My group this project was one big family. We were not just friends or science partners. We were so much more. Over a course of sweat, blood and tears, I and my two fellow classmates created the beauty we call "the chip-bowl-refill-inator 3000."
Here are some examples of physics from our project:
Step 1:
Mechanical Advantage=1
PE=mgh
PE=55kg x 10N x 0.285m PE=1.5675 J
KE=PE KE=1/2mv^2
KE=1/2 x 55kg x 0.057m/s^2 KE=1.5675 J
A weight is dropped down and pulls a card, using a pulley. The formulas represent the potential and kinetic energy of the weight that we drop to begin the machine. Before the weight drops, the energy that is stored (also known as potential energy) is 1.5675 J. When the weight reaches the bottom, the potential energy transfers into kinetic energy and that is also 1.5675.
Step 3:
PE=mgh
PE=0.095kg x 10N x 0.193m PE= 0.18335 J
KE=PE KE=1/2mv^2
KE=1/2 x 0.093kg x 3.86m/s^2 KE=0.18335 J
A card is pulled out from underneath the rubber stopper, and it falls onto the wheel and axle. When the rubber stopper is sitting on top of the card, it has a potential energy of 0.18335. When it hits the wheel and axle, the kinetic energy is 0.18335.
Step 7:
Mechanical Advantage=1
PE=mgh
PE=0.295kg x 10N x 0.225m PE=o.664 J
PE=KE KE=1/2mv^2
KE=1/2 x 0.295kg x 4.502m/s KE=0.664 J
A weight falls into a cup, dropping down pulling a piece of cardboard up from the track. The mechanical advantage is 1 because you have to have the same amount of force on the object as the object is applying to make it move. We found the potential and kinetic energy of the weight that the ball hits most often t=and they both equal 0.664 J.
Step 9: Lever
type 1 lever
F=ma F=1.163kg x 0.55m/s F=0.6397 N
W=fd W=0.6397N x 0.13m W=0.083161 J
A ball hits the lever, pushing a penguin on the other side onto the stairs. When the ball hits the lever, it exerts a force of 0.6397 N. This pushes the penguin on the other side of the lever. The ball is the force, and the fulcrum turns the lever. The work the lever does is 0.083161 J. The work is the actual amount of energy the lever produces to move the penguin.
Step 10:
d=vt
0.49m=0.54s x v
velocity= 0.907 m/s
The penguin hits the ball and it rolls down the inclined plane into a water bottle. We took the distance of the slide with a meter stick and found the time the ball rolled down by using a stopwatch on my iPhone. In the beginning the ball rolled slower but then it sped up as the acceleration increased.
Step 1:
Mechanical Advantage=1
PE=mgh
PE=55kg x 10N x 0.285m PE=1.5675 J
KE=PE KE=1/2mv^2
KE=1/2 x 55kg x 0.057m/s^2 KE=1.5675 J
A weight is dropped down and pulls a card, using a pulley. The formulas represent the potential and kinetic energy of the weight that we drop to begin the machine. Before the weight drops, the energy that is stored (also known as potential energy) is 1.5675 J. When the weight reaches the bottom, the potential energy transfers into kinetic energy and that is also 1.5675.
Step 3:
PE=mgh
PE=0.095kg x 10N x 0.193m PE= 0.18335 J
KE=PE KE=1/2mv^2
KE=1/2 x 0.093kg x 3.86m/s^2 KE=0.18335 J
A card is pulled out from underneath the rubber stopper, and it falls onto the wheel and axle. When the rubber stopper is sitting on top of the card, it has a potential energy of 0.18335. When it hits the wheel and axle, the kinetic energy is 0.18335.
Step 7:
Mechanical Advantage=1
PE=mgh
PE=0.295kg x 10N x 0.225m PE=o.664 J
PE=KE KE=1/2mv^2
KE=1/2 x 0.295kg x 4.502m/s KE=0.664 J
A weight falls into a cup, dropping down pulling a piece of cardboard up from the track. The mechanical advantage is 1 because you have to have the same amount of force on the object as the object is applying to make it move. We found the potential and kinetic energy of the weight that the ball hits most often t=and they both equal 0.664 J.
