Windmill Water Pumps

Question

In Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, it is common for members of the Amish community to use wind mills to pump water from underground to fill a tank for drinking water. The wind causes the turbine blades to spin, rotating a shaft, which is transferred through some gears to operate a pump that is plugged in to an outlet, which pumps water up from deep below the ground to fill an above ground tank.

If you need a visual of what is happening in the scenario above, please view the video below. Disclaimer: If you play the video, I recommend you turn down your volume or mute your tab before clicking play.

Windmill Water Pump Simulation
Video Player

Question
Identify the energy conversions happening in the fill in the blank question below based on the Windmill Water Pump Passage
Wind blows (
Choose...
energy) causing the blades on the windmill to spin (
Choose...
energy). The spinning blades cause the generator to turn on (
Choose...
energy). Once the generator turns on, a rod moves up and down (
Choose...
energy) causing the water to move up a pipe (
Choose...
energy). After moving up the pipe, the water is stored in a container (
Choose...
energy).

Answer 1

Here's how you can fill in the blanks based on the energy conversions in the Windmill Water Pump scenario:

Wind blows ( kinetic energy) causing the blades on the windmill to spin ( mechanical energy). The spinning blades cause the generator to turn on ( mechanical energy). Once the generator turns on, a rod moves up and down ( mechanical energy) causing the water to move up a pipe ( mechanical energy). After moving up the pipe, the water is stored in a container ( potential energy).

So the completed fill-in-the-blank statement would be:

Wind blows ( kinetic energy) causing the blades on the windmill to spin ( mechanical energy). The spinning blades cause the generator to turn on ( mechanical energy). Once the generator turns on, a rod moves up and down ( mechanical energy) causing the water to move up a pipe ( mechanical energy). After moving up the pipe, the water is stored in a container ( potential energy).