Vernier Tech Info Library TIL #1262

Question

Can your force sensors be used in a test section of a wind tunnel for educational demonstrations?

Answer

The most likely force sensor to be used for this application would be our Dual-Range Force Sensor (order code DFS-BTA). You might want more than one if you want to measure more than one force at a time (lift, drag, etc.) In general, you can think of our force sensors as similar to spring scales, but they read force and relay it to a computer or calculator for graphing and analysis. One problem I would worry about is whether our force sensors are sensitive enough. The Dual-Range Force Sensor's most sensitive range is 10 newtons. You should give some thought to the magnitude of the forces you would be measuring. If they are extremely small compared to this range, you may need to use a lever system to increase the force or you may need a more sensitive probe than ours.

To use any of our force sensors, it needs to be connected to one of our interfaces (LabPro, Go!Link, LabQuest, etc.) To get an overview of the equipment we offer, you may want to check out the "Probeware 101" video on our web site at:
http://www.vernier.com/videos/play.html?video=22

Here are two web pages with information concerning the construction of a wind tunnel:

http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0208039

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/wind-tunnel-section4.shtml

Created by: jhopkins on February 25 2004
Last updated by: rsorensen on February 03 2010