The Power of Balance *

Areas of Science Energy & Power
Difficulty
Time Required Long (2-4 weeks)
*Note: This is an abbreviated Project Idea, without notes to start your background research, a specific list of materials, or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated Project Ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk.

Abstract


The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal near Falkirk in central Scotland. It consists of two diametrically opposed caissons which rotate to lift boats between the two canals through a height of 35 meters. The wheel is always perfectly balanced and, despite its enormous mass, rotates through 180° in less than four minutes, using just 1.5 kilowatt-hours (Wikipedia contributors, 2006). Do background research to find out how much energy would be required if a system of locks were used to raise the boats instead of the Falkirk Wheel. How much energy is saved? For a more advanced project, include a comparision of construction costs for a system of locks vs. the Falkirk Wheel.

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General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "The Power of Balance." Science Buddies, 28 July 2017, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Energy_p006/energy-power/the-power-of-balance. Accessed 15 Oct. 2019.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2017, July 28). The Power of Balance. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Energy_p006/energy-power/the-power-of-balance


Last edit date: 2017-07-28

Bibliography

Wikipedia contributors, 2006. "Falkirk Wheel," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia [accessed June 20, 2006] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Falkirk_Wheel&oldid=59868527.

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