Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

hi, im trying to do a project of generating electricity using a bike, kite, clock pendulum, or something else to generate electricity that can be stored in a capacitor. i want it to be really simple, using a magnet and copper wire or something (+ the capacitor) and i don't want to spend a whole bunch of $$$. Can someone plz help me understand how to construct a simple electricity generator and how to store the electricity using a capacitor? and how to do it and how it works? thx in advance...

Hi alli4898,

if you provide "how to build a simple electricity generator" to answers.com, you'll get an webpage with a method to build a low cost generator, along with a video.

There is also an entry that explains how the generators work, though you might want to try a more focused query.

Similarly, if you provide "how to store electricity using a capacitor" as input, you'll get several webpages addressing your capacitor question.

To simplify things a bit for you, pay particular attention to the article found at Answers.com at this address: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_aluminum_ ... lectricity. It gives a really good understanding of capacitors used to store energy.

Good luck.