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Thames & Kosmos Solar Mechanics Experiment Manual
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Thames & Kosmos Solar Mechanics Experiment Manual

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E X PE R I M E NT M A N UA L

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Summary of Contents for Thames & Kosmos Solar Mechanics

  • Page 1 E X PE R I M E NT M A N UA L...

  • Page 2: Safety Advice

    SAFETY ADVICE GENERAL ADVICE AND WARNINGS 1. Please read these instructions, follow the safety rules, and keep them for reference. We recommend you build the models in the order given. You will then be able to under- stand the way the parts connect together, and go on to cre- ate many more different models.
  • Page 3 IMPORTANT INFORMATION Dear Parents, WARNING! Solar power is an exciting, cutting-edge Not appropriate for use by technology, and it isn’t really all that children under 3 years of age. There is a hard to understand. This kit makes the danger of suffocation due to the possibili- science of solar power —...
  • Page 4 EQUIPMENT Checklist: Find – Inspect – Check off ✔ No. Name Qty. Large frame Square frame Long rod 5-hole rod 3-hole dual rod 11-hole flat rod 3-hole rod 90 degree converter - L 90 degree converter - R 10 Shaft pin 11 Joint pin 12 Anchor pin 13 Axle lock...
  • Page 5 CONTENTS Gearing Up: Transmissions Pages 4 to 9 The Models: Part 1 Pages 25 to 38 How to move mechanical energy from one place to Assemble solar powered another vehicles The Models: Part 2 Pages 39 to 56 Assemble other solar powered devices and machines ✔...
  • Page 6 Gearing Up: TRANSMISSIONS Transmissions allow you to move mechanical energy from one place to another. Your solar-powered models will depend heavily on transmissions to make their wheels and other components work. In this section, you will learn how the gears are used to make transmissions that either increase the speed of a wheel or increase the turning force of a wheel.

  • Page 7: You Will Need

    Gearing Up: Transmissions | EXPERIMENT 1 Gear test 1 YOU WILL NEED → 7 parts from the kit: 60 Teeth HERE’S HOW 1. Assemble the parts as shown. 20 Teeth 2. Slowly turn gear A one time around ex- actly, which is called one rotation. Care- fully observe gear B as you do this.
  • Page 8 EXPERIMENT 2 Gear test 2 問題： YOU WILL NEED → 7 parts from the kit: HERE’S HOW Answer A: The red gear turns 問題： counterclockwise. 問題： 1. Assemble the parts as shown to the right. 2. Before you do anything else, make a prediction: When you turn the big yellow gear clock- wise (as indicated by the blue arrow...
  • Page 9 Gearing Up: Transmissions | EXPERIMENT 3 Gear test 3 問題： YOU WILL NEED 問題： → 10 parts from the kit: HERE’S HOW Answer A: The blue gear turns coun- terclockwise and the yellow gear 問題： 1. Assemble the parts as shown on the turns clockwise.
  • Page 10 EXPERIMENT 4 Gear test 4 YOU WILL NEED → 14 parts from the kit: HERE’S HOW 1. Assemble the parts as shown. 2. Now make your prediction: When you turn the yellow gear clock- wise, in which direction will the blue gear turn? Answer A: clockwise...
  • Page 11 Gearing Up: Transmissions | CHECK IT OUT MACHINES INCREASING TORQUE In Experiment 1, your gear For something to be called a machine, it has to have train had a gear ratio of 1:3. a source of power and a way to transmit power from For every one rotation of the one place to another —...
  • Page 12 Powering Up: SOLAR CELLS To make the motor run, you need electricity supplied by the solar panel. In this chapter, you will conduct a series of experiments with a test car that will teach you how the solar panel works and under what conditions it works best.
  • Page 13 Powering Up: Solar Cells | EXPERIMENT 5 Build your test car YOU WILL NEED → 20 parts from the kit: HERE’S HOW 1. Assemble all the parts as shown, following each picture step by step. → → → →...
  • Page 14 EXPERIMENT 5 Build your test car The model will run better with a 1 mm gap between the gear and frame.

  • Page 15: Light Sources

    Powering Up: Solar Cells | EXPERIMENT 6 Light sources YOU WILL NEED → test car model → a sunny day → an overcast day → desk lamp with incandescent bulb → fluorescent lighting HERE’S HOW Test how well your solar motor unit powers your model car in the following light conditions.
  • Page 16 EXPERIMENT 7 Testing different light levels YOU WILL NEED → test car model → a sunny day or a desk lamp with incandescent bulb → small card (e.g. index card) HERE’S HOW 1. Put the test car outside in the sunlight or under a desk lamp so that the motor is running.
  • Page 17 Powering Up: Solar Cells | EXPERIMENT 8 Optimum tilt of the solar panel YOU WILL NEED → test car model → a sunny day, when the sun is high in the sky → small blocks of wood HERE’S HOW 1. Take the test car outside on a sunny day and prop it up on a block of wood so it doesn’t roll away.
  • Page 18 Solar Cell How Does a Work? A solar cell is a flat device that uses an elec- The phenomenon of electricity is nothing tronic material called a semiconductor to more than the movement of negatively convert photons, or particles of light ener- charged particles, called electrons, through gy, into electrical energy.
  • Page 19 Powering Up: Solar Cells | CHECK IT OUT → → p-n junction interesting happens: electrons are able to move from the n-type layer into the p-n junction p-type layer, but not from the p-type layer into the n-type layer. This area where the two layers meet is called the p-n junction.
  • Page 20 EXPERIMENT 9 Time trials YOU WILL NEED → test car model → tape measure or yard stick → chalk or tape → stopwatch or timer → area of smooth, flat ground outside on a sunny day HERE’S HOW 1. With your tape measure or yard stick, measure a distance along the smooth, flat ground and mark the start and end points with chalk or a piece of tape.
  • Page 21 Powering Up: Solar Cells | EXPERIMENT 9 Time trials Test car B HERE’S HOW IT CONTINUES 3. Now, switch the red and the blue gears on your test car to make a different ver- 4. Like you did before with test car A, use the sion of the car.
  • Page 22 EXPERIMENT 10 Torque over speed YOU WILL NEED → test car models A and B from Experiment 9 → tape measure or yard stick → large plank of wood, or sturdy piece of cardboard, or other flat panel Height (H) →...
  • Page 23 Powering Up: Solar Cells | CHECK IT OUT SPEED, TORQUE, AND NUMBER OF TEETH From the experiments so far, we have tionship. So, this means that torque and the learned that torque and turning speed number of gear teeth are directly have an inverse relationship in a gear proportional.

