How+does+a+wind+turbine+work?+-+R

__**How Wind Turbines Work**__ By Will B   2012


 * __Introduction__**

Wind turbines are very effective machines. These metal fans turn regular wind into electricity. The wind turbines are one hundred feet tall or more off of the ground. The reason they are so far off the ground is because the most wind tends to be higher up than just on the ground.

The wind turbines can be used to power one home or building or (as this diagram shows) it can be hooked up to an electricity grid to power multiple homes or buildings. A wind farm consists of 10 to 100 or more wind turbines and even a small wind farm can power over 9000 buildings!
 * __What they are used for.__**

The uneven pressure causes the blades to spin around the center of the engine. On the back there is a weather vein connected to a computer to keep the turbine facing the wind to capture the most energy. The air pressure works to spin the three propeller blades around the rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft which spins the generator to make energy. The turbine is mounted on a tower to make it taller. If the wind turbine extracts more energy from the wind then it can power more buildings. When the gears turn then the blades spin and the turbine extracts the wind from the wind and then the private or public electricity grid transports it to one or more buildings or homes. The friction between the gears, wind, and the propellers are making the energy and electricity to power homes.
 * __ How they work __**




 * Figure 2 Download and play to see animation**

__ Citations __ "Encyclopædia Britannica", Encyclopædia Britannica Online School EditiorEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 14 Sept. 2012. Engelbert, Phillis //Technology in Action: Science Applied to Everyday Life.// //Detroit, MI UXL, 1998. Print // Holt, Rineheart **//Environmental Science//**. Austin, Harcourt Education, 2007. Print. “How do wind turbines work?” Wind Program. US Department of Energy, Web. September 19, 2012."Wind Turbines: A New Spin on Energy.

**__Glossary__**
 * __Consists:__** To be made up of.
 * __Rotor:__** A rotating part of a machine.
 * __Wind turbine__**__:__ Any of various machines that have a rotor driven by pressure.