Kally & Ashleigh’s Generating electricity for a refugee aid station!

Before we discuss how we built our station, here is some BACKGROUND ON ELECTRICITY

Where Does the Word 'Electricity' Come From? Greek word "elektor," meaning "beaming sun." What is Electricity and How Does it Work? --All matter is made up of atoms --Electrons spin around the nucleus (made of protons and neutrons) --Electrons contain a negative charge, protons a positive charge; neutrons are neutral --Electrons can be made to move from one atom to another; current of electricity is created.

The Who’s Benjamin Franklin ( ) His kite experiment demonstrated that lightning is electricity. He was the first to use the terms positive and negative charge. Benjamin Franklin to be the father of electricity. In 1752, famous experiment of flying a kite during a thunderstorm, discovery that lightning and electricity were somehow related.

The Who’s Alessandro Volta constructed the voltaic pile, later known as the electric battery, the first device to produce a steady electric current. It was Volta, not Franklin, who discovered that certain chemical reactions could produce electricity.

The Who’s He used his money to buy up patents in the electric field. George Westinghouse ( ) was awarded the contract to build the first generators at Niagara Falls.

The Who’s Michael Faraday( ) His pioneering work dealt with how electric currents work. One of the most significant discoveries in the history of electricity: Electromagnetic induction.

The + and - represent the positive and negative ends of the battery. As you can see, there are two batteries in this model. The R represents resistance. As you can see, this model contains three points of resistance. Symbols

In-Class Projects John Travoltage In class, we conducted an online experiment that showed us an example of static electricity. As we moved John Travolta’s foot back and forth across the carpet, static electricity was transferred. As he touched the door handle, the current was transferred, creating electricity.

In-Class Projects AC and DC We conducted another online experiment in class that involved putting together AC and DC circuits. alternating current (AC) -instead of a constant voltage supplied by a battery, the voltage oscillates in a sine wave pattern direct current (DC) - circuits involve current flowing in one direction

All About Light Bulbs Light is a form of energy that can be released by an atom made up of light photons, which are the most basic units of light. Atoms release light photons when their electrons become excited. The wavelength of the emitted light depends on how much energy is released, which depends on the particular position of the electron. LEDs don't have a filament that will burn out, don't get especially hot, but last just as long as a standard transistor. If half of all traditional Christmas bulbs were replaced with LED bulbs, it could yield a savings of $17 billion dollars a year in energy bills

Circuits Electrons with a negative charge, can't "jump" through the air to a positively charged atom. wait until there is a bridge. Bridge called a "circuit." limit the number of electrons that can cross over circuit, giving it "resistance." Series CircuitSimple Circuit Parallel Circuit

Ohm’s Law OHM’S LAW EX: If you have12 volts and 6 Ohms, you would have 2 Amps. 12/6 = 2

In-Class Learning Kally showed Mr. Shircliff how to light a bulb with TWO wires and a battery 1. First wire-attach one end to positive of battery, other end to threads on bulb 2. Second wire-attach one end to negative of battery, other to "nipple" on bulb LIGHT!

In-Class Learning We showed Mr. Shircliff how to light a bulb with ONE wire and a battery Touch one end of wire to negative end of battery, nipple of battery to positive end of battery, and touch other end of wire to the thread of bulb LIGHT!

In-Class Learning We built a series and a parallel circuit - We know it’s a parallel circuit because when you remove a bulb, the others stay lit - For series, when one light bulb is removed, the others go out

In-Class Learning We built and analyzed using Ohm's Law a parallel and series circuit in class We drew them and used a voltammeter to get numbers

In-Class Learning Today we built a DC motor in class using a battery, copper sheets, copper wire wound into a circle with ends sticking out, a magnet, and a plastic base provided. How it worked: The magnet created a magnetic field. The copper wire became magnetic because of the battery. Then, the copper wire ends sticking out were shaved off on one side- this caused the magnetic current to switch on and off, causing the wire to rotate (rotational magnetic field)

In-Class Learning Series circuit's bulbs are dim and all go off when one is taken away In parallel, all bulbs get the same voltage Today in class we used the genecon to light 3 bulbs in series. It was difficult and not very bright Then we did in parallel: slightly easier, and quite a bit brighter Parallel is best! because it has branches that each have their own path for flow of electrons

Trial and Error (making batteries) We chose to try and build a coke and penny battery So far, we have not been able to successfully light any light bulbs with the batteries that we built, but each battery is putting out about 1V materials; coke pennies aluminum foil paper towels cup with salt

Another Attempt Due to failure with the aluminum batteries, we decided to repeat the experiment with nickels.

Putting It All Together In class, we used Paint to plan and sketch our shelter. This is what we came up with.

Putting It All Together This is the actual model that we built.

The End Our final idea that worked was using a DC motor to light our LED light bulb. We attached a handle, making it possible for us to generate electricity. It didn’t work very well, due to the fact that our motor may have had loose parts on the inside.