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Manual Turbine Experiments

The word "turbine" originally referred to a rotating device that used the motion of water to produce power. Turbines gradually involved a variety of different devices that use rotation to produce power from several sources. There are turbines that get power from wind, and others use steam. Some generators using a hand crank to produce power. Because they use rotational motion to generate power, they are loosely referred to as "manual turbines," though "manual generators" is also accurate. These manual turbines are handy for camping and emergency situations. They also serve as an excellent teaching tool for the general principles of turbine operation.

Types
- There are two ways to use rotational motion to produce electricity. One has a coil of wire being spun inside a stationary magnetic field. The other uses a spinning magnet inside a stationary coil of wire.
Basic Principles Experiments
- Learn about the basic principles of electricity and magnetism by building a miniature hand-cranked turbine. To make a this turbine, start with a small box, a lot of wire to make a coil out of, a crank handle, some magnets and small light bulb. Rotate the handle faster or slower, and watch how the light bulb brightens and dims. Vary the number of loops in the coil, or the number of magnets on the crank shaft, and study the effects these changes have on the amount of electricity that is produced. This experiment demonstrates Faraday's Law, which is the basis for all modern electric turbines and generators.
Conservation of Energy
- Manual turbine experiments also show the conservation of energy. Crank a manual turbine while it isn't hooked up to anything. Then connect to a light bulb and try turning it again. The extra resistance you feel when the bulb is connected comes from the power you have to supply to get the light bulb to light. This resistance is over and above the friction resistance from the turbine itself.
Wire Gauge and Current
- Construct a few different manual turbines using different gauges of wire for the coils. The thicker the wire is, the less resistance it has. The less resistance it has, the greater the current that flows through. However, thicker wire also means that the coil is thicker, leaving parts of it further from the magnets. This decreases the current. Experiment with different configurations to find the optimal design.

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