STUDY OF APPLICATION OF LAWS AND PRINCIPLE OF
PHYSICS IN INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY
A Report Submitted for the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of Grade
11 Science in Physics
By
Name of student: Shishir Neupane
Grade: 11
Section: MF1
ID card no: SC25-1430
Trinity International SS and College, Dillibazar height,
Kathmandu
DECLARATIION
I hereby declare that the work presented in this project report has been done by
myself under the supervision of Sandip Dhakal and has not been submitted
elsewhere for any examination.
All the sources of information have been specifically acknowledged by reference
to authors.
Date: 2082/10/28 Shishir Neupane
ID:SC25-1430
LETTER OF APPROVAL
The project work submitted to Trinity International SS, by Samip Pokharel
entitled “Study of Application of and Laws and Principle of Physics in
Indigenous Technology” has been approved as the partial fulfillment of the
requirements of internal evaluation
Supervisor
Mr. Sandip Dhakal
Signature………..
ACKNOWLEDEGMENT
Taken this opportunity to express my respect and gratitude to my esteemed
guide Mr. Sandip Dhakal for her valuable guidance in making this project a
reality. I am thankful to her for her constant support and encouragement and
valuable supervision, guidance and encouragement throughout this project
completion period.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................1-2
1.1 : General Background............................................1
1.2 : Objectives of the Study.......................................2
CHAPTER 2: MATERIALS AND METHODS…..........................................3
CHAPTER 3: OBSERVATION...................................................................4
CHAPTER 4: LIMITATIONS OF STUDY....................................................5
CHAPTER 5: RESULTS AND CONCLUSION…..........................................6-8
CHAPTER 6: REFRENCES…......................................................................9
RECOMMENDATION
A physics practical focused on applying the laws and principles of physics within
indigenous technology, a highly recommended and comprehensive case study
involves analyzing a traditional water mill, often known as a pani ghatta in South
Asia. This practical directly applies concepts from mechanics and fluid dynamics, as
students can observe the conversion of gravitational potential energy of falling water
into kinetic energy, and subsequently into mechanical rotational energy used for
grinding grain. The study would involve measuring parameters such as water flow
rate, the height difference of the water source, and the rotational speed of the
millstones to calculate the system's power input, output, and overall efficiency. By
quantifying these variables, students can understand how indigenous design
principles effectively harness natural energy sources using fundamental physics
concepts like torque, force, and energy conservation to create a sustainable,
functional technology.
Student Name: Shishir Neupane
Grade: XI
Section: MF1
Head of Department (HOD)
Jivan Panta
Signature…………..
ABSTRACT
This abstract outlines a physics practical investigation centered on the application of
fundamental physical laws and principles within a technological context. The study
specifically examines the mechanics and efficiency of a traditional Pani
Ghatta (water mill), a sustainable technology used for grinding grains. The practical
involved observing the mill's design and operation, followed by the collection of
quantitative data on key physical parameters, including the water flow rate,
gravitational head (height difference), and the rotational velocity of the millstones.
Through analysis, the investigation calculated the system's power input (gravitational
potential energy conversion), the mechanical work output (rate of grain processing),
and its overall energetic efficiency. The results demonstrate how knowledge
inherently applies core physics principlesspecifically energy transformation, fluid
dynamics, and rotational mechanics to create an effective, locally adapted solution
for harnessing renewable natural resources. This study highlights the scientific
validity embedded within traditional engineering practices.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Background
The need for economic and physical survival has been identified as great
motivating forces for technological advancement. The term indigenous refers to
being grown or produced in a locality. Indigenous technology refers to the
production of materials or goods by the people within a community. It is the
custom or homemade tools available in a society at a particular time whose usage
causes satisfaction to the inhabitants.
The indigenous technology in the state has brought forth the production of wine
locally, making paper, wood craving, water mill and mat making etc. No effective
indigenous technology programme can exist without a good knowledge of
sciences in general and physics in particular. The application of physics and its
principles in the development of our indigenous technologies will help in the
productions of more valuable goods that conform to modern standards.
1.2 : Objectives of the Study
To determine the effect of physics in the development of
indigenous technologies.
To study the effect of physics in the production of water mill (ghatta)
To understand that physics is a foundation on which technology is built.
CHAPTER 2: MATERIALS AND METHODS
A qualitative approach was used in this study. The subjects of research were
adults of a village in Sindhuli who still retain the cultural values of their ancestors.
They live with their simplicity, uniqueness, honesty, and other positive behaviors.
