Ceiling Fan (photo)

How the Fan Works

The ceiling fan employs angular and linear velocity. Angular velocity is the rate of change of angular displacement and applies to things that turn. The radius of the fan is .508 meters, and the amount of time the fan takes to rotate once is .83 seconds. By taking the inverse of the period, we find that the frequency is 1.204 revolutions per second. To find angular velocity, one has to multiply the frequency by 2∏ (the formula is w=2∏f) and the angular velocity becomes 7.57 radians per second. To derive the linear velocity, or the rate at which it is moving, one must multiply the angular velocity by the radius. This makes the linear velocity 3.84 m/s. The ceiling fan also uses current electricity, in the form of a parallel circuit; this means that the light can be turned off while the fan is on. In my house, the voltage going through the circuit that includes my ceiling fan is 120 V. The current generated is .9 A. So by applying the formula of Ohm's law, R=V/I, we can find out how many Ohms of resistance the ceiling fan produces. When plugged in, the resistance equals 133.3 Ohms. The potential energy, or the energy stored by the object, can be found through the formula PE=mgh, where m is the mass of the fan (5.98 Kg), g is the gravitational force (9.8 m/s), and h is the height from the ground (2.5 m). When these three are multiplied, the potential energy equals 146.51 J.