Solar Water Heater
The Main Idea
For the solar water heater project, we were given parameters and examples. From there, it was all on us. My group decided we were going to put the copper piping in an "S" shape in a cardboard box insulated with newspapers and covered with reflective material. The top was attached to a tube and a funnel which the water went in and at the bottom was another plastic tube which we capped.
The Way it Works
Our idea was to keep the water in to heat it efficiently, rather than cycling through. We would pour water through the top end and keep it in for about 5 minutes. Next we would drain it into a thermos and keep it warm.
The Facts
-we heated up 140 mL
-the heat increased by a total of 8 degrees celcius
-we got about 5,000 J as our heat "thingie"
Problems & Solutions
A few problems we ran into were:
1. The caulk seal didn't hold so on our test day our project was leaking quite a bit, which we fixed by Hunter having to hold the end.
2. The copper was really hard to bend without it creasing and we solved this by finding a pre-bent piece that was in the "S" shape we wanted.
The Way it Works
Our idea was to keep the water in to heat it efficiently, rather than cycling through. We would pour water through the top end and keep it in for about 5 minutes. Next we would drain it into a thermos and keep it warm.
The Facts
-we heated up 140 mL
-the heat increased by a total of 8 degrees celcius
-we got about 5,000 J as our heat "thingie"
Problems & Solutions
A few problems we ran into were:
1. The caulk seal didn't hold so on our test day our project was leaking quite a bit, which we fixed by Hunter having to hold the end.
2. The copper was really hard to bend without it creasing and we solved this by finding a pre-bent piece that was in the "S" shape we wanted.