Power Meter
Safety Warnings
Warning: Electrical Safety
Warning: Heat Hazard
Purpose
A household-style watthour meter measures real-time power consumption of various loads. Students observe the disc spin rate change with different devices and learn the relationship between power and energy (\(E = Pt\)).
Figure 1:
Complete demonstration setup showing the GE Type I-30-A watthour meter mounted on a display board with a 40-watt incandescent bulb (left) and 13-watt compact fluorescent bulb (right) for comparing power consumption.
Figure 2:
Meter nameplate showing the critical constant Kh = 0.6 watthours per revolution of the aluminum disc, which allows calculation of power consumption from disc rotation speed. Note the disc blur indicating moderate power consumption.
Figure 3:
Same meter showing less disc blur, demonstrating lower power consumption. The disc has 100 divisions on its circumference, allowing precise measurement where each division represents 21.6 joules of energy.
Equipment
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