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ashmmohan wrote:

Alex-RCHS wrote:There is no set list of terms you need to know for this event. I would worry more about learning the concepts that are in the rules.

I disagree. Every test almost always has something to do with terms...And half of the time you don't know what they're asking about in a question and need to flip to a 'glossary'. I find that having a list of definitions of different wind power terms is extremely helpful for this event.

That's true. What I meant is that there usually isn't a vocabulary section on wind power tests the way that there is in events like disease detectives.

I guess knowing terms is useful because you need to know what the questions are asking, but in my experience tests won't ask you to just define a term.

Alex-RCHS wrote:

ashmmohan wrote:

Alex-RCHS wrote:There is no set list of terms you need to know for this event. I would worry more about learning the concepts that are in the rules.

I disagree. Every test almost always has something to do with terms...And half of the time you don't know what they're asking about in a question and need to flip to a 'glossary'. I find that having a list of definitions of different wind power terms is extremely helpful for this event.

That's true. What I meant is that there usually isn't a vocabulary section on wind power tests the way that there is in events like disease detectives.

I guess knowing terms is useful because you need to know what the questions are asking, but in my experience tests won't ask you to just define a term.

Almost always, there is a free response question asking what a term is and what does it mean. For example, on the Golden Gate test, it asked what furling was and how it works, etc. A simple flip to the glossary helps answer questions like these with ease.

windu34 wrote:

Sasstiel wrote:

ashmmohan wrote: I disagree. Every test almost always has something to do with terms...And half of the time you don't know what they're asking about in a question and need to flip to a 'glossary'. I find that having a list of definitions of different wind power terms is extremely helpful for this event.

I have a list of all of the different forms of energy, some other ones that I can't think of right now, etc.

Your glossary will need to go WAY beyond just the different forms of energy...

Yeah. Knowing the different forms of energy is common knowledge, but knowing all of the terms relating to each form of energy is much more beneficial. A test will never ask what nuclear energy is, it would ask how a specific term works and ask you to explain it. On that note, however, they mainly only ask about wind power terms.

What kind of shapes are you using for your blades? We are using airfoil and we aren't getting past 600 mV no matter hwo much we change the design. Do we need to use a different material? Please respond quickly. We have states in less than a week.

tyasasvi wrote:What kind of shapes are you using for your blades? We are using airfoil and we aren't getting past 600 mV no matter hwo much we change the design. Do we need to use a different material? Please respond quickly. We have states in less than a week.

What material are you using now? If you haven't tested paper, balsa or basswood, give one of those a shot. Try changing blade shape if you haven't already.

Alex-RCHS wrote:

tyasasvi wrote:What kind of shapes are you using for your blades? We are using airfoil and we aren't getting past 600 mV no matter hwo much we change the design. Do we need to use a different material? Please respond quickly. We have states in less than a week.

What material are you using now? If you haven't tested paper, balsa or basswood, give one of those a shot. Try changing blade shape if you haven't already.

Also, do you mean 600 mV for high speed? With or without resistance? I would say that for Division C on high speed without resistance, it's not bad. For improving the design, what have you tried so far?

This year, are you allowed to tap the blades to get them going? In one of the invitationals I went to, the proctors let the competitors tap their blades. I thought you weren't allowed to, though?

Sakura Panda wrote:This year, are you allowed to tap the blades to get them going? In one of the invitationals I went to, the proctors let the competitors tap their blades. I thought you weren't allowed to, though?

As long as it's before the 30 second timing period starts it's fine.

I got 600mV on high speed with no resistance. However, we are only using 14 cm blades. Whenever we increase the blade length, it becomes slower. We are thinking it is because of the added weight longer blades bring to us, but I am hearing from other teams that the longer the blade the better. Can someone tell me if I should try longer blades or just keep it around 14 cm?

Also, I am in division B which means that our length could go to 20 cm.