Energy Project

Evidence of Work

Alexander Sinitskiy - Energy Project Work Time~Friday 12/11

Our class was assigned this project in place of a final, as we were in classes lasting a single semester due to Covid-19 guidelines. Therefore, this project was meant to allow us to demonstrate everything we have learned this semester as long as it is relevant to our individual projects. My group worked to create three different simple turbines, powered by pressure from three different heat sources. I chose to power mine using just an electric stove, which would convert electrical energy into thermal energy using electrical resistance, heating the air around it, increasing pressure. This increased-pressure air would have thermal energy, as well as kinetic energy due to its movement, and would be guided by a column of aluminum foil towards the propeller, at which point the propeller would receive some kinetic energy from the air and begin to spin.

Content

  • Krot = ½ Iw2

    • I = ½ Mr2

      • Moment of inertia

    • w = 360o/t

      • Angular velocity

  • Energy

    • Kinetic / mechanical energy

      • Energy in the form of movement

      • The final energy form in our experiments

    • Thermal energy

      • Energy in the form of heat

      • All of our devices used a heat source to increase pressure and convert thermal energy to kinetic energy

    • Electrical energy

      • Energy in the form of electricity

      • If our turbines were connected to small electric motors, we could have used the rotational kinetic energy to generate electrical energy

Reflection

This has been a great semester in a crazy year, and this project only tops it off. In this project, I think one thing I did well was Critical Thinking. Upon receiving the project parameters, I quickly worked with my group to brainstorm ideas for not only our central design principle, but also some modifications to it. Another thing I did well was Communication. In my opinion, as well as my group's, my proof of efficacy document was very informative, in-depth, and academic.

However, as usual, I had some light trouble with being a Conscientious Learner. This was because I only set the goal of completing the project by the deadline, and not smaller goals along the way, resulting in sub-optimal time management. Also, and this surely had something to do with the nature of the project, but Collaboration also was not as big of a part in this project. Granted, I did share my proof of efficacy document to get two extra opinions on it, but other than that, we all did our own separate projects and proof of efficacy documents.