Rube Goldberg Project details
In this project we were put into groups of four to make Rube Goldberg machines. My group was Nico Lofrano, Simon Moattar, and Chase Mcandrew, A Rube Goldberg machine is a complex machine made to do a simple task. In the case for my group that was to feed a lion. The real heart of these machines though is not the ending, but the way you get there. For my group we had a theme of nature. We decided to go with nature by making a list of themes and figuring out which one would work best for us. Trying to follow are theme we made 11 simple steps to make a complex machine.
When we created are machine we used five different simple machines. We used levers, inclined planes, wedges, a pulley and a screw. When we made our machine we had three elements of design in mind. Balance which is a distribution of the visual weight on either side of a vertical axis. Movement in which we used different shades of green to attract your eyes, Finally we used rhythm in which we used multiple ramps and balloons to create interest for the viewer. This is an example of what our machine turned out to be. |
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Physics concepts we used.
Mechanical Advantage: There are two types of mechanical advantage ideal and real. Ideal is how much further you have to push when using a tool. Real is how much easier a tool makes a task. I used mechanical advantage ideal in this project. Ideal mechanical advantage is calculated by dividing the distance of the effort by the distance of the load. For example in our first step we calculated it's mechanical advantage by dividing the length of the ramp by it's distance.
Speed/Velocity:Velocity is the rate of covered distance in a direction. Speed is the same thing, but direction does not matter. Speed and velocity are calculated by dividing the distance something travels by the time it takes. In our screw we calculated speed by measuring the length of the screw then dividing that by the time it takes for the ball to roll down.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity speeding up or slowing down. acceleration is calculated by dividing the velocity by the time. In our second step we calculated acceleration by calculating the velocity then dividing that by the time it took for the lever to swing.
Force: Force is the push or pull on an object. Force is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by it's acceleration. When the magnet swings on the rope we calculated force by finding how fast it accelerates then multiplying that by the magnets mass.
Gravitational Potential Energy: Gravitational potential energy is the energy an object has due to it's position at a height or in a gravitational field. It is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by the acceleration due to gravity by the height of the object. The ball sitting inside the balloon has a certain amountgravitational potential energy.
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. It is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by it's velocity squared divided by two.When the tennis ball rolls down the first ramp it has a certain amount of kinetic energy.
Speed/Velocity:Velocity is the rate of covered distance in a direction. Speed is the same thing, but direction does not matter. Speed and velocity are calculated by dividing the distance something travels by the time it takes. In our screw we calculated speed by measuring the length of the screw then dividing that by the time it takes for the ball to roll down.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity speeding up or slowing down. acceleration is calculated by dividing the velocity by the time. In our second step we calculated acceleration by calculating the velocity then dividing that by the time it took for the lever to swing.
Force: Force is the push or pull on an object. Force is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by it's acceleration. When the magnet swings on the rope we calculated force by finding how fast it accelerates then multiplying that by the magnets mass.
Gravitational Potential Energy: Gravitational potential energy is the energy an object has due to it's position at a height or in a gravitational field. It is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by the acceleration due to gravity by the height of the object. The ball sitting inside the balloon has a certain amountgravitational potential energy.
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. It is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by it's velocity squared divided by two.When the tennis ball rolls down the first ramp it has a certain amount of kinetic energy.
Reflection
Overall I think that I did well during this project. Two things I did the best at were leadership and work ethic. I was able to work well with my team by leading for some parts, but not taking too much control by letting my teammates have control for other parts. This let every member of my team give their ideas and help with the project. I also kept on task well, and did not get distracted by other things. This helped my group get work done so we could finish in time. I plan on continuing to do these things.
Although I had strengths I also had weaknesses. Two things I need to improve on are empathy and communication. There were times when I would not listen to my teammates ideas. This led to my group to be split up, which pushed us to be off task. I also did not communicate some of my ideas that clearly. This led to my group thinking I said something else. This led to us spending time doing something that i did not mean for us to do. I want to work on these subjects so that I can improve and be a better teammate.
Although I had strengths I also had weaknesses. Two things I need to improve on are empathy and communication. There were times when I would not listen to my teammates ideas. This led to my group to be split up, which pushed us to be off task. I also did not communicate some of my ideas that clearly. This led to my group thinking I said something else. This led to us spending time doing something that i did not mean for us to do. I want to work on these subjects so that I can improve and be a better teammate.