Facts About the Anemometer
The anemometer is a device used by meteorologists to measure wind speed. Some solely measure the wind's velocity, while others measure its pressure, which is then used to calculate its velocity.
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Workings
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An anemometer has three or four tiny hollow metal cups which are set in a way to catch the wind and revolve around a rod. An electrical device then counts the number of revolutions to measure the velocity.
History
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The first anemometer was invented by Italian architect Leon Battista Alberti in 1450. It was simply a disk which sat perpendicular to the wind, and the wind force was determined by the resultant angle.
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Adaptations
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Mayans were building wind towers which acted as anemometers at the peak of their civilization. What we now know today as the modern hemispherical cup anemometer was invented by Irish scientist John Thomas Romney Robinson in 1846.
Effects
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The relationship between the speed of the wind and the cups and the arms of the anemometer varies based upon the size of the dimensions of the cups and the arms. Calculations must be devised differently due to their size.
Laser Anemometer
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Another type of modern anemometer is the Laser Doppler anemometer. It sends out a beam of light, and particulates in the air reflect the beam back, which then measures the speed of the wind based upon how long the beam takes to return.
Experiments
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Making anemometers is a common activity for school-aged children. They can use paper cups to make a hemispherical cup anemometer or attach a ping-pong ball to a string and measure the angle between the apparatus and the ground.
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