Starter Projects

This activity demonstrated how electricity and magnetism work together. A coil of copper wire was wrapped around a paper cup and connected to a battery. When the battery supplied electricity to the coil, it created a magnetic field. This magnetic field interacted with a magnet, causing it to move.

The project showed how electrical energy can be converted into magnetic energy, which is the basic principle behind devices like electric motors and electromagnets.

The paper cup motor activity demonstrated how an electric motor works. A coil of copper wire was connected to a battery and placed between magnets. When electricity flowed through the coil, it created a magnetic field. The interaction between the coil's magnetic field and the magnets produced a force that caused the coil to spin.

This activity showed how electrical energy can be converted into mechanical energy, which is the basic principle used in many everyday devices such as fans, power tools, and electric vehicles.

The bridge project demonstrated how structural engineering principles dictate a system's load-bearing capacity and material efficiency. The objective was to design and construct a truss bridge model capable of supporting a maximum load while minimizing material weight. Through testing, our final truss design successfully held a maximum capacity of 19 hex-nuts before failure.

This activity illustrated how mechanical stress, specifically tension and compression, acts on a structure. This is a core principle used by civil engineers to design safe and efficient everyday infrastructure such as highway overpasses, railway bridges, and skyscrapers.

The windmill kit activity demonstrated how a wind turbine captures aerodynamic forces to perform mechanical work. The setup tested how varying the number of blades and their pitch angle affected the output torque, which was measured by the windmill's capacity to lift a small cup filled with hex-nuts. Through systematic testing, it was determined that a configuration of 4 blades set at a 30° angle provided the optimal balance of surface area and lift required to maximize torque.

This activity demonstrated how the kinetic energy of wind can be converted into mechanical energy, which is the foundational principle used in modern wind turbines to generate clean electricity.