In this study, we report on individual interviews conducted to identify their
indigenous knowledge that related to the thermal physics concepts an incorporated
into school curricula. At the beginning interview, respondents were asked to
explain about their experience from their childhood up to the present.
Respondents were asked questions about the indigenous knowledge and link to the
physics concepts to obtain further insight into how they understood and applied it.
Listening to their opinion and information that could be associated with the
physics concept, particularly thermal physics. The interview transcripts were
analyzed to identify those ideas that could be related to the thermal physics
concepts.
CHAPTER 3: OBSERVATION
These turning machines are popularly known as Pani Ghatta also known as water
mills. The water mills are very popular across the Himalayas, as it is the only
reliable machine to grind grain for people living in the regions. The water mills
are not limited to Nepal but you can see across the stretch of hills of Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Tibet, and Bhutan. Traditionally limited to grinding, now many are
modified to generate electricity for local use.
According to its construction, the water is diverted from the mainstream via open
or closed duct towards the turbine placed on the lower section of mill house. The
turbine used to be made of wood, but the majority of wooden turbines are replaced
with metallic as improved water mills these days. The vertical shaft connected to
the turbine on the floor of mill house runs and turns the upper section of stone.
The lower section is stationary, and grains stored in wooden settings above the
stone drops grains through a hole in upper stone to lower stone via feeder
mechanism, and then grains are ground in between the stones.
CHAPTER 4: LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
A lot of cultural values and local wisdom begin to be abandoned and are at risk of
being lost as a result of the demands and development of globalization.
Indigenous knowledge has been either neglected or even denied as it may be seen
to be at the edges of scientific knowledge. Indigenous physics knowledge is
manifested in various forms of oral and practical knowledge.
Unfortunately, the indigenous community is continually struggling to maintain
their rights, their tradition, and their knowledge. We can only find these
indigenous technology in very rural parts of Nepal due to modernization.
CHAPTER 5: RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
RESULTS:
Newton's Laws for Rotation
1. If an object does not experience a net torque on it, it will not have an angular
acceleration and therefore no angular velocity. If there is a net torque on an
object it will have an angular acceleration and angular velocity.
2. The torque on an object is equal to the moment of inertia multiplied by the
angular acceleration.
The Moment of Inertia
The moment of inertia of an object is also referred to as the rotational inertia
and is basically the rotational mass of an object. In order to determine this we
need to look at an objects rotational Kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is one half
the objects mass times its linear velocity squared, but when an object like a
water wheel is traveling in circular motion the rotational Kinetic energy has to
be considered. Now considering the rotational Kinetic energy it is defined by
one half the first derivative of time with respect to angular displacement
(angular speed) squared multiplied by the radius squared times the mass of the
object. In the case of a water wheel we have a thick hollow cylinder (wheel)
and a rod(axle). The inertia is defined as the sum of the points of mass
multiplied by the corresponding radius squared. In order to find the Moment of
Inertia for an individual object we need to look at it as a collection of equally
sized masses, which means that they have equal densities and volumes, so if we
integrate the perpendicular distance (radius) squared from the center of mass
multiplied by the mass density and integrate it with respect to the volume of a
particular object we can calculate the moment of inertia of an object.
Torque
Torque or the moment arm is quantified by taking the cross product of the force
perpendicular to the axis of rotation and the position vector, taking the dot product
of these gives us the SI units of Nm. To get the magnitude of torque it is also
important to take into consideration the angle theta between the force vector and
the position vector. Use the right hand rule to determine the direction of torque
for the given position vector and force.
Rotational Work
The Work done by torque is defined as the torque multiplied by the angular
displacement. In order to determine how much work can be done by moving water
in a river or stream requires that the total volume of water available to do work is
determined. Once a volume is determined, it is possible to calculate the amount of
work that the water is capable of doing on the water wheel and in turn the ideal
size and type of wheel can be determined.
CONCLUSION:
Indigenous knowledge is practice of doing some specific works uniquely in any
community, which acquired over generations by communities as perform different
acts in their own ways. In indigenous technology community use their local
resources and knowledge. It mainly refers to a system of initiative technical
works. Pani Ghatta is one of the important indigenous technologies in Nepalese
[Link] is clean and applicable technology for grinding at local level where
there is no electricity access. Now days these Ghatta are decreasing day by day
due to the use of modern grinding machine. Countries like our where there is
shortage of electricity Ghatta can be useful, if we have upgrade them with
improved technology and dual purpose like fishing, irrigation.
CHAPTER 6: REFERENCES
Internet [Link]
Internet [Link]
AFRREV Vol 4 _2_, grade 11 physics text book