Hydroelectric Energy

Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących nr7

in Katowice

Hydroelectric energy

What is hydroelectric energy?Hydro-energy means energy from moving water (‘hydro’ is from the Greek word for water). It is One of the oldest forms of power. Watermills have been used to grind corn for hundreds of year. Today, electricity can be generated by building dams, which force water to turn machinery. This is called hydroelectric energy.

Advantages of hydroelectric energy

• It is renewable, because rain keeps falling.

• It causes no pollution.

• It is more reliable than wind or solar energy, and can be switched on when needed.

Possible disadvantages

• Hydroelectric schemes are very expensive to build

• There are few suitable sites, and land for homes may be lost when they are built.

• Wildlife habitats are lost when land is flooded to make reservoirs. River life can also be affected by dams.

Experiment with water energy.

1. Join turbine spins with dynamo.

2. Connect bulb with dynamo.

3. Pour a gentle stream of water into the turbine spins.

4. Observe bulb.

Conclusions:

• Bulb lights on.

• Water placed in the bottle has the potential energy. Pouring the water out of the bottle makes the potential energy transforms into the kinetic one.There is a possibility to transform the kinetic energy into the electricity.

The term hydro-energy means:

a) Energy from moving water

b) Energy from hydrogen

c) Energy from blowing wind

Check your answer.

a) True, ‘hydro’ is from the Greek word for water

b) False, the term hydrogen is not connected with hydro-energy.

c) False, hydro-energy is not created by blowing wind.

Electricity can be generated by:

a) Building blocks of flats.

b) Building dams.

c) Building wind mills.

Check your answer.

a) False, blocks of flats do not produce energy; they consume it.

b) True, dam are constructed to produce electricity.

c) False, wind mills produce the wind energy.

Dams:

a) Force water to turn machinery.

b) Prevent machinery from moving.

c) Prevent water from flowing.

Check your answer.

a) True, generator turns to create electricity.

b) False, dams make the machinery to turn.

c) False, dams do not prevent water from flowing. They decrease the amount of flowing water.

Thank you for your attention.

Created by:

Marcin Kurka and Tomasz Świątkowski.

(Rodimus) (Vierra)