Hot Water Heater
Water Heater
Our first task, was to create a device that, using only the sun's energy, could heat water. Our prototype above used a copper pipe t heat the water. We chose copper, because copper can easily pass heat to the water through conduction. Our team painted this pipe black, so it would absorb the heat of the sun. Inside the cardboard box, we covered the bottom and sides with aluminum foil, to reflect the light towards the pipe. We also covered the box with plastic wrap, to capture the heat inside the box. Another major component to our design was multiple magnifying glasses focusing a large area of light onto a point on the pipe. After angling the heater towards the sun, the water inside was heated to about ten degrees celsius.
Concepts
- Heat- The vibration of molecules. When molecules speed up, the object gets hotter.
- Specific Heat Capacity- The amount of heat an object is able to hold. When an object has a high specific heat capacity, they heat and cool slowly. With a low specific heat capacity, objects heat and cool quickly.
- Radiation-Heat transfer using waves or rays
- Convection- Heat moving through a gas or liquid
- Conduction- Heat moving through a solid.
Daylighting Model
For this task, we made a model house, that could use the sun's light more effectively in lighting the rooms. We simulated the sun's path through summer and winter morning, afternoon, and evening. We used many daylighting techniques to make sure the room got entirely lit. We placed light shelves under every window, two color tubes on the roof, and a large clerestory window facing South. With these techniques, along with our white interior, the house had plenty of natural light through winter and summer days.
Concepts
- Skylights- These are glass areas on a the ceiling of a building. These allow light to come in mostly in the summer when the sun is at a high angle in the sky.
- Clerestory windows- These are windows placed high on a wall. These allow light to come in and bounce off of the walls. This was very effective facing South in our model.
- Solar tubes- Tubes that let in light through the roof, and then diffuses the light around the room
- Light Shelves- Ledges placed under windows, so that the light can bounce into the room.
- White Interior- A white interior inside a house allows the light to stay inside the room instead of being absorbed by a black interior. White reflects light.
Materials Heat Lab
We created an experiment, to see the different heat capacities among different objects. Many different materials were placed underneath a heat lamp, and we found the heat capacity using the different temperatures of each.
Tiny House
Our largest task, was to plan a tiny house, that was energy efficient. We panned everything, including stud placement, materials, and cost. Our presentation is below.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n2Si3iHahSUbnu672xsDrqrz4DisGYjLRNyuK8OzbDs/edit
Win Turbine Lab
Our final part of this project, was to create a lab to test the most effective wind turbine. We found that smaller wind turbines produce more energy than larger turbines.
Reflection
For this project, I learned that building a house is very complicated. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of thinking to make sure it works. I also learned about heat and light. I did well on this project by staying on task. I made sure I was working with the group and that I was doing the most helpful tasks. I also had good leadership, and made sure everyone knew the task, and how to do it. Unfortunately, I need to work on my time efficiency. Sometimes I spent too long on one specific area, trying to make it perfect, when we had other things to do. I also should work on how I present to the class. This project was a very long one, and I learned a lot about physics and myself.