Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

How light would a turbine have to be to be able to be turned by falling rain? would this even be possible? would it be possible to add flexible piezoelectric elements to the surface to retrieve a little power from that and then have it connected to a generator? also, do you think I could make it double as a wind turbine or will it be too fragile for that?

How light would a turbine have to be to be able to be turned by falling rain?

Interesting question. Do you have any idea how to evalute this yourself? Think about how meterologists measure rainfal (e.g. rain gauge). Think about how fast the rain guage can fill. How much mass is involved in the rain being collected? If you know an average mass per second per square meter, then you have something that can be related to power.