How to Build a Hairdryer in School

The following instructions are gonna show you how to build a hairdryer from home, with materials you should already have. This was specifically made for design class, and all materials were given to us but the work we did it ourselves. The point of this activity was to explore with batteries and just to have fun.

1. Fan
2. 4 Cables
3. 5 Batteries
4. Cutter
5. Proyector

When we first started we got gathered around by the professor in order to get instructions of the tasks we had for that day. The class was divided into groups with four members each, we got into the same group and from there everything started.

The professor explained how a battery works 

He explained how to measure the voltages of the battery and how to tell if electricity ran through it. In addition he demonstrated how to start up a fan with just a battery and cables. After this we got the opportunity to use our creativity and create an invention made just by us. We as a group decided to make a hairdryer.

 Getting ready for testing

 Getting ready for testing

After the explanation was given by the professor he told us to gather the necessary materials. In the process of the gathering we figured out that we needed 2 batteries instead of 1. We also realized that to do the hairdryer we needed heat, that was a struggle cause we didn’t know how. After some research and asking some questions to the profesor, we found out that by connecting cables to a battery they would heat up. We then proceeded to grab some cables and tried them out to see if they worked. Our teacher gave us the advice to remove the plastic in the cables. This would've helped the cables to heat up faster and it would be hotter than with plastic.It also helped us as a group to learn how to use cables and how to cut them properly.

As we started testing we faced many challenges, one of them being that our battery had way too many volts for the fan and made it go way too fast. As a result of that struggle we had to use more cables than we had anticipated. We replaced the battery with a battery with less voltage and since it had even less volts than the other one so the fan didn’t even start. This was a huge struggle so we ended up asking for advice, he then informed us that by connecting more than one battery we could get as many volts as we needed. We then proceeded to grab three batteries and connect them together. By doing that we got the fan to start up but avoided the issue of it going too fast.

Though one of our issues was resolved we still had others to face. We realized by doing some testing that one cable wasn’t enough to heat up and create a hairdryer so we added some more cables. Ass we proceeded to add more cables we came to another issue that some cables weren’t the same size, that some of them didn’t work, not only this but we realized that if we added way to many cables we could burn the battery. As a result we had to measure every cable to see if they were the same size so we wouldn't ‘t go back to the issue mentioned above. We also researched that by using four cables we wouldn’t burn the battery

After many testing and many errors and a lot of research we got the hairdryer to work. By resolving those problems we did not only learn how to use cables and batteries, but we also got to learn how to work as a team. Furthermore we were able to see the importance of research and also realized that mistakes aren’t bad because from the batteries to the cables to the heat and all the errors at the end of they the mistakes you only make you stronger and help you grow as a person.