Question by Eleven: Heating using Solar & Wind Energy + Insulation?
I need help with a school project, and the guidelines are the following:
“For this assignment you are to use recycled materials to create an apparatus that will heat 500 mL of water. You do not need to boil the water, but simply raise the temperature from its starting temperature. This must be achieved through solar or wind powered heating”.
My teacher has mentioned terms such as HVAC, and suggestions such as colouring it in thick black paint, and using newspaper as a recycled heater method.
I was wondering if anyone could help me or throw some detailed suggestions on how I can achieve this with a budget and recycled material (wood, etc). So far, I’ve got this:
* For Insulation I am using a thermos, but this will not allow the “black + newspaper” idea to work, since a thermos won’t allow heat in
* For heat generation, I am trying to get wind to transfer off force to rub wood against sandpaper, and the sandpaper will generate heat to heat the water.
Best answer:
Answer by John D
The simplest idea is to paint a cardboard box flat black and place the water in a heat-proof container (a metal pot) inside the box.
A more complicated idea is to bend a sheet of cardboard into a parabola. Coat the surface with a piece of shiny metal (such as aluminum foil). Aim it at the sun and at the line of focus you’ll have a couple of hundred degrees F. A long, skinny trough of water placed along the focus line will be the hottest in your class.
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