Introduction
In this stage, students should be working on creating and improving their designs. However, I wasn’t able to fully concentrate on my thermoacoustic engine as I was sick and missed some classes. As a result, I created a very simple product, a straw, to simulate my thermoacoustic engine.
Design Ideas
Before finding a possible design, I first looked closely at the mechanism of my thermoacoustic engine. By deeply understanding the mechanism, I’m able to create an alternative that is as simple as possible. Since the thermoacoustic engine involves the use of sound waves and temperature, I want to create a product that is really basic but uses energy transformation.
I recognized that we can create a “whistle” sound when we blow the straws, so I speculate it might be related to the sound wave.
Experiment Analysis
Above are two recordings that I did at home about the very simple straw experiment. It shows how I created, and tested my design. The result turned out successful. When I blow into the straw, it is kinetic energy because air particles go into the straw. The kinetic energy is transformed into sound energy, as you can hear the “whistle” sound in the video.
The mechanism of the straw experiment is the same as the thermoacoustic engine, and you can refer to the poster “How Does a Thermoacoustic Engine Work” above.