Does the angle of a wind turbine's blades change how much electricity it produces? Blade angle controls how much wind each blade catches. Too little angle and the blades barely spin. Too much and they stall.
You cut zinc-sheet blades and mount them into wooden blocks with slots cut at seven angles, from 0 to 90 degrees. Each block attaches to a DC motor. You place the turbine one meter from an industrial fan and read the voltage on a digital voltmeter.
The results show voltage rises steadily as the angle increases up to 75 degrees. At 75 degrees the turbine produces 0.95 volts. Beyond that angle the output drops back to zero.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the power generated by the wind turbine will vary depending on the angle at which the blades are positioned.
Wind turbines harvest renewable energy by using blade surfaces to capture kinetic energy from air that is endlessly replenished by atmospheric circulation. The angle of each blade determines how effectively it redirects wind force into rotation. In this experiment, voltage rises steadily as the angle increases up to 75 degrees, where the turbine produces its peak output of 0.95 volts.
A small tilt barely deflects airflow, so the blades spin weakly. As the angle increases, each blade catches more wind and the turbine spins harder — up to a point. Zinc-sheet blades mounted in wooden blocks at seven angles, from 0 to 90 degrees, showed voltage rising steadily as the angle increased. Output peaked at 75 degrees, reaching 0.95 volts on a digital voltmeter. Beyond that angle the blades stalled and voltage dropped back to zero.
Method & Materials
You will build a wind turbine with blades at different angles, measure the voltage generated, and observe how the angle affects the power output.
You will need a DC motor, a zinc sheet, scissors, wooden blocks, an electric hand drill, needle files, a protractor, screws, a screw driver, a digital voltmeter, and an industrial fan.
Eureka Crate — engineering & invention kits for ages 12+ — monthly projects that build real-world skills. (Affiliate link)
The results show that increasing the angle of the wind turbine blades up to 75° will increase the output voltage. Beyond 75° the output voltage will decrease. This proves that the power generated by the wind turbine does vary depending on the angle at which the blades are positioned.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it explores how to generate electricity from the wind in an environmentally friendly way.
Also Consider
Experiment variations include using blades of different sizes and varying the wind speed to observe any differences in the results.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
