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An anemometer is a tool used to measure wind speed. It has three or four cups attached to horizontal arms and when the wind blows, the cups rotate around. The stronger the wind blows, the faster the cups rotate.

The anemometer then calculates how many times the arms rotate to determine the wind speed.

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(​MORE: The Moon Is Inching Away From Us)

There is also something called a tube anemometer that measures the air pressure inside the tube compared to the air pressure outside it, which is then used to calculate the wind speed.

The earliest known anemometer was created in 1450 by Italian inventor Leon Battista Alberti. In the 1600s, it was “reinvented” by an Englishman named Robert Hooke who has often received credit for inventing it.

You can even make your own anemometer! Here’s how to do it. It’s easy and fun – I’ve made one with my own kids.

J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.