Construct a water wheel
Background information
A water wheel is a machine that is turned by water, like the flowing water in a stream.
The axle of the turning wheel can be attached to other machines to also make them do
work. This kind of power is called hydropower (which means powered by water).
No one is quite sure when water wheels were first invented, but they have been used
for hundreds of years. They were used to power machines that did work like crushing
rocks.
Today, we can produce electric power by using modern water wheels called ‘waterpowered turbines’. Like the old water wheels, these turbines are turned by flowing
water.
Old water wheels were made of large wooden or metal wheels that had paddles or
buckets arranged around the outside rim. The force or the weight of the water on the
paddles or buckets turned the wheel.
If you would like to construct a water wheel as an EngQuest project, why not ask your
teacher?
mill race
ore
A water wheel
stamping
battery
The inside of a water wheel
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