Wind energy is a renewable energy that comes from continuous natural processes. Sources of reneweable energy, for example, wind energy are easily replenished. Wind energy is a renewable energy thst is powered by the wind. People often use wind energy to create electricity, to turn on lights, etc. A wind wheel, called a wind turbine, changes the wind energy into electricity. The wind turns the giant blade of the turbine. This creates a current through the electrical generator. A wind mill is an older method of using wind energy but both ways are still the same. The wind mill turns mechanical machinery to do work, such as pumping water. In 2009, wind machines in the United States generated a total of about 71 billion kilowatthours, about 1.8% of total U.S. electricity generation. Wind energy is a great renewable energy source.
There are many types of wind turbines. Like the old fashioned wind mills, todays wind machines also called wind turbines use blades to collect the winds kinect energy. The wind flows over the blades creating lift similar to the lift on airplane wings which cause them to turn. The blades are connected to drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. With the new wind machines, there is still the problem of what to do when the wind isn't blowing. At those times, other types of power plants must be used to make electricity. New technologies have decreased the cost of producing electricity from wind, and growth in wind power has been encouraged. Many utilites around the country offer green pricing options that allow customers the choice to pay more for electricty that comes from reneweable sources to support new technologies.
Operating a wind power plant is not as simple as it looks. Wind plant owners must carefully plan where to locate their machines. It is important to consider how fast and how much the wind blows at the location. As a rule, wind speed increases with altitude and over open areas that have no windbreaks. Good sites for wind plants are the tops of smooth, rounded hills, open plains or shorelines, and mountain gaps that produce wind funneling. Wind speed varies throughout the United States. It also varies from season to season. In Tehachapi, California, the wind blows more from April through October than it does in winter. This is because of the extreme heating of the Mojave Desert during summer months. The hot air over the desert rises, and the cooler, denser air above the Pacific Ocean rushes through the Tehachapi mountain pass to take its place. In a state like Montana, on the other hand, the wind blows more in the winter.
Large wind turbines sometimes called wind machines, generated electricity in 35 different states in the United States in 2009. The top five wind power producing states with the most wind production were Texas, Iowa, California, Minnesota, and Washington. Most of the wind power plants in the world are located in Europe and the United States where government programs have helped support wind power development. As of 2008, the United State ranks first in the world in wind power capacity followed by Germany, Spain, and China. Denmark ranks ninth in the world in wind power capacity, but generates about 20% of its electricity from wind.
In the end, wind energy is a great renewable energy resource that does not pollute, so some people see it as a good alternative to fossil fuels. Wind energy is an economical power resource in many areas of the country. Wind is a clean fuel. Wind power plants (also called wind farms) produce no air or water pollution because no fuel is burned to generate electricity.
Proficencies
Proficiency #2 How friction and gravity apply to Newtons Laws
Friction/Gravity
Problem- Will smooth, wood, or cardboard surfaces affect the time a toy car travels down the surface?
Hypothesis- I think the smooth will because if the surface is smooth it should go faster down than any other surface because it will just glide down easily.
Experiment-
Materials-
1 toy car
Laptop
3 surfaces (wood, cardboard, and smooth)
Timer
Procedure-
1. First you need to gather all materials.
2. Then you need to get the toy car and the cardboard surface.
3. Next let the toy car go down the cardboard surface and record the time it took to go down.
4. Repeat step 3, 3 more times.
5. Then you need to get the toy car and the wood surface.
6. Next you let the toy car go down the wood surface and record the time it took to go down.
7. Repeat step 6, 3 more times.
8. Then you need to get the toy car and the smooth surface.
9. Next you let the toy car go down the smooth and record the time it took to go down.
10. Repeat step 9, 3 more times.
11. Record all data.
12. Clean up.
Variables-
IV- type of surface
DV- time for car to go down track
CV- same toy car, same length of surface, same person timing, same person releasing car, same person recording data.
Control- same toy car
Observation-
In my experiment, I was wrong. I thought that the smooth surface would go down the fastest but it was wood. It was wood because sometimes the car would fall off while trying to go down and that’s what made my experiment worse. The average for wood was .63 seconds. The average for smooth was 1.01 seconds. The average for cardboard was .92 seconds. At first I thought the smooth would because it’s the flattest and not the most bumpy out of any of them.
Proficiency #1 How Newtons Laws of Motion apply to the physical world
NEWTON'S LAWS
Problem- Does the mass of a toy car affect how far it pushes a larger toy car?
Hypothesis- I think that it does because if the toy car doesn't have that big of a mass it probably won't push the larger toy car as far.
Experiment-
Materials-
Small toy car
Large toy car
Laptop
Hotwheel tracks
Ruler
Procedure-
1. Gather all materials
2. Get a small toy car
3. Get a large toy car
4. Put the large toy car at the bottom of the hotwheels track
5. Let the small toy car go down the track
6. Measure the length of how far the large toy car went after the small toy car hitting it
7. Repeat steps 3 more times with 3 different small toy cars
Variables-
IV- type of small toy car
DV- time for car to go down track
CV- same large toy car, same small toy car, same hotwheels track, same person letting go of toy car
Control- same toy cars
Observation-
Conclusion-
In the end, in my hypothesis I was right because I thought the smaller toy cars would push the bigger large toy car. The average for toy car 1 was 16.3 inches. The average for toy car 2 was 16 inches. The average for toy car 3 was 30.6 inches. I had some problems with the experiment because the smaller toy car would hit the larger toy car then it would just go sideways or something messed up.
Proficiency #3 How Newtons Laws of Motion apply to the physical world
Speed/Acceleration
Problem- Does the angle of decent the rate of acceleration?
Hypothesis- I think that it does because at all different angles the acceleration down the track will be different
Materials-
Hotwheels track
Timer
Toy car
Procedure-
1. Gather all materials.
2. Put hotwheels track at 45 degree angle and let the toy car go down it.
3. Record how long it took for it to go down.
4. Put hotwheels track at 60 degree angle and let the toy car go down it.
5. Record how long it took for it to go down.
6. Put hotwheels track at 90 degree angle and let the toy car go down it.
7. Record how long it took for it to go down.
8. Record all results.
9. Clean up.
IV- type of angle.CV- type of toy car, same person letting car go of, same hotwheels track
DV- how far the toy car goes.
Control- IV- type of angle. Observation-
Conclusion- In the end, I was right with my hypothesis. I was because I thought that it would effect how it would go down and it did. The higher the angle the less time it took to go down because it was so high up than the other angles. The average for 45 was 0.613 in/sec. The average for 60 was 0.763 in/sec. The average for 90 was 1.346.
