PHYSICS -

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
2015-2016

DONE
BY:-
A.S.Vignesh & R.Rishi Kumar
XI ‘A’
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to
my teachers Mrs.Nalini and Mrs.Sowmya as well as our
principal Mrs.Ramya Ramanan who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the “WATER
WHEEL”, which also helped me in doing a lot of
research and I came to know about so many new things
I am really thankful to them.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and

friends who helped us in finalizing this project within
the limited time frame.
 CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HISTORY
3. WORKING PRINCIPLE
4. TYPES
5. EFFICIENCY
6. AN EXPERIMENTAL
WATER WHEEL
7. ADVANTAGES OF THE
WATER WHEEL
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
WATER WHEEL
1. INTRODUCTION
The discovery of electricity is one of the greatest
achievements of man. Its use has made our lives so
comfortable that, today, scientists in all countries are trying
their utmost to use it more and more for all purposes.

Electricity has helped to remove darkness and increase

human activity. Powerful lights are used in factories,
schools, hospitals and in all other dark places where men
have to work for the benefit of others or for themselves. Men
are able to get anywhere even in the darkest of nights.

Electricity has also enabled men to increase the production

of their goods. Huge machines are operated in large
factories with the help of electricity for the manufacture of
useful goods. These machines work ceaselessly and
produce enormous quantities of goods, which are
distributed throughout the world, for the comfort of people
in all parts of the earth.

Even to transport goods and people to the remotest regions

of the earth, electricity is extremely useful. Land, air and
sea transport are all assisted by the use of electricity.
People can now travel in great comfort and ease for
business or pleasure to any part of the world. In the same
way, goods can be sent to all the corners of the earth with
the greatest of ease.

Electricity is even used for the treatment of some people

who suffer from peculiar diseases. In short, the use of
electricity has changed the lives of men to such an extent
that life without it is almost unthinkable.
In India, the demand for electricity has always been
more than the supply. The current power
infrastructure in India is not capable of providing
sufficient and reliable power supply. Some 400
million people have zero access to electricity since
the grid does not reach their areas. Another problem
is unstable power supply.
BUT THERE IS A VERY GOOD ALTERNATIVE
FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY AT ZERO COST

WITH THE HELP OF THE WATER WHEEL….

A water wheel is a machine for converting the
energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful
forms of power, often in a watermill.
A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal
wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged
on the outside rim forming the driving surface. Most
commonly, the wheel is mounted vertically on a
horizontal axle, but the tub or Norse wheel is
mounted horizontally on a vertical shaft. Vertical
wheels can transmit power either through the axle or
via a ring gear and typically drive belts or gears;
horizontal wheels usually directly drive their load.

2. HISTORY
Historians are not sure when water wheels were first
used, but it is known that they were in use in ancient
Greece several centuries BC (Before Christ). They were
also widely used in the Roman Empire, including for the
pumping of water from mines. It is also thought that
water wheels were developed separately in ancient
China, where they are known from the first century AD.

Water wheels were used throughout Europe during the

middle Ages, where they were the main source of
power for driving large machines. Water wheels drove
the mills that ground grain into flour, and were also
used in metal foundries and to drive air blowers for the
smelting of iron, for the crushing of rock, and for the
hammering of flax leaves to make paper.

The use of water wheels was limited to sites where

there were suitable water supplies and slopes. This was
not always where the power was needed, such as in
the population centres or the mines and quarries. The
use of water wheels to power large machines was
replaced during the Industrial Revolution by the new
technology of steam power, which did not have the
same limitations.

The water wheel principle has been revived in more

recent times as water-powered turbines that use the
energy of water flowing down a slope to generate
hydroelectricity.

The Romans used water wheels extensively

in mining projects. They were reverse overshot water
wheel designed for dewatering deep underground
mines. Several such devices were described
by Vitruvius. The one found during modern mining at
the copper mines at Rio Tinto in Spain involved 16 such
wheels stacked above one another so as to lift water
about 80 feet (24 m) from the mine sump. Part of a
similar wheel dated to about 90 AD, was found in the
1930s, at Dolaucothi, a Roman gold mine in
South Wales.
Schematic representation of the roman water wheel…

The early history of the watermill in India is obscure.

Ancient Indian texts dating back to the 4th century BC
refer to the term cakkavattaka (turning wheel), which
commentaries explain as arahatta-ghati-yanta (machine
with wheel-pots attached). On this basis, Joseph
Needham suggested that the machine was a noria. Terry
S. Reynolds, however, argues that the "term used in
Indian texts is ambiguous and does not clearly indicate a
water-powered device." Thorkild Schiøler argued that it is
"more likely that these passages refer to some type of
tread- or hand-operated water-lifting device, instead of a
water-powered water-lifting wheel.

3. WORKING PRINCIPLE
Water wheels consist of large wooden or metal
wheels which have paddles or buckets arranged
around the outside rim. The force or the weight
of the water on the paddles or buckets turns the
wheel.

