Im writing a zombie novel in which some kids and their science teacher are baracaded inside the school. he wants to take their mind off of the apocholypse, so he shows them how to make a small hand-powered DC generator out of regular objects, but first, i need to know HOW to make one, so he can describe it to them. keep in mind that the kids are fifteen to sixteen, scared, and hungry, so please explain it simply, and please dont nitpick this question. just tell me how to make the generator in specific step by step instructions, and in layman terms.
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To make a generator, you need to create a magnetic field that moves relative to a conductor. (I'll spare you the details.)
An easy way to do that with everyday materials is, find a magnet. You can use a refrigerator magnet if you want, but a stronger magnet will be better. Maybe take one out of the PA system speaker.
Now, that magnet will probably be a shaped like a disc. The flat sides of the disc are the north and south ends. If you imagine the magnetic field as little lines, you'll have sort of a donut shape around the disc, with lines coming out of one face, looping around the side, and going back into the other face. You want that magnetic field to change.
So, attach the magnet to a shaft, so you can spin it. Now, you don't want the magnet to spin like a CD, because the strength of the magnetic field at any point wouldn't be changing. You want it to spin like when you spin a coin, on its edge, so if you have one face of the disc up, a half spin would make the other face up. That would mean you've flip flopped the north and south directions, and thus changed the strength of the magnetic field that would be felt at a fixed point.
Now, you need a conductor for that magnetic field to move relative to. The longer you can make it in the changing magnetic field, the better. So, that means you want a lot of loops. Get a sheet of heavy construction paper, and make a cylinder that is just big enough to let the magnet to spin inside. The closer you can make it, the better, because the amount the magnetic field changes will be dependent on how close you are to the magnet. Now, you need that conductor. That means a thin wire. Where can you get thin wire? Well, how about from inside of an ethernet cable? You can probably pull that out of the ceiling. The nice thing about using the ethernet cable is, you have thin wires that are insulated. You want them to be insulated because when you coil them, they'll touch, which means you'd have an electrical path through the point where they touch, rather than going around the loop, effectively making your conductor much shorter (that's where the term "short" circuit comes from).
So, hook up the ends of the coiled wire to whatever you want to power. A light bulb, or a radio, maybe. Then, turn the magnet inside the coil, and voila! Electrical power!
I hope that helps!
An easy way to do that with everyday materials is, find a magnet. You can use a refrigerator magnet if you want, but a stronger magnet will be better. Maybe take one out of the PA system speaker.
Now, that magnet will probably be a shaped like a disc. The flat sides of the disc are the north and south ends. If you imagine the magnetic field as little lines, you'll have sort of a donut shape around the disc, with lines coming out of one face, looping around the side, and going back into the other face. You want that magnetic field to change.
So, attach the magnet to a shaft, so you can spin it. Now, you don't want the magnet to spin like a CD, because the strength of the magnetic field at any point wouldn't be changing. You want it to spin like when you spin a coin, on its edge, so if you have one face of the disc up, a half spin would make the other face up. That would mean you've flip flopped the north and south directions, and thus changed the strength of the magnetic field that would be felt at a fixed point.
Now, you need a conductor for that magnetic field to move relative to. The longer you can make it in the changing magnetic field, the better. So, that means you want a lot of loops. Get a sheet of heavy construction paper, and make a cylinder that is just big enough to let the magnet to spin inside. The closer you can make it, the better, because the amount the magnetic field changes will be dependent on how close you are to the magnet. Now, you need that conductor. That means a thin wire. Where can you get thin wire? Well, how about from inside of an ethernet cable? You can probably pull that out of the ceiling. The nice thing about using the ethernet cable is, you have thin wires that are insulated. You want them to be insulated because when you coil them, they'll touch, which means you'd have an electrical path through the point where they touch, rather than going around the loop, effectively making your conductor much shorter (that's where the term "short" circuit comes from).
So, hook up the ends of the coiled wire to whatever you want to power. A light bulb, or a radio, maybe. Then, turn the magnet inside the coil, and voila! Electrical power!
I hope that helps!
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Hopefully it's enough to make it through the zombie apocalypse!
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Any DC motor from, for example toys) can be used as a generator. It is quite simple, you do not have to do anything! Pick a toy (for example a car) and move the wheels (rotate). If you connect a lamp where originally are the batteries, you will see that the lamp will light, indicating that electricity is generated.