Magnetic Stirrer

Magnetic Stirrer

We have built a magnetic stirrer for our lab! 

The aim is not only to build such a useful instrument, but to do it in a creative and sustainable manner. The challenge: repurposing a PC fan!

The process has been really creative and many people have contributed. Keithen and Elisabet being the coordinators have account for the valuable teamwork of Nerea, Víctor and Quique. And, of course, Paolo, our ICT expert, has provided us the fan.

The process is explained in detail in this presentation, but let us show you some key moments....

As happens in many creative and risky projects, just at the very end of the process, just before the final demonstration, something failed: the stirring rod inside the beaker didn't turn! 

These are us (Nerea, Keithen and Victor, from left to right) trying to figure out how to overcome such a technical issue.

But, thanks to our tenacity, creativity and teamwork, we solve it!

The cause was a too high fan velocity that could be decreased providing less power (wee needed an AC/DC adjustable power supply). 7.5 volts worked perfectly!

Look at Victor's happiness!!!   He can be really proud of it.

And this is our final magnetic stirrer! 

Isn't it great?

In this video it can be seen the vortex caused by the magnetic stirrer in the water. It's amazing!!!

Of course, we have explained all the process and made a demonstration to all our Scientific and Technological Baccalaureate classmates.