Hello to all you brilliant enginerring minds out there!
Hi, my name is Melanie and I'm a 15 year old scientist-to-be. I have a bit of a problem that I've been trying to solve, and I'm not quite sure if its plausible, but it is very interesting nonetheless.
What I want to do is heat water to 65-70 degrees through friction. This is basically the main layout of my machine so far : I have two cans, one inside the other, and it is going to spin using the power of a metre long elastic band chain, on an axle. The elastic will be hooked to the ground or some other object (e.g. a tree), and the axle with the cans will be on some sort of easily built stand.
Does this idea sound plausible (heating water to an average of 70 degrees through friction) and are there any alternatives?
Ideas I've had so far include:
- Insulating the outside can (prevent heat loss)
- Adding in pebbles to increase friction
Is there anything else?
I have additional questions as well...
-On an axle rotated by an elastic band, is it more effective to have the band level with the axle or on a differnt level?
-Imagine the axle is being rotated in the centre by the rubber band. There are two cans on either side of it, being spun. If I was to enlarge the diameter of the part of the axle being rotated by the elastic, what would the benefits be?
-How can I make this design more efficient?
One of my goals with this project is to make it out of recycled and supercheap materials (e.g. old wooden sticks, elastics, old coffee cans), so please keep that in mind :)
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