Wind Turbine Experiment Science Fair Projects

PROCEDURES

1. Build the model windmill out of wooden craft sticks and balsa wood. 
2. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 18-centimeter by 2-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 15 degrees. 
3. Turn the fan on low for 1 minute, and take the highest reading that came out during that time.
4. Record energy output from the multimeter.
5. Turn fan on high and repeat steps 2,3, and 4. 
6. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 12-centimeter by 3-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 15 degrees.
7. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
8. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 9-centimeter by 4-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 15 degrees.
9. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
10. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 18-centimeter by 2-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 30 degrees.
11. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
12. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 12-centimeter by 3-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 30 degrees.
13. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
14. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 9-centimeter by 4-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 30 degrees.
15. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
16. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 18-centimeter by 2-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 45 degrees.
17. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
18. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 12-centimeter by 3-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 45 degrees.
19. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
20. Attach to the motor, the disk with the 9-centimeter by 4-centimeter blades that are set at a pitch of 45 degrees.
21. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.
22. Repeat entire process two more times in order to make experiment results more reliable.

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine how blade design factors (length and pitch) would affect the energy produced by a windmill at various wind speeds.

The results of the experiment were that when the 18 centimeter by 2 centimeter blades were set at a pitch of 15 degrees they produced an average of 90 millivolts when the fan was set on high and 62 millivolts when set on low. When the same blades were at a pitch of 30 degrees they created an average of 106 millivolts (high) and 72 millivolts (low). Also, when these blades were set at a pitch of 45 degrees they produced an average of 122 millivolts (high) and 86 millivolts (low).

When the 12 centimeter by 3 centimeter blades were set at a pitch of 15 degrees they had an average output of 146 millivolts (high) and 95 millivolts (low). When the blades were set at 30 degrees they produced an average of 200 millivolts (high) and 137 millivolts (low). When set at 45 degrees the blades created an average of 241 millivolts (high) and 169 millivolts (low).

The 9-centimeter by 4-centimeter blades, set at 15 degrees, produced an average of 183 millivolts (high) and 114 millivolts (low). When set at 30 degrees the blades created an average of 269 millivolts (high) and 177 millivolts (low). The blades set at 45 degrees had an average output of 316 millivolts (high) and 206 millivolts (low).

The overall average of all of the blades was 155 millivolts, both high and low combined. The average for the blades tested at the high speed was 179 millivolts. When tested at the low speed the average millivoltage was 124. 3rd party credit