With Sarah Ng and Jackson Roberts
What is a Rube Goldberg machine?
A Rube Goldberg machine uses a set of complex steps to accomplish a simple goal, such as launching or pouring something. Rube Goldberg machines can be any scale, from on a four by four foot piece of wood to a 2 story, 2,000 square foot building.
Process
We built our Rube Goldberg machine around the them of Cars, the Pixar movie(s) we all know and love. We originally thought of doing a 'Crash Course' theme, but we decided it would be more fun to do Cars, the movie. We then sketched out simple blueprints individually and incorporated ideas from each blueprint. Once our planning was finished, we could get to work. Our first few construction days were fairly slow, as awe were just getting used to the project and the materials we were supplied. Once we got into it though, we did work much more quickly and efficiently. Once we were done with the construction of all of our steps, we split up work for our presentation. Someone did the physics calculations for each step and the construction log, someone did the blueprint (me), and someone did the energy four energy transfers and labeled the simple machines. After our calculations and presentation preparations were complete, we decorated the machine with various characters from the movies.
Reflection
Overall I think my group and I did very well throughout the project, even though we didn't do it perfectly. We planned and built our machine well, but could have managed our time much better. Throughout this project one good takeaway was that I learned to present much better. The first time I presented the information about our machine I was too quiet and not confident enough, but through multiple run-throughs of the presentation I got much more comfortable with the information. I also gained a lot of skills with the power tools which we used to construct our machine. Before this project I hadn't used any power tools much at all, but now I feel comfortable with almost all of them. Sometimes it was difficult staying on task throughout construction days because some people were being distracting. Also, I kind of lost my patience a few times so I need to continue to work on that. All in all, this was a great experience and I am exited for more projects like these.
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Steps
- A car of 0.0354kg, that was at rest with 0.31 J of potential energy rolls down a ramp of the height of 0.04 meters and the length of 0.102 meters. The ramp has a ideal mechanical advantage of 6.375, and the acceleration due to gravity of the ramp is 0.06 m/s^2.
- The car of 0.0354 kg then transfers its kinetic energy after rolling down the ramp to a 0.2 kg mass, with the potential energy of 1.6 J, making the mass to fall with the velocity of 0.9 m/s.
- The mass then falls into a container activating the double pulley system, which together has a mechanical advantage of 2. The force the mass exerts is
- A toy person that is lifted because of the pulley pushes a lever up.
- The car on the lever, which has the potential energy of 0.206 J, starts to roll and goes down a ramp with the height of 0.08 meters and the length of 0.25 meters, which also has the ideal mechanical advantage of 3.125. Down with the velocity of 0.75 m/s.
- The car then hits a piece of wood connected to a wheel and axle causing the wheel to turn around the axle at a speed of 1.13 m/s.
- When the wheel turns, the piece of wood hits another car with the force of 0.16 N and the potential energy of 0. 21 J.
- The car rolls down the ramp with the height of 0.14 meters, a length of 0.846 meters, and a mechanical advantage of 6.04.
- The nail acts as a wedge and pops the balloon by splitting the latex of the balloon.
- A string attached to the balloon that was hold a mass of 0.415 kg is no longer attached causing the mass that had the potential energy of 0.89 J, to roll down a ramp with a kinetic energy of 0.005.
- The mass hits the hammer with the force of 0.12 N.
- The hammer hits a car.
Content
Force: A force is a push or pull on an object resulting from the objects interaction with another object. In step 6, the car applies a force to the stick on the wheel and axle. You find a force by multiplying mass and acceleration. The standard unit for force is Newtons (N).
Velocity: Velocity is the speed of an object in a certain direction. In step 5, the car is moving down the inclined plane with a certain velocity. You find velocity by dividing distance over time. The standard unit for velocity is meters per second (m/s).
Mechanical Advantage: Mechanical advantage is the ratio of a force produced by the machine to the force applied to it.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object per unit of time. In step 1, the car is accelerating as it goes down the inclined plane. The standard unit for acceleration is meters per second squared (m/s^2).
Potential Energy: Potential energy is the energy possessed by an object by virtue of its position relative to others. In step 10, the weight starts with a certain amount of potential energy. The formula to find potential energy is PE=mgh where m is the object's mass, g is acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height of the object. The standard unit for potential energy is joules (J).
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy that an object possesses by virtue of being in motion. In step 10, the potential energy of the weight is transferred to kinetic energy when it starts to roll. The formula for kinetic energy is KE=1/2mv^2 where m is the mass of the object, and v is the velocity of the object.
Work: Work is done when a force that is applied to an object moves that object. In step 7, the stick on the wheel and axle does work when it hits the car down an inclined plane. The formula for work is W=Fd where F is the force of the object, and d is the distance the object that the work is being done on goes. Since work is considered a transfer of energy the standard unit for work is joules (J),
Velocity: Velocity is the speed of an object in a certain direction. In step 5, the car is moving down the inclined plane with a certain velocity. You find velocity by dividing distance over time. The standard unit for velocity is meters per second (m/s).
Mechanical Advantage: Mechanical advantage is the ratio of a force produced by the machine to the force applied to it.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object per unit of time. In step 1, the car is accelerating as it goes down the inclined plane. The standard unit for acceleration is meters per second squared (m/s^2).
Potential Energy: Potential energy is the energy possessed by an object by virtue of its position relative to others. In step 10, the weight starts with a certain amount of potential energy. The formula to find potential energy is PE=mgh where m is the object's mass, g is acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height of the object. The standard unit for potential energy is joules (J).
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy that an object possesses by virtue of being in motion. In step 10, the potential energy of the weight is transferred to kinetic energy when it starts to roll. The formula for kinetic energy is KE=1/2mv^2 where m is the mass of the object, and v is the velocity of the object.
Work: Work is done when a force that is applied to an object moves that object. In step 7, the stick on the wheel and axle does work when it hits the car down an inclined plane. The formula for work is W=Fd where F is the force of the object, and d is the distance the object that the work is being done on goes. Since work is considered a transfer of energy the standard unit for work is joules (J),