How to Build a Windmill - Initial Thoughts and Ideas

by Jake Strong

It's time to build a windmill. Most people picture a huge monstrosity, but there are many sizes of windmills you can build. Many people need to build smaller-scaled windmills. Harnessing the power of the wind (and other of Earth's natural resources) is the responsible thing to do.

The size of the windmill you need to build--and the tech behind it--varies with your desired power output. For instance, you could build a micro windmill and add it to your solar powers for added power. How does this help? Well, at night there's no sun, so your solar panels aren't doing much. But, there might be wind right?

Safety is a must for any DIY windmill project. Ensure you have the correct tools and parts. Trying to use the wrong tool or part can lead to safety issues. Review your windmill plans to make sure you understand everything.

As you begin to build a windmill, you'll be dealing with a few components, such as the nacelle, tower, base, and wind blades. Whether you're building a windmill the size of your hand or the size of a mountain, these components will be there. Your DIY windmill plans will require specific parts, so make sure you have everything before starting.

Relying on the power company for everything, including an over-priced energy bill, is yesterday's news. By using the Earth's natural power, you can reduce your power bills. We can all live better by harnessing the Earth's power Our future and our kid's futures rely on responsible people like you using the Earth's natural powers. Yes, you can build your own windmill today and it can be easy.

About the Author

Save more money on your power bill, or eliminate it completely, by harnessing the natural (and free) power of the Earth. To see how you can save a fortune and help the Earth click the link---->STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO MAKE YOUR OWN WIND POWER!<-----

Related Resource: Build a Windmill

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Bubblology Experiments to Share with Your Kids

by Aurora Lipper

This article teaches kids about the science of bubblology and gives a handful of totally fun activities to experiment with for their homeschool science learning (including bubble castles, light shows, and a kid-in-a-bubble). It's also good for boy scouts working on a badge, or for any kids that love science experiments. These experiments are part of a homeschool science program that I teach, and I promise your kids will love it.

If you pour a few droplets of water onto a sweater or fabric, you'll notice the water will just sit there on the surface in a ball (or oval, if the drop is large enough). If you touch the ball of water with a soapy finger, the ball disappears into the fibers of the fabric! What happened?

Soap makes water "wetter" by breaking down the water's surface tension by about two-thirds. The force that keeps the water droplet in a sphere shape is called surface tension. It's the reason you can fill a cup of water past the brim without it spilling over.

Water becomes "wetter" because without soap, it can't get into the fibers of your clothes to get them clean. That's why you need soap in the washing machine. Soap also makes water stretchy. If you've ever tried making bubbles with your mouth just using spit, you know that you can't get the larger, fist-sized spit-bubbles to form completely and detach to float away in the air. Water by itself has too much surface tension, too many forces holding the molecules together. When you add soap to it, they relax a bit and stretch out.

Soap makes water stretch and form into a bubble. The soap molecule looks a lot like a snake - it's a long chain that has two very different ends. The head of the snake loves water, and the tail end loves dirt. When the soap molecule finds a dirt particle, it will wrap its tail around the dirt and hold it there.

To make the best bubbles for teaching homeschool science, you'll first need to make the best bubble solution. Gently mix together 12 cups cold water in a shallow tub with one cup green Dawn (or clear Ivory) dish soap. If it's a hot dry day, add a few tablespoons of glycerin. (Glycerin can be found at the drug store.)

You can add all sorts of things to find the perfect soap solution: lemon juice, corn syrup, maple syrup, glycerin - to name a few. Each will add its own properties to the bubble solution. (When I teach this class, I have buckets of each variation along with plain dish soap and water so we can compare.)

The absolute best time to make gigantic bubbles is on an overcast day, right after it rains. Bubbles have a thin cell wall that evaporates quickly in direct sun, especially on a low-humidity day. The glycerin adds moisture and deters this rapid thinning of the bubble's cell wall.

Tip for Teaching Homeschool Science: Keep a box handy with these items inside: paper clips (in two different sizes), rubber bands, dish soap (clear Ivory and green or blue Dawn), straws, string, plastic berry baskets, plastic water bottles, and wire coathangers. Label your box "Bubblology Experiments". Pull the box out, add kids, and stand back.

Zillions of Tiny Bubbles can be made with strawberry baskets. Simply dip the basket into the bubble solution and twirl around. You can also use plastic six-pack soda can holders.

Trumpet Bubbles are created by using a modified a water bottle. Cut off the bottom of the bottle, dip the large end in the soap solution, put the small end to your lips and blow. You can separate the bubble away from the trumpet by rolling the large end up and away from your bubble.

Bubble Castles are built with a straw and a plate. First, spread bubble solution all over a smooth surface (such as a clean cookie sheet, plate, or table top). Dip one end of a straw in the bubble solution and blow bubbles all over the surface. Make larger domes with smaller ones inside. Notice the bubble changes shape and size when it connects with another.

