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BUILDING A WATER POWERED GENERATOR
V. Ryan © 2005 - 2009
 

Making a small water powered generator is quite an easy task. The parts are shown below and include a propeller (which can be homemade) and a cheap electrical motor (3 to 6v). The motor is held in a piece of wood shape to form a handle.

A multimeter is set to read volts and connected using crocodile clips to the positive and negative probes.

Spinning the propeller by hand is normally enough to produce 0.3 to 0.6 volts. This can clearly be seen on the multimeter.

If the homemade wind generator is placed in a flowing stream, it will start to generate a small amount of electricity
 

 
Try connecting the water powered generator to a bulb holder. If enough electricity is created the bulb should light. This is best seen at night.
Alternatively, connect it to an LED as this may require less electricity to shine brightly. The correct name for water powered generator is a ‘turbine’. Turbines are used in dams to produce electricity from the power of moving water - as water is released from the lake behind the dam.

QUESTIONS:
1. Build the water powered generator as shown above and test it. How many volts are produced ?
2. In order to light a 3 volt LED, how many generators will need to be connected together - to produce enough electrical current ?
   
 
   
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