KidWind Airfoil Balsa Blade Wood Sheets

This balsa is pre-shaped in an airfoil shape. Real wind turbine blades use this airfoil shape to generate lift and reduce drag, making for highly efficient rotors.

Experiment with advanced blade designs and explore Bernoulli’s Principle with these airfoil sheets. Well-designed airfoil blades will be noticeably more efficient than similarly shaped flat blades.

Sheets are 12 in. long, 3 in. wide, and 1/4 in. thick at the thickest section of the airfoil profile.

You Can:

• Cut and shape your own wind turbine blades
• Experiment with number of blades
• Experiment with size and shape of blades
• Experiment with angle of blades

Concepts

• Understanding differences between energy and power
• Exploring concepts of lift, drag, and torque
• Understanding angles
• Developing and using physical models
• Understanding the relationship between forces and motion
• Understanding the relationship between energy and forces
• Understanding clean energy
• Exploring energy transformations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Optimizing designs
• Designing controlled experiments