Wattmeter Bike

Bybenlovely

This project was conceived as a way to get students to feel what watts are. Starting from a donated stationary bike frame from Kamloops Bike Riders’ Association, I created this interactive teaching aid. Most students can understand that voltage is electrical pressure and amperage is the flow of electrons. Mathematically, we know:

P = EI → Power = Volts x Amps

But what really is power? Power is the rate of energy being produced or consumed. Power can also be defined as the rate of performing work. Students often have a hard time with this definition. This bike enables students to literally generate the electrical energy that powers the lightbulbs, all while watching real time readouts of generated voltage, amperage, and watts consumed. The students can control how many light bulbs are being powered, and will notice that as more lights come on, they have to work harder – They have to produce more electrical energy.

Check out the video below for an example of the bike in action:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wow08gl1kbo%3Fsi%3DRUTsT5FxmqfXx8oC

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