Solar Power Tower
Secondary | Energy | Views: 984
You will Need:
- Three tins, with the ends cut off. Health and Safety: Take care with this and ask for help if needed, tin cans can be very sharp.
- Paper
- Tape
- Paper clip
- Thumb tacks
- Something to stand your tower on to create a space underneath, like books.
What to Do:
- Draw a 15cm square on paper and cut this out – this will create your pinwheel.
- Cut the square from each corner towards the middle, but not all the way to the middle.
- Fold each corner of the paper square towards the middle and tape in place to create your pinwheel shape.
- Place on tin can on top of the other and tape these together to create a tower.
- Open a paper clip and bend it to create an arch shape.
- Tape your paper clip arch to either side of the top tin can.
- At the top of your paper clip arch, tape a thumb tack and pierce your pinwheel onto the thumb tack to hold it in place. It should be able to spin freely.
- Place your tower on top of books to create a gap at the bottom.
- Place your tower in a sunny place, like a window sill in direct sunlight.
- Now it’s time to wait for energy to generate! See what happens…
How does it work?
When the sun shines on the metal it gets hot and this causes the air inside the tins to get hot also. This hot air rises and travels upwards and out of the tins. This is heat energy, causing movement! Cool air then comes through the bottom of the tins and this is heated, causing the cycle to continue.
These are used in giant version to generate electricity! Sunlight is a useful source of energy.
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