Hydropower

Title: Diagram of a Water Wheel
Type: Diagram
Date: no date
Source: Louis C. Hunter

Description: This diagram shows an overshot water wheel, as described by Oliver Evans in 1807.

Activities:

1. What do you think is the purpose of the wooden structure at the top of the diagram?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The wooden structure is a chute that was used to direct the flow of river water at the top of the water wheel.
2. The lines drawn at an agle on the outer part of the wheel represent buckets that filled with water. The weight of the water turns the wheel. Why might the buckets be built at an angle instead of pointing straight out?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The angle of the buckets made sure that the water stayed in the buckets for as long as possible before being poured back into the river.
3. What would be the effect of increasing the amount of water flowing through the chute?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: As more water flowed, the wheel would fill faster and turn more quickly.
4. How might a wheel be made to spin more powerfully?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: If the water fell from higher up, ravity would make it move faster, making it spin more quickly.