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BiosecurityTechnical1–3 hoursStarterFree

Build a room air-cleaning calculator

Make a tiny calculator (a spreadsheet, notebook or web page) that tells anyone how much a portable air purifier would clean the air in their room.

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Why it matters

It’s on the source list of project ideas: a calculator for how powerful a fan or filter a room needs. Simple tools like this help schools, offices and families act without expert help.

Output: A working calculator other people can use, with a short “how it works” note.

Steps

0 of 5 done

  1. Learn the one formula

    15 min

    A purifier’s clean air delivery rate (CADR, in m³ per hour) divided by the room’s volume (m³) gives its “equivalent air changes per hour”. If a CADR is listed in CFM, multiply by 1.7 to get m³ per hour.

  2. Collect real inputs

    20 min

    Measure a real room (length × width × height). Look up the CADR of two or three purifiers people can actually buy.

  3. Build the calculator

    45 min

    Make inputs for room size and CADR, and outputs for equivalent air changes per hour, plus how many units would reach a target you choose. A spreadsheet is fine; a small web page is even better.

  4. Find a sensible target

    20 min

    Look up a published ventilation or air-cleaning recommendation for classrooms or offices, and cite it in your tool. Note that targets differ between sources.

  5. Test it and share it

    20 min

    Check one result by hand, ask a friend to try it on their own room, and share it with a short “how it works” note and its limits (for example, it assumes the air is well mixed).

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