You could also take your anemometer to different locations, such as an open field, a narrow passageway, a beach by the ocean or a large lake, if you live near one, to measure and compare the wind speed in those places. Extra: What is the speed of the wind outside? You can take your anemometer outside on a windy day or over multiple days to measure the wind speed.Why do you think a faster wind makes the anemometer spin faster?.How did the rpm change when you held the anemometer in front of the fan at a slow speed compared with a faster speed? Compared with the faster speed, do you think the rpm would be greater if you used your anemometer outside on a very windy day? Repeat this while keeping the fan at the same distance, but changing its speed. This number will be in revolutions per minute (rpm). Extra: If you have a fan that turns at different speeds, hold the anemometer in front of the fan and count the number of times one cup completely turns around for 15 seconds, then multiply that value by four.
How did blowing harder change how the anemometer turns? (If you feel light-headed or dizzy, stop and take a breather.) While sitting down, try blowing very gently straight into one of the four open cups for a few seconds, then blow harder. The anemometer is now ready to measure wind speeds.Push the pencil through the hole in the bottom of the five-hole cup, eraser-end first, until it reaches the straws.Why do you think it is important to use something as small as a pin for this? After making sure all cups are about the same distance from the center of the five-hole cup, carefully push the pin through the two straws where they intersect, in the middle of the five-hole cup.Staple the ends of the straws to the side of each cup like you did for the first two cups. Turn the new cups so all the bottoms of the cups face the same direction. Push the empty ends of each straw protruding from the fifth cup into the other two single-hole cups until about one inch of the straw is inside each cup.Why do you think the cups should face the same direction? Turn the cups so that they face the same direction. Push the empty end of each straw into one of the side holes in the five-hole cup and out the one across from it.Repeat this with another single-hole cup and straw. Make sure the straw is horizontal and staple it to the side of the cup. Take a single-hole cup and push a straw through the hole until about one inch of the straw is inside the cup.Also punch one hole in the center of the bottom. For the fifth cup, punch four equally spaced holes in its sides, about one quarter an inch below the rim.Prepare four cups this way: Punch one hole in the side of each cup, about one half an inch below the rim.Five three-ounce paper cups (such as Dixie Cups).Consequently, faster wind will result in a higher rpm than will a slower air movement. How fast the cups revolve can be measured in revolutions per minute (rpm), or how many times one cup returns to the position where it started in one minute. When wind pushes the cups on the anemometer, they spin around the central axis. This movement of air from a higher pressure area to a relatively lower pressure area is what generates wind. In comparison, cold air is made of more tightly packed molecules, and so it is denser and has relatively higher pressure.īecause air pressures are inclined to balance out, when there is an area of relatively lower air pressure, the surrounding air in higher pressure areas moves in. This also means that the air has a lower overall pressure. Consequently, when air is heated, its molecules move faster and become spaced farther apart, which makes the air less dense (meaning that there are fewer molecules in a given volume). When molecules are heated, they move faster. How fast will your homemade anemometer whirl?Īir is made up of tiny molecules. The faster the wind, the faster the cups spin the axis. When wind pushes into the cups, they rotate the axis.
Each cup is attached to the end of a horizontal arm, each of which is mounted on a central axis, like spokes on a wheel. The speed of that wind can be measured using a tool called an anemometer.Īn anemometer looks like a weather vane, but instead of measuring which direction the wind is blowing with pointers, it has four cups so that it can more accurately measure wind speed. And just as air flows out of the high-pressure inside an inflated balloon if the opening is not tied, air in the atmosphere will move to a lower pressure area, creating wind.
Air travels from areas of higher pressure to places where there is less pressure. Have you ever wondered how wind is made? Wind is caused by a difference in air pressure.