Project
Our task was to create an energy device powered by chemical energy. To decide what to do, my group and I brainstormed for a while until one of us came up with the idea of a hand crank. The only problem being, that there was no chemical reactions taking place. That was quickly solved however as we decided that we would power the hand crank our self's since we digest food in our bodies giving off a chemical transfer of energy. To gather data for this my team and I worked together on a food lab to discover how many calories certain foods can give us. We did this by burning a peace of food, taking the range of water the food would warm up, and the final weight of the food after it extinguished to calculate the total number of calories it would give us. Once this was all done we then tested our machine and found out that each time you turned the wheel, it would produce about 1 volt.
Content
Energy: Power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources, especially to provide light and heat or to work machines. This relates to our project since we powered an LED and our self with food to power a hand-crank.
Heat Energy: The transfer of energy that results from the difference in temperature between a system and its surroundings. At a molecular level, heat is the transfer of energy that makes use of or stimulates disorderly molecular motion in the surroundings. This was related to the heat produced during our food lab to test the amount of energy food can have.
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, observable as the movement of an object, particle, or set of particles. Any object in motion is using kinetic energy. This relates to our project due to to spinning of our hand-cranks gears.
Chemical Energy: Energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds, like atoms and molecules. This energy is released when a chemical reaction takes place. This relates to our project since our body would dissolves foods that we consumed.
Heat Energy: The transfer of energy that results from the difference in temperature between a system and its surroundings. At a molecular level, heat is the transfer of energy that makes use of or stimulates disorderly molecular motion in the surroundings. This was related to the heat produced during our food lab to test the amount of energy food can have.
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, observable as the movement of an object, particle, or set of particles. Any object in motion is using kinetic energy. This relates to our project due to to spinning of our hand-cranks gears.
Chemical Energy: Energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds, like atoms and molecules. This energy is released when a chemical reaction takes place. This relates to our project since our body would dissolves foods that we consumed.
Proof of Efficacy Document
Reflection
Our project was successful in the end, accomplishing what we had originally set out to do. There is much room for improvement however, as there is for everything. Some things that could have been done better was planning ahead of time to get materials needed to build the hand crank. If we were able to get the materials quicker, we could have then tested different motors, gears, and LED's to see which combination of the tree would produce the most energy. On top of that, we could have tested more foods, varying from sweets to vegetables to test which ones could give us the most energy for a valid amount of time.
Some things that I learned during this project included gear ratios and planning. For the gear ratios I learned how the spin from a large wheel can spin the smaller wheel by the larger wheels circumference divided by the smaller wheels circumference. This skill allows me to better understand how certain things work , from bikes to cars. During our project we were able to multiply our energy output by 3.33 times using this knowledge. For the planning, I learned that you always have to account for outside error, something out of your control. I learned this during our search for a motor since one of our teammates thought he had one, but then ended up not being able to find it for a few days. This was controllable, even though we made for most of the lost time by doing or food lab in class, we still probably could have been more efficient with the building of our crank.
Like our project, I also have room for improvement. One thing that I could have done better was to help more on the construction of the hand crank. Since we were unable to obtain a motor for the beginning portion of our project, when one of our teammates did find one we built the hand crank by himself. This was not the original plan however as we had arranged a date to meet up and all work on it together, but do unforeseen events, our plans were mangled. Another thing that I could have improved upon is thinking ahead. If I had done this, I could have seen different ways for us to test our project and improve upon it. However I never did and even though our project met the requirements, it could have been much better.
In total, this project was a success since I not only learned, but also enjoyed working with my group and even though we struggled at parts, we were able to push through and get the job done.
Some things that I learned during this project included gear ratios and planning. For the gear ratios I learned how the spin from a large wheel can spin the smaller wheel by the larger wheels circumference divided by the smaller wheels circumference. This skill allows me to better understand how certain things work , from bikes to cars. During our project we were able to multiply our energy output by 3.33 times using this knowledge. For the planning, I learned that you always have to account for outside error, something out of your control. I learned this during our search for a motor since one of our teammates thought he had one, but then ended up not being able to find it for a few days. This was controllable, even though we made for most of the lost time by doing or food lab in class, we still probably could have been more efficient with the building of our crank.
Like our project, I also have room for improvement. One thing that I could have done better was to help more on the construction of the hand crank. Since we were unable to obtain a motor for the beginning portion of our project, when one of our teammates did find one we built the hand crank by himself. This was not the original plan however as we had arranged a date to meet up and all work on it together, but do unforeseen events, our plans were mangled. Another thing that I could have improved upon is thinking ahead. If I had done this, I could have seen different ways for us to test our project and improve upon it. However I never did and even though our project met the requirements, it could have been much better.
In total, this project was a success since I not only learned, but also enjoyed working with my group and even though we struggled at parts, we were able to push through and get the job done.