Step 9: Lever
type 1 lever
F=ma F=1.163kg x 0.55m/s F=0.6397 N
W=fd W=0.6397N x 0.13m W=0.083161 J
A ball hits the lever, pushing a penguin on the other side onto the stairs. When the ball hits the lever, it exerts a force of 0.6397 N. This pushes the penguin on the other side of the lever. The ball is the force, and the fulcrum turns the lever. The work the lever does is 0.083161 J. The work is the actual amount of energy the lever produces to move the penguin.
Step 10:
d=vt
0.49m=0.54s x v
velocity= 0.907 m/s
The penguin hits the ball and it rolls down the inclined plane into a water bottle. We took the distance of the slide with a meter stick and found the time the ball rolled down by using a stopwatch on my iPhone. In the beginning the ball rolled slower but then it sped up as the acceleration increased.
We started off with a complicated design consisting of catapults and cars going down inclined planes. When we first started it became clear that our original design wouldn't work. So we came up came up with a new plan that involved penguins going up staircases and a card sliding out from underneath a rubber stopper. We kept the main idea of our original project but changed the things we knew wouldn't work. The first few steps of our project were the hardest to get working. We tried different things for the wheel and axle part, but nothing was working 100% of the time. Finally we decided to try a wheel and axle and it worked great. Another struggle we ran into was getting a weight to fall into the cup after the marble hit. We decided to use three weights so no matter where the marble rolled it would always hit a weight. WE used a piece of cardboard to hold a marble from releasing before the right time. We had to find the perfect position for the cardboard so the marble wouldn't release too early. From the beginning we knew our Rube Goldberg would have two levels, so we had to find a way for it to roll onto the bottom level. We found that the marble didn't have enough momentum to continue to roll thru the complete track, so we found a creative solution. We got a children's toy that consists of a penguin that goes up a staircase. Our plan was to have a marble hit a lever that would hit the penguin onto the stairs. It worked perfectly. Once the penguin gets to the top of the staircase there is a wooden ball waiting to be pushed. Our idea was to have the penguin hit the ball and push it down an inclined plane into half of a water bottle. After trail and error and finding the correct position. For the track and bottle, our idea worked perfectly. From there the marble drops down onto the lower level and runs down another inclined plane and hits a weight that falls into a cup. We had to give the track onto the top layer so it would stay in place. As for the weight, we had to find a weight that didn't weigh too much so the marble would be strong enough to cause it to fall into the cup. Once the marble rolls into the cup, it activates the pulley which cause the cup to tip over and cause the goldfish the fall into the bowl, finishing our project.
Reflection:
What went well in out project is how we worked together and found very creative solutions to problems that we had no idea how to overcome. We did have problems though, with the fact that ever step relied mostly on chance and luck. I learned how to work with power tools better and not injure people, and how to apply physics to everyday projects. I learned that the formulas we use in class aren't just more work that we are forced to do, but fun problems that we can apply to our future projects. During this project, I needed to work on listening to other people's opinions more and thinking more through a step before taking action and I will continue to work on these throughout the next few projects. A good thing that came from the project was the penguin staircase; it shows how we overcame a rough obstacle in our project. A bad thing that came from our project was the lack of prior measurements, and how we just "winged" the entire project.
What went well in out project is how we worked together and found very creative solutions to problems that we had no idea how to overcome. We did have problems though, with the fact that ever step relied mostly on chance and luck. I learned how to work with power tools better and not injure people, and how to apply physics to everyday projects. I learned that the formulas we use in class aren't just more work that we are forced to do, but fun problems that we can apply to our future projects. During this project, I needed to work on listening to other people's opinions more and thinking more through a step before taking action and I will continue to work on these throughout the next few projects. A good thing that came from the project was the penguin staircase; it shows how we overcame a rough obstacle in our project. A bad thing that came from our project was the lack of prior measurements, and how we just "winged" the entire project.