Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am making a vertical wind turbine. according to the material list, i need 28 gage enamelled magnet wire and in the instructions it says to use 28 gage copper enamelled wire. http://www.re-energy.ca/docs/wind-turbine-cp.pdf here is the pdf i am using.

my dad said he can get access to copper wire, but not magnet. does it really matter? i dont want to start my project with the doubt of it not working.

thank you!!

Hi, welcome to the Forum.

You really need magnet wire. Ordinary copper wire is either uninsulated (will short out when wound in a coil) or insulated with a relatively thick layer of some plastic (which makes the wire too thick to get the density of windings you need for a strong electromagnet). Magnet wire is insulated by a thin layer of lacquer; it can be wound into tightly packed coils without shorting. Be sure to handle it carefully since the lacquer can be scratched off. Also, to connect the magnet wire to other wires etc you must scrape, or use a lighter to melt, off a little length of the lacquer at the end of the magnet wire that is to be connected. You may be able to find magnet wire at a local electronics supplier, such as Radio Shack, or at an on-line seller, e.g.

http://tinyurl.com/bvkhpgv

Hope this answers your question. Feel free to ask further questions if you encounter problems.