Re: [Phys-L] 9th grade energy resource projects

[Richard Tarara <rtarara@saintmarys.edu>]

Against the general trends of this list, for almost all students up to 
their second year in a science or engineering major, I would suggest 
religious adherence to the KISS principle!

However, I do remember my Schwinn Traveler (circa 1954) which had a 
generator to power a headlight and tail light.  You clicked the thing 
into place and a small diameter ridged wheel turned against the tire.  
It was 'painfully' clear that it took more effort to move the bike with 
the generator in place and also clear that the faster you went the 
brighter the light.  [Probably the reason these things went out of favor 
since you had no light when stopped and very dim at low speed.  Not much 
of a safety device...but then it was the 50s where I remember sitting on 
my Dad's lap thinking I was steering the car as we drove down the street.]

Rick

On 12/13/2014 12:41 PM, Dan Beeker wrote:
> As far as making useful measurements, as John Denker says, it is probably not the best way to learn the relationships between torque, power, rpm etc. First, it is very difficult to maintain constant torque using foot pedals. I would find other ways to teach rotational parameters then use the bicycle generator as an example of how simple(?) physics makes analysis of more complicated systems possible. Like many real world things, if you can show the physical principles and tackle the complications of something people have an actual interest in, it makes physics more relevant and certainly makes our jobs as teachers much easier .
>
> Dan
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Richard Tarara
Professor Emeritus
Saint Mary's College

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