Electromagntetic generator project

[ahumayed]

Hello,
I am doing a science project for my 4th grader son. It is about magnets and electrical current.
Please help me create a title and form my question and hypothesis.

Current title is Electromagnetic Generator.
Question: Can a magnet and conductive wire coil generate electricity, and if the number of turns in the coil makes a difference in the amount of electric current?

Hypothesis: If I use a magnet to cause a magnetic field around the coil then, an electric current can be generated from the coil.

Why: Why the number of turns in the coil will change the electrical current.

Thank you very much in advance,
Alex.

[HowardE]

That's a nice project idea and your hypothesis is pretty solid. The teacher wants you to expand on that a little. What is it about water that makes you think it can generate more electricity if it falls from higher. What kind of energy does the water have if you raise it up? Does it have more of that kind of energy if it's higher up?

Howard

[ahumayed]

Thank you Howard!
I like the way you
Should I leave my hypothesis as is and change my question or, change both?

thank you!

[ahumayed]

or this should be under WHY?

[HowardE]

The hypothesis wouldn't be 'why'. An hypothesis is an educated guess that:

If I do _______ , then _________ will happen.

Your hypothesis is okay as it is. It does ask two questions (can the water be used to generate power and the height of the water) but they are closely related. You could leave out the part about whether you can generate power or not. If the teacher is asking why, then you can answer that by saying why you think water that falls from a high point will carry more energy. I don't want to give you that answer since I know you can find that yourself.

This project (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... background) is about using falling water to lift weight, but it has a lot of similarity to yours. Take a look at the introduction. Also take a look at http://www.enwin.com/kids/electricity/t ... energy.cfm and http://www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_energy.html .

Howard

[ahumayed]

Thank you for you help I appreciate it.

[ahumayed]

Hello again,
So this how my presentation look so far.
Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

Question:
• Can electricity be generated by using water power and, if the water height makes a difference?
• Can an LED glow to prove it?
******

Hypothesis:
• If I use the water power to spin the electric generator, then electricity will be generated ( hydroelectricity) and if the water level is higher, then more hydroelectricity can be generated.
• The LED can glow by converting the water power into electricity.
******

Why:
• Why you think water that falls from high point will carry more power?
******

Conclusion:
My hypothesis was correct, water power can create hydroelectricity and, the higher the water level is, the more hydro electricity generated and the LED glowed.
These types of electricity are green and cause no harm to the Earth and it should be used more often since we need electricity for many things.

*********

Observation:
I conducted my experiment from 4 different heights and recorded my results.
The higher the water level is the more pressure created and caused the turbine to spin faster which made more electricity. When water pressure was low the LED did not glow.

[HowardE]

Nice. Two things come to mind:

1) Energy is converted a few times here from one form to another. It would be good to be able to discuss that. What kind of energy does water have before you drop it? While it's moving? Where does the energy get transferred? into what form(s)?

2) How do you know there was more generated when the water is up higher? Can you use a multimeter and measure the voltage and/or the current generated to demonstrate the increased power? If you graph the data, can you predict what would happen at different heights?

Also:

Is there any controversy regarding hydroelectric power? I like it (and I grew up near Niagara Falls) but some people have problems with it. Have you researched the naysayers' claims?

Howard

[ahumayed]

Thanks Howard.
I had my child record the results using a voltmeter.

[HowardE]

Excellent. If you plot the volts out against the height of the water you should end up with a fun graph. Science fair judges like graphs. With that and understanding why things work as they did, your child should be able to represent the project well at the fair.

Howard

[ahumayed]

Hi Howard,
Wanted to let you know my son's project was a winner for his class and was used in other classes for demo too.
Thanks for your help and feedback.

[mom2boys]

Hi,

My son wants to do this project too, what materials did u use to make this? Also where can we get small motor and voltmeter? Do you have any reference model?

Thanks

[mom2boys]

Hi,

We finally used 1.5v-3v DC motor, simple gear and connected to a small 1.5vLED, but LED bulb never lights up Tested with a voltmeter and motor is showing 0.8V but still it doesn't light up the bulb. What we are doing wrong? Please guide us.

Thanks

[ahumayed]

Hello,
We used an old PC fan as a generator and it does not take a lot of power to light up the LED.
Please let me know if you need any help.

Thanks.