The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget
http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
“For the past 80 years, a noisy, dirty diesel generator...has supplied electric power for Block Island's thousand residents off Rhode Island. Now that generator could be turned off courtesy of Deepwater Wind’s five 6-megawatt turbines, which spun into commercial operation just off the coast [on 12/12/2016]…The project will completely power Block Island, with excess energy transmitted by undersea cable to the mainland.”
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/united-states-first-offshore-wind-farm-powers
“The Block Island Wind Farm is located off the cost of Rhode Island and is a 30 megawatt, five turbine installation. A submarine transmission cable system is linking the energy produced by the wind farm to the grid, offshore developer Deepwater Wind said on Monday.”
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/13/americas-first-offshore-wind-farm-is-up-and-running.html
“By global standards, the Block Island Wind Farm is a tiny project, just five turbines capable of powering about 17,000 homes. Yet many people are hoping its completion, with the final blade bolted into place at the end of last week, will mark the start of a new American industry, one that could eventually make a huge contribution to reducing the nation’s climate-changing pollution.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/science/americas-first-offshore-wind-farm-may-power-up-a-new-industry.html?_r=0
“Forty percent of Denmark's energy comes from wind electricity, and England's impressive offshore London Array can generate 630 MW of electricity. China's largest offshore wind farm can generate 202 MW. Comparatively, Block Island will only 30 MW, meant to service the tiny island of a thousand people and the tourists who flock there for a 4th of July parade in the summer.”
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a24273/americas-first-offshore-wind-farm-set-to-open/
“Tens of thousands of wind turbines already dot Texas, Iowa and other states, accounting for about 5 percent of the nation’s energy generation. Building these structures on land is cheaper and simpler, but the ocean provides stronger and more reliable winds, and the larger turbines there can, in theory, harness vast amounts of energy.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-nations-first-offshore-wind-farm-is-ready-to-go-despite-critics-blow-back/2016/08/27/7a43c6d6-693f-11e6-99bf-f0cf3a6449a6_story.html?utm_term=.6d2ed99bbe50
Here is a 2 minute NBC news report from 11/13/2016 that presents the pros and cons of the offshore wind farm in Block Island, Rhode Island:
http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/nations-first-offshore-wind-farm-to-debut-808053827597
From the website of the company headlining this project:
“Deepwater Wind is proud to be America’s leading offshore wind developer. The company’s path breaking Block Island Wind Farm is the first in the nation. Led by a veteran management team with experience in developing complex energy projects worldwide, Deepwater Wind is making offshore wind in America a reality.
Headquartered in Providence, RI, we are actively planning offshore wind projects to serve multiple East Coast markets located 15 or more miles offshore, including New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and New Jersey.”
http://dwwind.com/about/
A similar project called “Cape Wind” was being developed in Massachusetts:
https://www.capewind.org/
“Cape Wind, a 130-turbine offshore wind farm planned five miles to the north off the coast of Massachusetts, was supposed to be the first in the country. That project was proposed in 2001 ― but for numerous reasons, has never actually gotten started and probably never will. Cape Wind’s struggles provided an instructive example of what not to do for Deepwater Wind, the Providence-based developer behind Block Island farm.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/deepwater-offshore-wind-farm_us_581a311fe4b0c43e6c1d9715
Here is a longer, 10-minute report by PBS providing a detailed presentation of the Block Island wind farm opening:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/u-s-builds-first-offshore-wind-plant/
How does the motion energy (such as a windmill turning) get converted into electrical energy?
“If a coil of wire is placed in a changing magnetic field, a current will be induced in the wire. This current flows because something is producing an electric field that forces the charges around the wire. (It cannot be the magnetic force since the charges are not initially moving). This "something" is called an electromotive force, or emf, even though it is not a force. Instead, emf is like the voltage provided by a battery. A changing magnetic field through a coil of wire therefore must induce an emf in the coil which in turn causes current to flow.”
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/phys/ScIT/InformationStorage/faraday/magnetism_a.html
“In an [alternating current] AC generator, the direction in which charge flows depends upon the direction in which the magnet moves in relation to the coil. Because generators use a rotating electromagnet, the poles of the electromagnet alternate between moving toward and moving away from themagnet. The result is a current that reverses with each half-rotation of the coil.”
http://www.classzone.com/science_book/mls_grade7_FL/427_431.pdf
My super-simple explanation of the conversion of motion energy to electrical energy is:
When a magnet is moved perpendicularly through a loop of wire, a motion of electrons is observed (electricity). An electric generator is a back and forth motion through the wire loop that produces an alternating current (AC) that is available for use.
This is an interesting development of the United States expanding its exploration of renewable energy sources.
Talking about energy, past blog posts that would be useful:
03/02/2014 Heating and Cooling Curves
03/05/2014 Heat and Energy
03/30/2014 Reaction Rates (includes Potential Energy
Diagram video & worksheets)
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.
Have a great weekend!