4 Responses

1. Well, no. You need a completely different kind of electric motor. In fact, you would need a generator. The fan blades would have to by pretty long to use the energy of the wind efficiently. It must overcome the friction of the bearings IN the generator, and it must spin to the proper direction to utilize the wind direction.

2. yes, and no… the home fans have resistance and also don’t generate electricity. I am an engineer and if it was that easy we would’ve done it long ago. Your fas are ac current and the spinning blades are like that of a bicycle, they can be driven by the motor but turn the motor off and you’ll see the blades spin but don’t rotate the motor shaft that drives them. but if you lock the blades to the shaft and add a coil keeping a stationary iron core (basically an alternator – connected to a shaft) you can have yourself a windmill. Although you’ll need a high pressure wind to power it.

3. The Simplest Wind Turbine is a Pinwheel!

   Introduction to teachers:

   So how do wind turbines make electricity? Simply stated, a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity.

   This exercise is a hands-on project for the students to enjoy and learn from. While the project itself is simple and fun, students will need to use critical thinking skills and some Internet exploration to complete the assignment.

   The pinwheel your students will make is an example of a horizontal-axis active wind collector. It must be pointed into the wind in order to spin.

   Learning Objectives:

   Students will be able to:

   Build a wind turbine
   List ways to improve their design
   Change “variables” in design to produce a better machine

   Materials Used:

   a pin
   a square piece of construction paper (about 8.5″ x 8.5″)
   a sharpened pencil with an eraser
   scissors

   Procedure:
   Lay the square of paper flat on a table and draw a line diagonally from each corner to the opposite corner.

   Mark the center of the square where the two lines cross and punch a small hole through it with the pencil tip.

   Next, cut along each line stopping about an inch from the hole in the center of the square.
   Take the pin and punch a hole in the top left corner of each of the four flaps. (No two holes should be next to each other.)

   Pick up a flap at a punched corner and carefully curve it over toward the center hole, securing it with the pin. Repeat this for the other flaps.

   When all four flaps are held by the pin, carefully lift the paper without letting the flaps unfurl. Lay the pencil flat on a table and carefully push the point of the pin into the side of the eraser.

   Now your pinwheel is complete and ready to go. Pick up the pinwheel near the pencil point and let it catch the wind. Your students should discover that the pinwheel only spins when the wind hits its center.

   Playtime

   Enjoy your new toy for a few minutes. Observe the way it works and how well it responds to your blowing on it.

   Critical Thinking Activity:

   Students will evaluate and analyze their design for flaws and suggest improvements. Keep in mind that the goal of the wind turbine is to catch as much wind as possible.

   Task 1: Have students list the things about their simple turbine that could be changed.
   These items are referred to as the variables.

   Task 2: After consulting their list, student will choose one of the variables on their model and investigate ways to change it so as to improve its ability to catch wind.

   Task 3: Students will design three improvements to their design, design and build the new machine and then evaluate the result of the improvement.

   Task 4: Students will write a summary of the improvements describing the result they had.
   Student Activity Page

   Student Information:

   Wind turbines use the wind to generate electricity. But before the electricity can be generated, the wind must be captured in some way. When you were a small child, you may have played with a simple wind turbine and did not even know it!

   In this activity, you will do the following tasks:

   Build a simple wind turbine following the procedures your teacher will give you.
   Evaluate the performance of your little turbine and problem solve ways it could be improved.
   Choose one design element and redesign it in three ways.
   Make models of your improvements and analyze the results.
   Write a summary of your observations and conclusions.

   Task # 1

   Build your simple wind turbine using the procedure sheet. When you get done, you can play with it for a few minutes.

   Task #2

   Now that you have build and played with your wind turbine, you will need to take a more serious look at the little design. Remember, the goal of this model is to collect as much wind as possible either by turning very fast or collecting more wind in a given spin of the blades.

   List all the design elements that could be changed in the construction of the machine.

   1.
   2.
   3.
   4.
   5.
   6.
   7.
   8.

   Task #3

   With a partner, choose one of the design elements of the machine and then problem solve changes you could make to that element that, you hope, will improve the performance of the machine.

   Design Element to be changed:

   1.Change you want to make:

   How will the change improve the wind turbine ability to collect wind?

   2. Change you want to make:

   How will the change improve the wind turbine ability to collect wind?

   3. Change you want to make:

   How will the change improve the wind turbine ability to collect wind?

   Task #4

   Now that you have thought about and listed the changes you wish to make in your design and believe that those changes will improve the wind collection ability of the machine, build three new models. Use the improvement you have designed on each model

   Task #5

   Write it all up.
   Now that you have made three new models, all of them using your design improvements, evaluate the results of the experiment.

   a) Describe your original wind turbine. Describe the feature you thought should be changed and why you thought it needed improvement

   b) Describe the first change you made. How well did your model work? Did it improve the machine as you predicted it would?

   c) Describe the second change you made. How well did your model work? Did it improve the machine as you predicted it would?

   d) Describe the third change you made. How well did your model work? Did it improve the machine as you predicted it would?

4. Most small fans use shaded pole motors (see the link) and likely would not serve well as generators. Also it would take a gale wind to rotate the fan nearly as fast as the motor can. I have seen a vertically mounted 55 Gallon drum, cut to make wind vanes, that was used at a windy river location to drive a car generator. Good luck!