My group decided to re-do the Rube Goldberg project. We felt that it was fitting since building Rube Goldberg machines would be our first and now our last projects of the year. Since it is the end of the year, our Rube Goldberg has the theme of Graduation. We wanted to congratulate the Class of 2016, so one of our ends goals was to bring down a sign that has their names on it. Our other end goal is to ignite a party popper. This was a very fun project, and even though we didn't have all the time in the world, we were able to successfully create a better Rube Goldberg machine. Our machine was better this time, because it had 100% efficiency. Our machine was called Ran Out Of Time.
Ran Out of Time
Concepts
The concepts for this project were the same as the concepts from our first Rube Goldberg project.
In this project, we learned about energy transfers, physics terms and concepts, and how to figure out these concepts in the real world. We also learned valuable skills while working with power tools. Here are the physics concepts that we learned and used in our project:
Distance(d): Amount of space between two points, measured in meters(m). We used distance to measure the lengths of our ramps as well as the screw.
Velocity(v): The rate of covered distance in a direction, measured in meters per second(m/s). v= 🔺d/🔺t. We didn't include velocity in our presentation, instead we included acceleration, which is the change in velocity.
Acceleration(a): The rate of change of velocity, measured in meters per second squared(m/s^2). a=🔺v/🔺t(time). To find the acceleration down a ramp: a(ramp)= (ag)/MA. We used acceleration instead of velocity in our project because we were calculating force for most of the steps and to calculate force you need acceleration.
Acceleration due to gravity(ag): Gravity is a force between objects in proportion to their mass and inverse to their distance. The acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s^2. You can use the acceleration due to gravity to find the force of free falling objects, but in our machine all of our objects were going down ramps so we used the formula for acceleration down a ramp instead, which still uses the acceleration due to gravity.
Acceleration down a ramp: To find the acceleration of an object down a ramp you take the acceleration due to gravity(9.8 m/s^2) and divide by the mechanical advantage of the ramp. We used this to find the acceleration of the marbles down all of our ramps.
Work(W): Amount of energy put into something, measured in Joules(J) W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. W= Fd. We used work to figure out how much energy went into our pulleys and levers.
Mass(m):Amount of matter; number of atoms, measured in kilograms(kg). We measured the mass of the marbles to calculate force.
Force(f): Push or pull on an object, measured in newtons(N). F=ma. We used force to calculate how much force the marbles applied on the pulleys and levers.
Gravitational Potential energy(PE): Energy an object has due to its height, measured in Joules(J). PEg= m(ag)h. W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. We used potential energy to demonstrate our energy transfers. To view the four energy transfers we explained, please view our Google Slides.
Kinetic Energy(KE): Energy due to motion. Measured in Joules. KE= ½ mv^2. W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. We used kinetic energy to demonstrate energy transfers as well. Please view the Google Slide for more info about our energy transfers.
Mechanical Advantage(MA): How much easier a tool makes a task.
MA= F w/o machine divided by F w/ machine or d w/ machine divided by d w/o machine.
Mechanical advantage helped us increase force applied to certain objects in our machine, such as the remote. We then had to calculate mechanical advantage to figure out the forces.
In this project, we learned about energy transfers, physics terms and concepts, and how to figure out these concepts in the real world. We also learned valuable skills while working with power tools. Here are the physics concepts that we learned and used in our project:
Distance(d): Amount of space between two points, measured in meters(m). We used distance to measure the lengths of our ramps as well as the screw.
Velocity(v): The rate of covered distance in a direction, measured in meters per second(m/s). v= 🔺d/🔺t. We didn't include velocity in our presentation, instead we included acceleration, which is the change in velocity.
Acceleration(a): The rate of change of velocity, measured in meters per second squared(m/s^2). a=🔺v/🔺t(time). To find the acceleration down a ramp: a(ramp)= (ag)/MA. We used acceleration instead of velocity in our project because we were calculating force for most of the steps and to calculate force you need acceleration.
Acceleration due to gravity(ag): Gravity is a force between objects in proportion to their mass and inverse to their distance. The acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s^2. You can use the acceleration due to gravity to find the force of free falling objects, but in our machine all of our objects were going down ramps so we used the formula for acceleration down a ramp instead, which still uses the acceleration due to gravity.
Acceleration down a ramp: To find the acceleration of an object down a ramp you take the acceleration due to gravity(9.8 m/s^2) and divide by the mechanical advantage of the ramp. We used this to find the acceleration of the marbles down all of our ramps.
Work(W): Amount of energy put into something, measured in Joules(J) W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. W= Fd. We used work to figure out how much energy went into our pulleys and levers.
Mass(m):Amount of matter; number of atoms, measured in kilograms(kg). We measured the mass of the marbles to calculate force.
Force(f): Push or pull on an object, measured in newtons(N). F=ma. We used force to calculate how much force the marbles applied on the pulleys and levers.
Gravitational Potential energy(PE): Energy an object has due to its height, measured in Joules(J). PEg= m(ag)h. W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. We used potential energy to demonstrate our energy transfers. To view the four energy transfers we explained, please view our Google Slides.
Kinetic Energy(KE): Energy due to motion. Measured in Joules. KE= ½ mv^2. W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. We used kinetic energy to demonstrate energy transfers as well. Please view the Google Slide for more info about our energy transfers.
Mechanical Advantage(MA): How much easier a tool makes a task.
MA= F w/o machine divided by F w/ machine or d w/ machine divided by d w/o machine.
Mechanical advantage helped us increase force applied to certain objects in our machine, such as the remote. We then had to calculate mechanical advantage to figure out the forces.
Reflection
This project was amazing and it definitely was better. My group worked well together and we all worked extra to finish what we had to do. The only bad thing, or pit that I can think of was our time constraints. If we could have more time, we would have made a way better presentation. Another pit could have been our planning, because we did not exactly have a clear idea of what we needed to do, but I felt that this did not greatly affect our overall quality. There were a ton of goods things, or peaks about this project. One was that we always had someone ready to do extra work. We had to bring in outside materials such as party poppers, the sign, Legos, and more. We never had to wait more than a day to get these materials, and because of this, we never were slowed down. We always had something that we could work on and our efficiency was very good. Another good thing was our teamwork and ability to think up new ideas as a group. Because of the little time that we had, we didn't have a clear idea at the beginning and we sort of winged it. We kept changing ideas and we all listened to one another. I think this is why it worked so well, because we easily adapted to the best idea and the constant testing of new methods helped us create the best overall method. We also worked really well as a team and everyone got along well. This was partly because we got to choose our groups, so we all wanted to be working with each other. This project was so much better, and I felt that we really accomplished doing it better.