Building a Stirling Engine
During the building of the Stirling engine and flaming gel, we used a series of chemistry and engineering principles that helped us build our engine. Both parts of our project were made through a trial and error system that helped us dial in what parts worked well and what parts didn't. For our flaming gel, when it didn't work initially, we conducted tests that eliminated each variable until we found a mixture that resembled more of a solid than the liquid that did not ignite. We found that the salt that was in the mixture was doing something to the solution that was making it a liquid when the alcohol was poured onto the beginnings of the gel. Eventually after weeding out the substances that made our gel fail to ignite we found a mixture that worked. This consisted of Calcium Acetate (CH3COO)2Ca, and Ethyl Alcohol 2 (CH3CH2OH ). These two chemical compounds created a gelatin that is long lasting, easy to bur, and safe to cook foods with. This mixture that we created was used to cook marshmallows in our project.
In the building process of our Stirling Engine we focused on four main points of the building. The heating source that provided the thermal energy for our engine, the actual engine chamber that converted the thermal energy to mechanical energy, the crankshaft that turned the motor (mechanical to electrical energy), and the motor to the LED (electrical to light/heat energy). Each step in the process was broken down and made as efficient as possible in the time we were given. Like our flaming gel, we used trial and error to try and perfect our device through testing. The Stirling Engine is an engine that starts through the rising and falling of air temperatures. As the air temperature rises, the stopper and the piston rise along with the air. As the air cools and the particles condense the stopper is pushed down with the particles in a continuous process all with the heat source underneath the engine chamber. These types of engines were never really put to use throughout history due to the steam engine's invention around the same time as the invention the Stirling Engine. Our end goal in the project was to light an LED with our Stirling Engine through a 4 step process that combined our knowledge of engineering and chemistry.
In the building process of our Stirling Engine we focused on four main points of the building. The heating source that provided the thermal energy for our engine, the actual engine chamber that converted the thermal energy to mechanical energy, the crankshaft that turned the motor (mechanical to electrical energy), and the motor to the LED (electrical to light/heat energy). Each step in the process was broken down and made as efficient as possible in the time we were given. Like our flaming gel, we used trial and error to try and perfect our device through testing. The Stirling Engine is an engine that starts through the rising and falling of air temperatures. As the air temperature rises, the stopper and the piston rise along with the air. As the air cools and the particles condense the stopper is pushed down with the particles in a continuous process all with the heat source underneath the engine chamber. These types of engines were never really put to use throughout history due to the steam engine's invention around the same time as the invention the Stirling Engine. Our end goal in the project was to light an LED with our Stirling Engine through a 4 step process that combined our knowledge of engineering and chemistry.
Molecular Blueprint |
Flaming Snowball |
Stirling Engine
Proof of Efficacy Document
Google Slides Presentation
Reflection
There were many positives that I can build off of from this project and some negatives that I can learn from and improve on in the future. One positive from this project were the leadership and team work skills that I gained. The more time that we get to work together and collaborate to accomplish a goal the more trained we will be to work together in the future. Future jobs will take creativity and teamwork to accomplish tasks that can need to be worked on right now in the classroom. Another positive I got from this experiment was my expanded knowledge in chemistry and other how compounds react together. By creating the flaming gel through Calcium Acetate and Ethyl Alcohol I discovered how different compounds bond together to form different states of material. Through a variety of trial and error tests we found what compounds form together to for a gelatin like substance that can ignite. This knowledge can be used future times in Chemistry Class and hopefully in my career.
There are also some negatives that came from our project that I can build off of in the future. One of these "negatives" was our planning of this project. The planning of the stirling engine took too long and did not take into account the intricacies of building the crankshaft. This put us behind in the building process and did not allow us to fully complete or test our engine. The engine could have been made better if the planning was more efficient and we focused on the large, important parts of the planning process first. The second negative I encountered during the project was the presentation part of our project. All of the content was there but the it was not presented smoothly or in an organized way. This probably made it harder to understand for the audience while we were presenting. To make this better in the future, my team and I should try and to be efficient with our time so we can practice our presentation in our extra time after we finish our project. These negatives can be built off of and improved upon in the future so that future projects in school and tasks in life can be accomplished efficiently and well.
There are also some negatives that came from our project that I can build off of in the future. One of these "negatives" was our planning of this project. The planning of the stirling engine took too long and did not take into account the intricacies of building the crankshaft. This put us behind in the building process and did not allow us to fully complete or test our engine. The engine could have been made better if the planning was more efficient and we focused on the large, important parts of the planning process first. The second negative I encountered during the project was the presentation part of our project. All of the content was there but the it was not presented smoothly or in an organized way. This probably made it harder to understand for the audience while we were presenting. To make this better in the future, my team and I should try and to be efficient with our time so we can practice our presentation in our extra time after we finish our project. These negatives can be built off of and improved upon in the future so that future projects in school and tasks in life can be accomplished efficiently and well.