History.
The water wheel is an ancient device that uses flowing or falling water to create power by means of a set of paddles mounted around a central wheel or axle. The force of the water moves the paddles, blades or buckets, and the consequent rotation of the wheel is transmitted to machinery via the shaft of the wheel. The first reference to its use dates back to about 400 B.C. Where, in a poem by an early Greek writer, Antipater, it tells about the freedom from the toil of young women who operated small hand mills to grind corn. were used for crop irrigation, grinding grains, supply drinking experts water to villages and later to drive sawmills, pumps, forge bellows, tilt-hammers, trip hammers, and to power textile mills. The first description of a water wheel that can be definitely identified as vertical is from Vitruvius, an engineer of the Augustan Age which was created in Rome. Three horizontal water wheels, side-by-side, were set into the bridge abutments were used for flour and grain.Waterpower was important source of energy in ancient China civilization. one of the uses for the waterwheel was for iron casting. Chinese waterwheels were typically horizontal. The vertical wheel was known.It was used to operate trip hammers for hulling rice and crushing ore. In medieval Europe, social and economic conditions increased the need for replacing manual labor with powered machines.From the 10th century on there was steady progress in land reclamation. Areas in northern and western Europe, once sparsely populated, came under cultivation. Grain was an important crop, and most of it was ground by water mills. In the eighteenth century in Murcia Spain, the Molinos Nuevo's was constructed on a site with a long history of mills. The last incarnation had 21 horizontal wheels located in a line parallel to the Segura River. Water was diverted from a weir pond into a channel; the differential head between the channel and the river was used to turn the wheels. Today Molinos Nuevos is a museum. In the 19th and 20th century water wheels are now mostly used for electricity.
How it works.
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface. Most commonly, the wheel is mounted vertically on a horizontal axel , but the tub or Norse wheel is mounted horizontally on a vertical shaft. Vertical wheels can transmit power either through the axle or via a ring gears and typically drive belts or gears; horizontal wheels usually directly drive their load.
advantages & disadvantages.
Advantages.
One major advantage with the use of renewable energy is that as it is renewable it is therefore sustainable and so will never run out.Renewable energy facilities generally require less maintenance than traditional generators. Their fuel being derived from natural and available resources reduces the costs of operation.Even more importantly, renewable energy produces little or no waste products such as carbon dioxide or other chemical pollutants, so has minimal impact on the environment.
Disadvantages
One major advantage with the use of renewable energy is that as it is renewable it is therefore sustainable and so will never run out.Renewable energy facilities generally require less maintenance than traditional generators. Their fuel being derived from natural and available resources reduces the costs of operation.Even more importantly, renewable energy produces little or no waste products such as carbon dioxide or other chemical pollutants, so has minimal impact on the environment.
Disadvantages
One disadvantage with renewable energy is that it is difficult to generate the quantities of electricity that are as large as those produced by traditional fossil fuel generators. This may mean that we need to reduce the amount of energy we use or simply build more energy facilities. It also indicates that the best solution to our energy problems may be to have a balance of many different power sources. Another disadvantage of renewable energy sources is the reliability of supply. Renewable energy often relies on the weather for its source of power. Hydro generators need rain to fill dams to supply flowing water. Wind turbines need wind to turn the blades, and solar collectors need clear skies and sunshine to collect heat and make electricity.
Design 1 , 2 , 3
Questions
1. Is the design practical? 2. Will the design cost a lot of money? 3. Is the design reliable? 4. Is the design durable? 5. Is the design visually appealing? 6. Is the design safe? 7. Are the resources available? 8. Are the tools available? 9. Can the design be created on time? 10. Does the solution meet the needs? |
Design 1
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Design 2
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Design 3
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We are we doing design 2.
examples of homemade water wheels.
The water falls off the head and pushes the water wheel. this moves the gear which moves a belt connected to a generator which creates electricity.
summary .
we made a water wheel that isn't really powered by water but made to look like it is power by water , we have a little DC motor hooked to the side of the house that we mad that is hooked up to a little led light that is in side the house.
design / redesign
our design is made out of wood, wooden house and a wooden platform that the house lays on , inside the house is the DC motor that is hooked up to the led light , and hooked up to the DC motor is the water wheel that we made.
the redesign that we would do to the water wheel is actually made it run by water ,
the redesign that we would do to the water wheel is actually made it run by water ,