Month: May 2016

For our final experiment, we decided to perform a Hydro Power Water Wheel. The purpose of this experiment was to learn about energy.

The project consisted of several different parts that we set together to make our experiment work. We built a water wheel taking a rounded piece of pink foam board and placing about 20 plastic black spoons and 1 white around the radius of the circle, then taking a metal tube we inserted at the center of the wheel. This provided us with a base to place the wheel when needed to rotate. After completing the wheel we set the first trial. Setting up the experiment consisted of the water wheel, previously mentioned, and tall and deep container to pour the water in, a 73 cm long rubber stopper that we made out of a rubber drawing eraser. In addition to these main components, we also used a weight scale that allowed us to weight the mass of water, clamps to hold the wheel in place, and a ruler to measure the circumference of the wheel, distance for the water to travel and a stopwatch to calculate the time.

 

We decided to run the experiment for four (4) trials each one using a different mass of water this will allow us to calculate the power of water in each different amount. We first calculated the potential energy (PE) using the equation, mass x gravity x height. Then we calculated the velocity, V=Distance/Time. In order to calculate the kinetic energy (KE), KE=.5xmassxV^2, meant we would have to calculate the velocity. Once we had these results we calculated, by doing these calculations we learned that when the amount of water was bigger the number of rotation increased in less seconds

Overall, this experiment was educational and enjoyable, what it seemed to be very simple ended up being more complex that we though. In order to calculate and to obtain the desire results precision is a key during this process. We perform the experiment a number of times as trial and error, and then for what we called our “final” which is the one that gave us the best results however none of our trials were a 100% perfect. At the beginning we started doing the experiment; we realized that not having a funnel for the first few trials did not help us with the process as we also encounter a problem with the pouring of water. The first few trials our kinetic energy did not seem to be best result because for each trial even though we kept everything same the way we poured the water was not the same and that was changing our results. Luckily, after meeting with prof. Sonek we came to a conclusion than having a stopper would be the best way to measure the power of water because even though the amount of water will change for each trial the pressure will be “constant” in term that all the water will be released at once.

Even though, it was appositive experience we learns that not all experiments are perfect and that’s how science works, we have to try the experiment many times to get the best results out of our project, however we always found few errors with the calculation at the end that seemed to not reflect the right amount of power obtained from the waterwheel. Also, even thou this was a nice experiment and we had a lot to measure, in order for this method to properly work in the real works it needs to be a much bigger and better structured wheel and water flow to provide with a decent amount of energy, a nd even though this method is a good option for the environment it might not always be the best option because of the size it will require to get energy out of it.

Once, we had the opportunity to present the our project to class, it was good to see other students performing what we have “created” and work on for over 2 weeks, even though some students did not seem very motivated about the experiments in class we managed to get them involved and have fun while doing some science. This project is a hands on project which helps students to get together and solve different problems while learning and applying what we learn during this semester in class.

 

	Water mass	Distance	Velocity	Rotations	Time
Trial 1 (Red)	.3825kg	73cm	6.91 m/s	12	5 seconds
Trial 2 (Green)	.2341kg	73cm	2.46 m/s	9	14 seconds
Trial 3 (Yellow)	.1104kg	73cm	9.87 m/s	3	3.5 seconds
Trial 4 (Black)	.0659kg	73cm	17.27 m/s	2	2 seconds

 

Potential energy (PE)	Mass x Gravity (9.807 m/s) x Height
Trial 1 (Red)	273.83 Joules
Trial 2 (Green)	167.59 Joules
Trial 3 (Yellow)	79.03 Joules
Trial 4 (Black)	47.17 Joules

 

 

 

 

 

Kinetic Energy (KE)	.5 x Mass x (velocity)^2
Trial 1 (Red)	1.5853 Joules
Trial 2 (Green)	.7083 Joules
Trial 3 (Yellow)	5.3774 Joules
Trial 4 (Black)	9.8274 Joules

 

Power of spinning wheel	(.5 x 2.24 x velocity^3)/1,000
Trial 1 (Red)	.3690 watts
Trial 2 (Green)	.01 watts
Trial 3 (Yellow)	.0011 watts
Trial 4 (Black)	.0057 watts

 

Efficiency of water wheel	Pwheel / Pwater
Trial 1 (Red)	2.38m^3/s
Trial 2 (Green)	1.81 m^3/s
Trial 3 (Yellow)	4.97 m^3/s
Trial 4 (Black)	1.47 m^3/s

 

Power of Water	(velocity x area) / 1,000 kg/m^3
Trial 1 (Red)	.0154 watts
Trial 2 (Green)	.0055 watts
Trial 3 (Yellow)	.0221 watts
Trial 4 (Black)	.0386 watts

 

Both oil and gas are an essential to every person on a day to day bases. Gasoline and oil is used to power so many things. From motor vehicles, to a lawn mower, to a chain saw. There are a lot more products that depend on oil, and some products are even produced to function off of both oil and gas. Oil has become one of the most sources for energy in the world, right behind of coal. The first commercial oil began in the 1850’s where it was established in Romania. Many would say the official commercial oil was introduced in 1901. Reason for this was because it was the first commercial that produced oil for mass production. The demand for Oil began to increase more and more especially when the industrialization era began. Gasoline was discovered but never officially used by people. Gasoline’s demand rose during the 1890’s when the invention of vehicles began. The demand increased especially around 1920’s when countries like the United States had about 9 million vehicles on the road.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/determining-oil-prices.asp

Fracking is important when it comes to the pricing of oil and gas because opportunity is increasing. So what is fracking and why is it so important that it is a determinant for the pricing of oil and gas. Fracking is the method of finding oil that is trapped inside and between rocks. Rocks that are buried deep under the ground, about 6,000 to 10,000 feet deep under ground. What happens is, you must drill under the ground with special heavy machinery. Of course every land is not the same so some places you will be able to drill very deep, while in other areas you may be limited. After drilling straight down, you will begin to turn and drill horizontally to get under rocks. You must drill with high pressure water so that it can open up the spaces between rocks. Once you have drilled with high pressure water, you will begin to use sand at high pressure so that the sand can get into the opened up spaces and let it stay open. This process allows the oil and gas to escape through the channels that are inserted into the ground. This oil now becomes usable and beneficial financially.

Fracking is a reason why oil and gas prices have decreased significantly, especially now that gas is around two dollars per gallon. With the method of fracking, it provides a new recourse for gas and oil making the price of gas and oil from commercials to decline. People, or companies do not have to depend on going to commercials only, they can now consider buying it off other companies that are involved with fracking. Although fracking has helped decrease the prices of oil and gas globally, it has also become controversial. People argue that fracking is a very expensive method of getting oil and gas. People also argue that fracking contributes to the pollution that already exists in the world. Finally, another argument is that fracking can cause earthquakes to go off.

Another reason why the price of oil and gas have decreased is because demand has decreased globally. You have to consider the fact that oil and gas are extremely correlated to the world’s economy. What is happening is that supply is beginning to increase causing the demand to decrease. There are individuals or groups who are considered either hedgers or speculators. Hedgers are the ones who buy in bulk right now so that they can avoid from buying at periods of gas and oil being at a high price. What happens is the buyer and the seller of oil and gas come to an agreement to sell the gas or oil at specific dates at specific prices, no matter what are the current prices. The sentimentalized people are those who determine the price of oil and gas based on what they think will be the prices in the future. For example, the seller may believe in the future the price will rise significantly. This means he will decide to sell the oil or gas at a high price because they believe it will benefit them later on.

 

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/determining-oil-prices.asp

http://ecowatch.com/2015/12/16/fracking-gas-prices/

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=gasoline_history