Stretch and Squish! Get one hand-sized bubble in each hand. Slap them together (so they join, not pop!). What if you join them together s l o w l y?

Light Show is one of the favorites when I teach this class. Find a BIG flashlight and stand it on end (or use a thin one with three clothespins). Rub soap solution all over the bottom of an uncolored plastic lid (like from a coffee can). Balance the lid, soapy side up, on the flashlight (or on the spring-type clothespins). Blow a hemisphere bubble on top of the lid. Find a dark room, turn on the flashlight, and blow gently along the side of the bubble and watch the colors swirl.

Weird Shapes are the simplest way to show how soap makes water stretchy. Dip a rubber band completely in the soap solution and pull it up. Stretch the rubber band using your fingers. Twist and tweak into all sorts of shapes. Note that the bubble always finds a way of filling the shape with the minimum amount of surface area.

Make a Moebius Bubble by cutting open a thick rubber band or a thick ribbon; give one end a half-twist, and reattach it together.

Polygon Shapes allow you to make square and tetrahedral bubbles. Create different 3D shapes by bending pipe cleaners made into cubes, tetrahedrons, or whatever you wish. Alternatively you can use straws threaded onto string made into 3D triangular shapes. Notice how the film always finds its minimum surface area. Can you make square bubbles?

Gigantic Bubbles. Using the straws and string, thread two straws on three feet of string and tie off. Grasp one straw in each hand and dip in soap solution. Use a gentle wind as you walk to make BIG bubbles. Find air thermals (warm pockets of air) to take your bubbles up, up, UP!

Kid-In-A-Bubble. In a child's plastic swimming pool, pour your best bubble solution. Lay a hula hoop down, making sure there is enough bubble solution to just cover the hoop. Have your child stand in the pool (use a stool if you don't want to get your feet wet), and lift the hoop! For a more permanent project, use an old car tire sliced in half lengthwise (the hard way) to hold the bubble solution.

About the Author

As a teacher, homeschool science teacher, engineer and university instructor Aurora Lipper has been helping kids learn science for over a decade.

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Building Your Own Still - The Perfect Science Fair Project

by John Grant

If you are one who is searching for that perfect undertaking that will surely win the year's award for the best science fair project then don't look any further beyond constructing the simple still. For those who do not have any idea as to what a still is, it is an apparatus that is meant to distill, or separate, liquid mixtures by boiling since different liquids have different boiling points.

Before starting with the construction, it is important to note that building a still may lead one to run-ins with the law which makes it important for one to be knowledgeable of the regulations in one's area and to devote the project entirely for scientific and educational purposes.

To start the construction process of the still: the following materials are needed: a 4-gallon size copper boiler, a copper sheeting that is 18" in diameter, a copper pipe that is 36" long and 2" in diameter, a 24-inch copper tubing that is 1" in diameter, lead-free solder, glass thermometer, milk can made out of stainless steel, two reducing coupler that have the following dimensions: 1" x 1-1/2" and the other 1-1/2" x 2", an elbow joint that has a 1" diameter, a 3" nipple, 1" x 2-1/2" nipple, a large copper tub, 1-1/2" copper elbow pipe, copper coils, standard spigot faucet, any container that can be easily sealed, a siphon, an airlock, a rubber stopper, flour and water (a silicon kit can be used as an alternative), a connecting ring, yeast, a large amount of cold water, and the mixture to be fermented.

For the tools, one would need a holder gun, a drill, a saw, and a heat source.

To assemble the boiler, one would have to saw the copper boiler in half and lay on its open end the copper sheeting. Cut a piece from the sheeting that is 1 centimeter larger in diameter than the copper boiler's open end. Solder then the sheeting to the open end of the copper boiler. After this, place the boiler flat side down and drill a 2" hole on the boiler's top. Solder a connecting ring directly on top of this hole.

To construct the still's column, bore a hole on the top of the elbow connector that will be big enough for it to be soldered to the 3"-sized nipple. Soldering is also done to the 2" pipe to fasten it to the ring on top of the boiler. The elbow connector is in turn soldered to top of the pipe with the help of the 1 x 1-1/2" reducing coupler. Solder then the nipple in place after which the thermometer is inserted there and secured into place with the use of the silicon kit or flour and water. The elbow pipe is then soldered to the other coupler. The 1" elbow joint is then fastened with the end of the pipe in a way that makes the elbow point downward. This end is then soldered with the smaller nipple. The nipple is then soldered to the coiled copper tubing and the spigot is soldered into the drilled hole present on the side of the metal container. The heat source is then placed below the boiler.

Put the yeast and the fermented mixture in the container, which will be drilled with a hole just enough for a rubber stopper to make it sealed air-tight.

You are now ready to use the still. Constructing it may be a bit laborious but with the proper materials and a thorough adherence to the right steps of building it, the still is just the thing for that science fair competition.

About the Author

John Grant is a the author for a how to site where he is writing articles about how to build a still.

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