Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi I ordered this kit 200095657 for electric motor generator and I did the generator that powered an LED.but it didn’t work so I’m asking what to do.i already checked the website for the steps but that didn’t work either even the project book. I am selected for regional science fair and need it to be working.

Hi abyan,
I am sorry to hear that the kit didn't work. Can you be more specific about what part is not working please?
Also, if you could, please post the link of the experiment that you are working on so that we can be looking at the particular steps that may be giving you trouble.

Thanks!
Willey

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #procedure
The part that is not working is the part where the LED is supposed to light up.

Oh yeah I also need to know where you get the copper wire thing that is shaped like a U. Thanks bye

Hi Abyan,
The U shape coil is the coil that you winded in the first section of the experiment. (This gets bend into the U shape per step 7 of the Assemble a Generator with One Coil section.) Just to confirm, does your setup look like figure 9 in the procedure?

Thanks!
Willey

Yes it’s look like figure 9

What should we do in order to get the led light up

You need to verify that you are getting voltages at the terminals (nails) where the LED is making the connection. Do you have access to a Digital Multi Meter (DMM) to check?

Willey

Also, do you have a way to test that the LED is good? Please take a look at this (in particular the coin battery section):
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/li ... s-leds/all

Good Luck!
Willey

Yes we have checked the LEd with a coon battery it’s working and also I made one diy generators in comparison with the kit generator so the same lEd is working for that also I checked with the DEM but there is no current at all
Thanks

Are you getting voltages at the generator terminal? (The two nails?) The DMM should be in Voltage (Vac). If you are not, I am guessing you have a break in the coil. You can check this by using the continuity checker on the DMM to verify that the wire is good all the way from one end to the other.

Good Luck!
Willey

Can you just let me know how much voltages should I get from The nails .

You will need a minimum of 0.7V to turn on the LED.
Willey

Can we replace aluminum coil with anything else which will be a good conductor of electricity I will try tonight again by coiling it one more time but I’m asking in advance if we can switch this coil with some thing else actually for regional fair I’m comparing the efficiency of two generators one is kit one and another is DIY one my diy one is working perfectly but kit one is not in order to draw a better comparison between the too the kit one must be in workable condition
Your all the afforts will be very helpful for me
Thanks

Hi Abyan,
I am sorry to say that I am not understanding what you are trying to do. What's the hypothesis that you are trying to prove in regards to efficiency please? In regards to the first part of your question, yes, you can replace the aluminum coil with a copper coil.

Hope everything worked out!
Good Luck!
Willey

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. What I am trying to do is to do the comparison between home made generator and a generator built with the help of kit but I and unable to build the generator with kit. It’s not working as it is not lightning up the LED. I have re-wind the coil but still it’s not working. It is only showing a voltage of 0.05V. I have wind the six layers of coil as suggested by either you or by somebody else on the forum.

I am sorry to hear that the rewinding did not work. Are you able to adjust the force being applied to the shaft (i.e. spinning with a heavier weight) to boost the voltage output?

Willey

I’m sorry I didn’t get you what do you mean by heavier weight do you want us to increase the magnet ?? We have tried to speed up the rotation with the drill machine and the highest volatage we got was 0.06v .
Thanks

Hi Abyan,
For the weight, I was referring to the bucket mentioned in the procedure (Test Your Generator section) where it initially suggested that you use 90 grams as a starting point. (It then had the suggestion of different coins / weight in Table 1)

Also, please confirm whether the 0.06V that you measured is AC or DC?
Thanks!
Willey

Hi,
We did some more trial. One trial was by identifying north and south poles of the magnet and arranging them in alternate sequence I.e. North, south, North, south... and then in direct sequence I.e.North, North, North...to produce alternating and direct current respectively.

We also rotate the magnet bolt with the help of drill machine so that magnet rotate with fast speed but both of our efforts not resulted in success.

Hi Abyan,
I am sorry to hear that you latest attempt failed. I do want to note though that you can't generate DC by simply aligning the magnet in the manner you described. You will need a commutator (carbon brushes) in order to generate DC.

Please take a look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6RZscXzuN4

The setup in this experiment is for AC only. I am still confused about how you have things setup. If I am looking at picture 17 of the procedure, does your drill replace the bucket and string setup? If so, can you confirm that if you spin it by hand, whether the LED lights up or not? (If you put the drill on it, I am worried that you might have burned out the LED).

Willey