Styro-Geyser: EF 151

By:

Chris Dunn, Alex Lewis, Michael Swift, John Mullen

Device Design

Basic Materials:PVC Piping

Electric Fan (disassembled)

Pine Wood

Copper Wiring

Light Switch

Various Screws, Nails, Pieces of Metal, Balls, and Miscellaneous Objects

Design OverviewThe device is instigated by a falling weight that is released from a hinged joint.

This weight hits a pair of scissors which cuts a string.

By cutting the string, a PVC pipe is released.

This PVC pipe swings forward, contacting a balanced weighted spool.

The spool accelerates down an inclined ramp striking a light switch, and flips the switch.

The light switch is connected to an electric fan with copper wiring.

The fan begins rotating and funnels air into a tall PVC pipe, causing a ping pong ball on the inside to elevate.

Stored Energy

Conservation of Energy:

Falling weightmweight gh = ½ mweightv2

Swinging PVCmPVCgh = ½ mPVCv2 + ½ IPVCω2

Moving Spoolmspoolgh + Win = ½ mspoolv2 + ½ Ispoolω2

Stored Energy Con’t

Center of Mass:

Balanced weighted spool

R = Σmspoolr/Σmspool

Torque:

Rotating PVC

Στ= Iα

Conservation of Linear Momentum

Rotating PVC strikes balanced spool

IPVCω = mspoolvr

Moving Spool contacts stationary light switch

mspool(Δvspool) = mswitch(Δvswitch)

Construction Issues

The primary obstacle stemmed from rewiring the fan so that the light switch would turn the fan on/off

This was solved by cutting and soldering copper wire to the fan and then wrapping it around the light switch to create a circuit.