The axle of the wheel also turns, and this is used

to drive the machine by way of belts or gears.
The flowing channel of water is called a ‘mill
race’. The race that brings the water from the
‘mill pond’ to the wheel is called the ‘head race’
and the channel that carries the water away is
the ‘tail race’.

4. TYPES
There are three basic types of waterwheels, each
with its own advantages and disadvantages. Each
type has been in use since at least Roman times,
and remained remarkably stable from AD500 to
the mid-1700s, when a new type, turbines, began
displacing them, but their heyday is beyond the
time period of this lesson.
The three types of waterwheels are the horizontal
waterwheel, the undershot vertical waterwheel,
and the overshot vertical waterwheel. For
simplicity they are simply known as the horizontal,
undershot, and overshot wheels.
The horizontal waterwheel is the only one that rotates
around a vertical axle. The undershot and overshot
waterwheels rotate around a horizontal axle, like a car
tire, but as you can see, receive their driving force from
the water at the bottom and top, respectively.

5. EFFICIENCY
Overshot (and particularly backshot) wheels are the most
efficient type; a backshot steel wheel can be more
efficient (about 60%) than all but the most advanced and
well-constructed turbines. In some situations an overshot
wheel is preferable to a turbine.[52]

The development of the hydraulic turbine wheels with

their improved efficiency (>67%) opened up an
alternative path for the installation of water wheels in
existing mills, or redevelopment of abandoned mills.

Power calculations
In an undershot wheel or a run of the river wheel the power is dependant to the kinetic energy of the
river. Approximate power can be calculated.

Power in Watts= 100 × A × V3 ×C

A = Area of paddles in the water (square meters)

V = Velocity of the stream in meters per second
C = Efficiency Constant (assume 1 for a water to wire efficiency of 20%)
Rotational speed of the wheel = 9 × V /D rpm

D = diameter in metres

For a breast shot or over shot wheel both potential energy and kinetic energy must be
considered. This takes the form of the weight of water in the buckets and the vertical
distance travelled. A rule of thumb formula is

Power in Watts = 4 × Q × H × C

Q = Weight of water (volume per sec x capacity of the buckets)

V = Velocity of the stream in meters per second
H = Head, or height difference of water between the lip of the flume (head race) and the
tailrace
C = Efficiency Constant

The optimal rotational speed of a breast shot or overshot wheel is approximately:

Rotational speed of the wheel= 21/ √D

D = diameter of the wheel in metres

A medium size water wheel electric generator can provide

enough electricity for one house (3 bulbs, one TV and
one radio all running at the same time). Not only you will
no longer dependent on the power grid, but you’ll have
electricity when SHTF and more important: absolutely
FREE. Unlike solar panels, a water wheel electric
generator can produce electricity 24/7.
 6. AN EXPERIMENTAL WATER WHEEL
Hydropower is mechanical energy that is generated
by using the motion of water caused by gravity.
Hydropower is one of the oldest forms of energy and has
been used by humans since 4000 BC! By learning how to
make a water wheel with a handful of household
materials, we too can harness, or capture, different
amounts of water to generate our own power.
PROJECT MADE BY US: - THE WATER WHEEL

Materials Required:-

1. Paper plate

2. Wooden Stick

3. Tub/Tray

4. Artificial fan

5. Water

6. Water Applicator
Syringe for applying water with greater
force… Use a big one for more water…

Procedure:-

1. Cut the edges of the paper plate to form a structure as

shown in the picture above…

2. Peirce a hole in the middle and pass the wooden stick

through it…

3. Attach a fan in any one side of the wooden stick…

4. Keep the made structure in the tray…

5. Fill the syringe with water…

6. Press the syringe and pour the water at the water

wheels edges…

7. This makes the wheel to rotate…

8. And the fan rotates…

[Note: Instead of the fan, if we use an electric generator, Electricity
will be produced]

Observation:-

As we pour the water in the wheel’s edges the wheel

starts to rotate and hence the fan also rotates…

Result:-

Therefore we have made a working model of the WATER

WHEEL.

7. ADVANTAGES OF THE WATER WHEEL

 It is a renewable source of resource.
 Causes no pollution.
 Eco friendly.
 Conservation of Electrical energy.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://www.alternativeenergysourcesinfo.com/water-
wheel-pumps.html

2. www.google.co.in/images

3. http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/water-
produce-energy/

4. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Water-Wheel

5. www.waterwheelplace.com/water_wheel_electricity.html
6. www.british-hydro.org/waterwheels.html
7. www.engr.psu.edu/mtah/essays/threetypes_waterwheels.htm
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_wheel
9. www.youtube.com
10. www.ehow.com/water_wheel/Making?=/
11. www.google.co.in
12. www.creative-science.org.uk
13. www.pixshark.com/1w12scdas?=water+wheel.htm
14. www.news.bbc.co.uk
15. www.allhistory.com/waterwheel
16. www.govtind.com/hydropower/water _wheel.htm