Touched by an Angle: Which Angle of a Windmill Blade Will Produce the Most Energy?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this experiment was to discover which angle of the blades of a windmill would make the windmill spin faster and produce more energy. My hypothesis stated that the blades at a 15 degree angle would spin faster and produce more energy than blades at other angles. Methods/Materials The first order of business in this project was to build the windmill and four sets of blades at angles of 15, 30, 45 and 60 degrees. After the structure was built, it was testing time. To do this, a vacuum put into reverse was placed two feet in front of the windmill. The vacuum was turned on for ten seconds, the blades started to turn, and the volts were measured on a multi-meter attached to the windmill. This was repeated for each set of blades. I tested each blade twice to get a more accurate result. Results When the test runs were complete, the hypothesis was correct. The blades at a 15 degree angle spun faster and produced more energy than blades at 30, 45 and 60 degree angles. Conclusions/Discussion My conclusion is that in order to create more energy when using windmills, the blades should be placed at 15 degree angles. This gives the air coming at the windmill a bigger target to hit, thereby making the blades spin faster and producing more energy.

Competition history

• CSEF 2005 Electricity & Electronics · Entry J0707

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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