Rube Goldberg
Machine overview
For our Rube Goldberg machine project we chose Scooby Doo as our theme. We incorporated five simple machines. We used a lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, and a pulley. Our mission was to carry the energy from the top of our machine through ten steps and then to use it to knock over our scooby snacks at the end. To do this we had to transport the energy using energy transfers. We use the potential energy from the car at the top and transport it throughout our machine too eventually use it to pour our scooby snacks. When we release the car at the top and it begins to move it gains Kinetic energy and transfers it when it collides with other objects. Day One: The first day of building we were given two boards. Our first task was too attach both boards in the way we had planned. Since the boards were so skinny it made it hard to drill them together. We decided to drill two boards sticking out of the bottom board then we drilled the backboard into those. When we completed that we noticed the board was slanting a lot and we decided to put two boards on the back to support it. Day Two: On day two we started our first step; the inclined planes. We drilled in the first two boards of the inclined planes then after trying it many times we added the board on the side that stops the balls from rolling off the edge. Day Three: On day three we made our lever. After we picked a size for the lever we had to figure out how to easily make it spin. We drilled a big hole through the side of the stick we had chosen then we put a nail in the side of the board. When the lever was on the nail it was able to easily rotate around and it acted as the lever we needed. We also created the board with the corridors on it but we ran out of time to attach it. Day Four: We used a huge drill to cut the circle in our board with the corridors. We also attached the tube to the bottom of the board. We screwed the board into the backboard and positioned the screw. Day Five: We attached the board under our screw and tested and fixed our previous steps. Day Six: We made our pulley and balanced the design. We also began planning how we were gonna build our wheel and axle. We cut out the circle of the wheel and axle. Day Seven: We completed our wheel and axle and adjusted it multiple times till it worked. It took a while because we had to make it balanced and make the dominoes fall over when it’s hit with the force of the car. Day Eight: We set up the dominoes and tested the rest of the machine and fixed it with trial and error. We found out we needed the backboard to lean back more so we added a support beam to hold it back Day Nine: We decorated and finished the design. |
Reflection In our Rube Goldberg project I think I played a very important role in our group. I was able to get our group do be as productive as possible when they were off task. I think some of our group got distracted some days but we were always able to crack down and get all our work done. I did the majority of the beginning because i had already had experience building with power tools. I was also able to help and teach my team mates how to properly use some tools. I learned that i can be a very good leader. I usually act as a follower but i took a heavy lead role in this project. I also became much better at planning ahead. At the beginning a tried to just do everything as I went and it all got mixed up. I started taking it slow and planning out all of the steps. It led to me making less mistakes and giving our machine a cleaner look. I did collide with some of my team mates and they made it hard to work. I need to try to accommodate all of my team mates needs. I also need to let others take lead at some parts and not boss people around. I need to be open to others ideas. For parts of our project I tried to let my teammates take control of the building but they didn't get as much work done as I had expected.
Conceptstime(t)- Progress of events
Distance(d)- How far something has traveled Velocity(v)- Rate of covered distance in a direction Acceleration(a)- Rate of change of velocity (speeding up/slowing down) Acceleration due to gravity(ag)- Gravity is a force between objects proportional to their masses and distance- Earths avg= 9.8m/s Mass(m)- Amount of matter or the number of atoms in an object force(F)- Push or pull on an object Work(w)- Amount of energy put into something Potential Energy(PE)- Energy an object has due to its position or height in a gravitational field Kinetic Energy(KE)- Energy due to motion |
Step Calculations
Step one:
Mass truck = 53.25 grams. MA flat plane = 3.04
PE = 0.062622 acceleration = 3.214m/s^2
Energy to friction 28% KE = 0.049625 joules
Step 2 collision
Mass Hollow Cylinder= 31.5grams force truck = 0.17114 N acceleration = 5.43301587
Step 3 impact
Goes at KE= 0.04 joules percent to friction = 46% force = 1.59 N
PE = 0.088 joules Ma lever = 0.707
Step 4
Average Velocity of ball = 0.0426m/s KE average = 0.0017 joules
Step 5 screw goes down screw ma = 4.712
Step 6
Goes at 1.3019 m/s mass = 0.0192 kg
Loses large amount of energy to friction
Step 7 plane
Ma = 3.5 PE=0.0690 joules KE = 0.02118J motorcycle = 54.2 66% lost 2.799 m/s^2
Velocity = 0.884m/s
F =0.053708 newtons
Contact force
Wheel and axle ma = 26.887
Step 8 fortunately this = fine tuned so falls easily
Step 9 dominoes fall each getting larger, finally scooby snacks fall
Mass truck = 53.25 grams. MA flat plane = 3.04
PE = 0.062622 acceleration = 3.214m/s^2
Energy to friction 28% KE = 0.049625 joules
Step 2 collision
Mass Hollow Cylinder= 31.5grams force truck = 0.17114 N acceleration = 5.43301587
Step 3 impact
Goes at KE= 0.04 joules percent to friction = 46% force = 1.59 N
PE = 0.088 joules Ma lever = 0.707
Step 4
Average Velocity of ball = 0.0426m/s KE average = 0.0017 joules
Step 5 screw goes down screw ma = 4.712
Step 6
Goes at 1.3019 m/s mass = 0.0192 kg
Loses large amount of energy to friction
Step 7 plane
Ma = 3.5 PE=0.0690 joules KE = 0.02118J motorcycle = 54.2 66% lost 2.799 m/s^2
Velocity = 0.884m/s
F =0.053708 newtons
Contact force
Wheel and axle ma = 26.887
Step 8 fortunately this = fine tuned so falls easily
Step 9 dominoes fall each getting larger, finally scooby snacks fall