A student experimented with building two types of windmills - one with curved blades and one with angled blades - to test which design would travel farther in one hour. Based on initial research, the student hypothesized that the angled-bladed design would perform better. Test results showed that after 10 short trials, the curved-bladed design traveled slightly farther on average, but after 3 longer one-hour trials, the curved-bladed design significantly outperformed the angled-bladed design by traveling 1.62 miles on average compared to 1.34 miles.
2. Question
Which windmill blade design, angled-bladed or
curved-bladed, will result in the higher mileage in 1
hour?
3. Hypothesis
Based on the research, the
angled-bladed windmill will result
in the highest mileage.
4. Materials
-Windmill building materials: Wood, 10 inch tire,
screws, metal flashing materials, etc.
-fan
-hammer, metal flashing snips, drill, etc.
-a hallway or other room where a windmill can
be tested
7. Results
avg. of curved-bladed windmill distance for ten 5-minute trials =
0.14 miles
avg. of angled-bladed windmill distance for ten 5-minute trials =
0.13 miles
avg. of curved-bladed windmill distance for three 1-hour trials =
1.62 miles
avg. of angled-bladed windmill distance for three 1-hour trials =
1.34 miles