  • Page 24: Solar Energy

    Solar Energy Most of the energy we use comes from the sun, in one way or another. Even fossil fuels are just the remains of prehistoric plants and animals, which lived on and stored energy from the sun. With so- lar cells, we can turn the sun’s energy into electric- ity more directly than we can turn fossil fuels into electricity.
  • Page 25 Powering Up: Solar Cells | CHECK IT OUT THE ANGLE OF SOLAR RADIATION The sun is so far away from Earth, that the sun’s rays hit Earth in virtually parallel lines. So when the sun is directly overhead, its rays hit Earth perpendicular to the ground (at a 90° an- gle).
  • Page 26 | Powering Up: Solar Cells CHECK IT OUT History of Solar Cell A French physicist named Alexandre- Edmond Becquerel discovered the pho- tovoltaic effect in 1839. He showed that Technology light can affect electrical current in ma- terials. His experiment proved that metal electrodes immersed in acid pro- duce more electricity when they are placed in the sunlight.
  • Page 27 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work In this chapter, you will put your knowledge of transmissions and the solar panel to the test by building ten different solar-powered models that each use solar electricity in different ways.
  • Page 28 EXPERIMENT 11 Race car YOU WILL NEED → 22 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 29 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 11 Race car → → → → →...
  • Page 30 EXPERIMENT 11 Race car The model will run better with a 1 mm gap between the gear and frame. → → →...
  • Page 31 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 12 Motorcycle YOU WILL NEED → 22 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 32 EXPERIMENT 12 Motorcycle → → → → → →...
  • Page 33 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 12 Motorcycle The model will run better with a 1 mm gap between the gear and frame. → →...
  • Page 34 EXPERIMENT 13 Gyrocar YOU WILL NEED → 35 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 35 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 13 Gyrocar → → → → →...
  • Page 36 EXPERIMENT 13 Gyrocar The model will run better with 1 mm gaps between the gears and frames. → → →...
  • Page 37 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 14 Sports car YOU WILL NEED → 44 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 38 EXPERIMENT 14 Sports car → → → → → →...
  • Page 39 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 14 Sports car The model will run better with a 1 mm gap between the gear and frame. → →...
  • Page 40 CHECK IT OUT SOLAR VEHICLES IN THE REAL WORLD In solar vehicle design, weight surface area are two key factors: the lower the weight, the less power you need to move a vehicle — the greater the surface area, the more solar electricity you can produce.
  • Page 41 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 15 Excavator YOU WILL NEED → 44 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 42 EXPERIMENT 15 Excavator → → → → → →...
  • Page 43 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 15 Excavator The model will run better with a 1 mm gap between the gear and frame. Make sure this axle does not stick out through the gear. → →...

  • Page 44: Solar Fan

    EXPERIMENT 16 Solar fan YOU WILL NEED → 38 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 45 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 16 Solar fan → → → → →...
  • Page 46 EXPERIMENT 16 Solar fan Leave a good distance between the wheel and frame. → → →...
  • Page 47 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 17 Rotating plane YOU WILL NEED → 37 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 48 EXPERIMENT 17 Rotating plane → → → → → →...
  • Page 49 Kapitelüberschrift | EXPERIMENT 17 Rotating plane The small and medium gears must be meshing. → →...
  • Page 50 EXPERIMENT 18 Helicopter YOU WILL NEED → 35 parts from the kit: →...
  • Page 51 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 18 Helicopter → → → → → → →...
  • Page 52 EXPERIMENT 18 Helicopter Make sure there is a good distance between the small gear and the solar motor unit. → → →...
  • Page 53 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 19 Hammer machine YOU WILL NEED → 29 parts from the kit: → → →...
  • Page 54 EXPERIMENT 19 Hammer machine → → → → →...
  • Page 55 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 19 Hammer machine → → →...
  • Page 56 EXPERIMENT 20 Robot knight YOU WILL NEED → 44 parts from the kit: → →...
  • Page 57 The Models: Putting Your Solar Panel to Work | EXPERIMENT 20 Robot knight → → → → → →...
  • Page 58 EXPERIMENT 20 Robot knight Make sure the cams (shaft pins) are positioned in the medium gears as shown. → → →...
  • Page 60 The most important units of measure in physical science: The unit of length is the meter (1 m). → 1 m = 100 centimeters (cm) = 1,000 millimeters (mm) → 1,000 m = 1 kilometer (km) The unit of volume is the cubic meter (1 m →...