Science Project on “Reducing Power Supply”, Project Experiment Topics on Energy in Different Forms for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students.

Reducing Power Supply

Materials Required:

1. 3 ‘D’ flashlight batteries
2. Insulated jumper leads, with alligator clips on both ends
3. Modelling clay
4. Small board
5. Two flashlight bulbs (3 volts)

The demand for electricity keeps changing under different circumstances. However, what will happen if a 10 mega-watt power plant tries to give out more energy than its full capacity? Power companies, therefore, decide to regulate demand, by lowering the voltage to meet the demands of all the consumers.

This situation is called a “brown Out”. When an increase for electric energy goes out, power companies reduce the voltage by 5-15%, which is not even noticed by the consumers.

However, if things get wildly out of hand, the power plant has to shut off electric supply in some areas, for a little while, so that people are inconvenienced only for a short amount of time. This situation is called a “rolling brownout”.

If motors run for a long time on lower voltage, then there always runs the risk of damaging them. The motor will start drawing more electricity.

This will cause the wires inside the motor to heat up, thereby destroying the motor.

To correctly understand the functioning of a brownout, take some modeling clay and make a base to hold two 1.5 volt ‘D’ flashlight batteries together.

The base should be a cardboard base and the batteries should be placed in such a manner that the positive node of one should be touching the negative end of the other, so to say that the batteries should be in “series” with each other. Now the total voltage offered by the batteries amounts to 3 volts.

Clip one end of the insulated jumper lead to the small tip of a flashlight bulb and another juniper lead to the wide metal base of the same bulb.

The other ends of the batteries should be attached to the battery ends.

After you have tested this out, make another such setup with only one battery. Compare the brightness of both the bulbs after you have finished!

Working of A Battery

In industries and in homes, electricity is used for practically everything. An electric current is nothing but the flow of an electric charge which can be produced from controlled chemicals inside a battery or generated otherwise in a power station.

When a power source for an electric current is not available, a battery may be used. There are two metal parts within a battery. Both of them contain a special chemical. If the battery is connected or linked to an electrical gadget, these chemicals, within the battery, begin reacting with one another and the reactions produce charged particles. At one end of the battery all negative charges are collected while at the other end, all the positive charges gather together. Once the two sides of the battery are connected to an appliance with the help of wires, the charges begin to flow into the appliance from the positive end of the battery and return towards the negative end of the battery.