science help: Hydropower plant question: To generate electricity, do you use up all the water in the dam all at one time and then refill it again afterwards?

smile :D 0 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (2 minutes after post)

I really know nothing about that at all but i would think you wouldn’t as long as you werent using more than it produced you just wouldn’t be making any when it wasn’t moving but when it was you would be making it and storing some?

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BaconByAnyOtherName 3 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (5 minutes after post)

yes

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pink sparkle 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (7 minutes after post)

smile :D wrote:
I really know nothing about that at all but i would think you wouldn’t as long as you werent using more than it produced you just wouldn’t be making any when it wasn’t moving but when it was you would be making it and storing some?

I’m confused. Thanks anyway. I’m trying to figure it out. From the dam, water flows through a pipe that turns the turbines etc. I’m wondering if you need that constant flow of water to the turbine.

Thansk for the fast reply Smile :D. Your name made me smile by the way.

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smile :D 0 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (15 minutes after post)

haha your welcome but i thinks its not right..

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BaconByAnyOtherName 3 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (32 minutes after post)

Dr. Foreman wrote:
yes

THIS!!

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pink sparkle 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (32 minutes after post)

smile :D wrote:
haha your welcome but i thinks its not right..

I’ve been searching on the net since this morning. I didn’t find a direct answer…just misleading ones.

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pink sparkle 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 4 months ago (34 minutes after post)

Dr. Foreman wrote:
yes

Thanks. So you mean that the dam has an opening (that’s always open) so that water can flow? So it means too that when you block that dam, no water will flow and thus no electricity?

Thanks for answering Doc. Sorry if I have naive questions. I’ve been reading on the net and getting more confused about this.

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pink sparkle edited this post 4 months ago. Read the previous text »

Hydropower plant question: Do you need constant water flow from the dam to generate electricity?

Help me with: Please read my poem and find a title for it.

ubergee #
An Unknown Location | 4 months ago (2 days, 3 hours after post)

A dam works by converting potential energy to kinetic energy to electrical energy.
Potential energy - Usually created via gravitational force (and apple hanging from a tree has the potential energy equivelent of the following Ep = mgh), but can be stored as tension in a spring or stretched rubber band.

Ep = mgh
where Ep is the potential energy stored
m = the mass of an object
g = the gravitational acceleration exerted on the object (on Earth this is 9.81ms-2)
h = the distance the object is suspended

In a dam the water held back (ie suspended), holes inwhich the water can travel through is made at the bottom - the difference in height from the water surface at the top and the holes at the bottom creates the height, h, in the equation. The mass, m, is taken as the water flowing through the holes at the bottom. From this we can work out the maximum Potential Energy we could harness.

This Ep is converted to Kinetic energy, Ek, which has the equation Ek = 1/2mv^2

Ek = 1/2mv^2
where Ek is the energy in a moving object
m = the mass of an object
v = the velocity of the object

Due to energy having the property of not being able to be created or destroyed (the law of conservation) the 2 equations can be equated;
Ep = Ek
OR
mgh = 1/2mv^2

Of course there is always a loss due to friction / heat.

From here we insert a turbine into the hole at the bottom of the dam to harness this kinetic energy, by reducing the velocity of water exiting the dam.

The energy harnessed has the equation;
Eh = Ep - Ek - external losses.

The dam will have a constant supply of water being fed from the rivers / streams, if the supply slows down the **** reduces the size of the holes at the bottom. Supply increases - holes increase (sometimes overfill holes will open without turbines if the supply is too much). If the water supply dries up the dam will be made redundant, the energy required to fill the dam resevoir would be more than we could extract from the potential energy created.

Hope that explains it.

A dam works by converting potential energy to kinetic energy to electrical energy.
Potential energy - Usually created via gravitational force (and apple hanging from a tree has the potential energy equivelent of the following Ep = mgh), but can be stored as tension in a spring or stretched rubber band.

Ep = mgh
where Ep is the potential energy stored
m = the mass of an object
g = the gravitational acceleration exerted on the object (on Earth this is 9.81ms-2)
h = the distance the object is suspended

In a dam the water held back (ie suspended), holes inwhich the water can travel through is made at the bottom - the difference in height from the water surface at the top and the holes at the bottom creates the height, h, in the equation. The mass, m,  is taken as the water flowing through the holes at the bottom. From this we can work out the maximum Potential Energy we could harness.

This Ep is converted to Kinetic energy, Ek, which has the equation Ek = 1/2mv^2

Ek = 1/2mv^2
where Ek is the energy in a moving object
m = the mass of an object
v = the velocity of the object

Due to energy having the property of not being able to be created or destroyed (the law of conservation) the 2 equations can be equated;
Ep = Ek
OR
mgh = 1/2mv^2

Of course there is always a loss due to friction / heat.

From here we insert a turbine into the hole at the bottom of the dam to harness this kinetic energy, by reducing the velocity of water exiting the dam.

The energy harnessed has the equation;
Eh = Ep - Ek - external losses.

The dam will have a constant supply of water being fed from the rivers / streams, if the supply slows down the **** reduces the size of the holes at the bottom. Supply increases - holes increase (sometimes overfill holes will open without turbines if the supply is too much). If the water supply dries up the dam will be made redundant, the energy required to fill the dam resevoir would be more than we could extract from the potential energy created.

Hope that explains it.

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Cell 54 #
Winnipeg, MB, CA | 3 months, 4 weeks ago (4 days, 21 hours after post)

Hydro power comes from a river. The water keeps flowing through the turbines.

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pink sparkle 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 4 weeks ago (5 days after post)

Cell wrote:
Hydro power comes from a river. The water keeps flowing through the turbines.

Thanks! I finally got it.

The reservoir is not depleted all at once because the government has imposed a minimum and maximum water level. Whenever you need electricity, you make the water flow from the dam. When you don’t need it, you let it stay as water in the reservoir.

One type of hydropower plant is the run-of type where water keeps flowing.

Thanks3x!

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science help: Hydropower plant question: To generate electricity, do you use up all the water in the dam all at one time and then refill it again afterwards? - Help.com

Hydropower plant question: To generate electricity, do you use up all the water in the dam all at one time and then refill it again afterwards?

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