Turbine Generator Manual
012-07732A
10
Teacher's Guide
1. Chemical energy in your muscles gave kinetic energy to water. The water slowed as it hit the
turbine blades, giving kinetic energy to the turbine. The turbine spun the magnet, generating
electrical energy in the coil. (The magnet and coil as a unit are also called an
electric generator
.)
The electrical energy from the generator was transformed into light by the LED (light emitting
diode).
2. After the water stopped flowing, the turbine still had kinetic energy, which continued to be trans-
formed into electrical energy, until the kinetic energy was gone and the turbine stopped.
3. The voltage will vary with experimental conditions. The greated voltage recorded at our lab was
2.0 volts.
4. The area of the graph that shows the generation of alternating voltage corresponded with the period
during which the turbine was rotating. Each cycle on the graph corresponds to one rotation cycle
of the turbine.
5-6.
With your Smart Tool, read the coordinates between the first and last positive voltage peak.
Count the number of complete cycles in the time period between the first and last positive
voltage peak.
Experiment 1: Results
Sample Data
Example: 2.226 seconds, 0.225 volts
4.476 seconds, 0.210 volts
Total cycles (revolutions) = 12 cycles/2.25 seconds = 5.33 cycles/sec or 5.33 hertz.
Multiplying this fraction by 60 reveals 320 revolutions/minute.
Answers to Questions
