Introduction: How to Make a Simple Generator.

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  • Hello there, in this instructables you will learn how to make a simple generator. We are making this for a project at our school for a book we are reading.
  • It shows how to make a generator that generates electricity to power a teeny weenie bulb.
  • Also, please note, that the way we did our generator did not work in the end, this was because we did something wrong with the wire, that we will explain later on.

Step 1: Materials Needed

The materials you shall need are listed below:

  1. You will need a strip of cardboard one foot long (12 inches) and three inches wide.
  2. You need a nail or screw (preferably a nail because its smoother)
  3. 1x2x5 cm ceramic magnets
  4. 200 feet of magnet wire
  5. miniature lamp
  6. sand paper
  7. tape

Step 2: Step 1 Making the Outer Shell.

First off you need to fold cardboard into a box for your generator.

How to do it.

Measure the cardboard from one end and fold the cardboard from the edge accordingly. 8 in. 3.2 in. 8 in. 3.2 in. 7.5 in. once it's formed into a box tape it so it doesn't come undone. When it's done it should look like the one in the picture above.

Step 3: Step 3 Making the Axis

Now that your box for your generator take a pencil and mark and X from one corner to the other to find the center of the box then find a nail or screw (preferably a nail) and puncture it through the center of the box to where it comes out the other side like in the picture above.

Step 4: Step 4 Wrapping the Wire

Then wrap magnetic wire firmly around the box. Be careful not to crush the box though.(keep both ends accessible you'll need them later. (This is where we messed up with the wire. We cut it into smaller sections before wrapping it around the box. This stopped the electricity from flowing through. So we suggest only cutting it at 200 feet)..... You want about 200 ft. of wire for this design of generator but other designs may vary in the amount of wire needed. Once you've rapped the box in 200 ft. of magnetic wire take sand paper and rub off the insulator surrounding the copper wire(Sand both ends).

Step 5: Step 5 Installing the Magnets

Now that you have gotten fancy. ;)

JK...

Take your magnets and stick them inside of box, make sure that they are centered, and sticking to the nail. Fasten them to the nail with either strong tape or hot glue or they may slide around and stop the generator from working (Be careful if you use hot glue because it cools fast and you may need to work fast.

Step 6: Step 6 Attaching the Light.

Now that you've gotten even fancier ;)

JK

Attach the ends of the light to the ends of the wrapped wire (Make sure to check if the ends of the wire is stripped). And then test it. It may be dim so it may light up better in a dark room.

Hope it works.