  how the speed of the turbine is affected by raising the height and placed directly under the faucet and water pressure completely turned on with the washtub 3 feet under the sink.

Variable Effect

Trial 1      37.06 seconds
Trial 2      37.66 seconds
Trial 3      36.97 seconds

Average speed of all 3 trials = 15.79 seconds

Determining the watts the turbine generated I measured the length of string 588 inches.
Operated the turbine so the collector takes up the string. It took 17.56 seconds to rewind the string.
When connecting the newton scale to the mass (washer) and dragged it across the floor it took 0.5 newtons of force to move the mass.
The work done by the turbine I multiplied the force/ newtons(N) by the distance/meters(M) to find the mass traveled.294(joules)J.
The definition of the watt is the amount of work(J) divided by the time(seconds) it takes to do the work(J/sec.) To calculate how many watts of power the turbine can generate. Dividing the amount of work (J) by the time (seconds) that it took to rewind the string on the collector watts . The first trial was 7.69 watts and the second trial was 18.62 watts.

The difference of the heights in each trial were effected due to the fact that the greater the distance in height between the water in the bucket and the end of the hose, the greater the pressure will be. For example if a rock is dropped from high above will it hurt more than down below? The answer will be it will hurt more below because of the force. So there is greater force at the bottom of the hose.