For this project the groups had to create a series of complex steps that do a simple task (a Rube Goldberg machine). The first thing in this project that we had to do was to come up with a simple task that our machine would accomplish. Since this was a group project and we all had many ideas, we first made a list of all the simple tasks we were interested in doing. Next we voted on the most practical, fun, and creative idea. The four of us came to a clear decision that we would do the simple task of making a bowl of cereal.
The next part of creating our project was making a plan. The first thing that we did in making our plan was to draw up a decent blueprint of the rube Goldberg. To do this we discussed many ways we could make this work and started to draw the parts of the project. After all this we came up with a blueprint containing about 14-15 steps. The next thing we had to do was start to build the actual project.
What we were supplied with when we started was a 4ft x 4ft piece of plywood, assorted pieces of wood, and the items we brought from our houses to use. In our construction we built starting from step one to the end. Form this we built our Rube Goldberg making some changes to the original design. Finally we presented our Rube Goldberg to our class and to judges to finish the project.
There are many concepts that we used while doing this project that we learned beforehand. The main concepts that we used were the 6 simple machines, forces, momentum, impulse, mass, mechanical advantage, velocity, kinetic energy, potential energy, work, acceleration, and distance. We used 5 of the 6 simple machines in our Rube Goldberg to make it work. These simple machines that we used were the lever, wedge, screw, inclined plane, and pulley. The physics concepts we used we very helpful in calculations on the steps in our Rube Goldberg, like being able to find the force of 0.148 Newton’s in step 9 where the wedge has an upward force. This information helped a lot in making our presentation for the presentation night. The first concept is the 6 simple machines which all have to do with having a greater mechanical advantage (MA=input/output). Next is momentum and impulse which can be used to find mass, force, velocity, and time since they equal each other. Potential and Kinetic energy are used to find how energy and object will have at certain points. Work is used to see how much energy is used (Force x Distance). Finally acceleration is used to see how much an object speeds up.
Like in all projects there are positives and negatives that occur even in great groups. Our biggest problem in building our Rube Goldberg was our plan of having a motorized screw not working. Since it didn’t work, we came up with making it a stationary screw and using upward dominos to push the mass in step 16. I believe some things I did well was getting our group back on task, leading, and making sure we used some of everyone’s ideas in building the project. Some things I could have done better at were letting others lead more often, describing ideas more clearly, and staying completely focused on the project more often. Some examples of my positives and negatives are leading our group when we were getting lost and distracted and when I was describing the first couple of steps I was not completely clear on my idea and I confused my group. I will learn from my negatives and work hard to improve them and I will continue to do my positives.
The next part of creating our project was making a plan. The first thing that we did in making our plan was to draw up a decent blueprint of the rube Goldberg. To do this we discussed many ways we could make this work and started to draw the parts of the project. After all this we came up with a blueprint containing about 14-15 steps. The next thing we had to do was start to build the actual project.
What we were supplied with when we started was a 4ft x 4ft piece of plywood, assorted pieces of wood, and the items we brought from our houses to use. In our construction we built starting from step one to the end. Form this we built our Rube Goldberg making some changes to the original design. Finally we presented our Rube Goldberg to our class and to judges to finish the project.
There are many concepts that we used while doing this project that we learned beforehand. The main concepts that we used were the 6 simple machines, forces, momentum, impulse, mass, mechanical advantage, velocity, kinetic energy, potential energy, work, acceleration, and distance. We used 5 of the 6 simple machines in our Rube Goldberg to make it work. These simple machines that we used were the lever, wedge, screw, inclined plane, and pulley. The physics concepts we used we very helpful in calculations on the steps in our Rube Goldberg, like being able to find the force of 0.148 Newton’s in step 9 where the wedge has an upward force. This information helped a lot in making our presentation for the presentation night. The first concept is the 6 simple machines which all have to do with having a greater mechanical advantage (MA=input/output). Next is momentum and impulse which can be used to find mass, force, velocity, and time since they equal each other. Potential and Kinetic energy are used to find how energy and object will have at certain points. Work is used to see how much energy is used (Force x Distance). Finally acceleration is used to see how much an object speeds up.
Like in all projects there are positives and negatives that occur even in great groups. Our biggest problem in building our Rube Goldberg was our plan of having a motorized screw not working. Since it didn’t work, we came up with making it a stationary screw and using upward dominos to push the mass in step 16. I believe some things I did well was getting our group back on task, leading, and making sure we used some of everyone’s ideas in building the project. Some things I could have done better at were letting others lead more often, describing ideas more clearly, and staying completely focused on the project more often. Some examples of my positives and negatives are leading our group when we were getting lost and distracted and when I was describing the first couple of steps I was not completely clear on my idea and I confused my group. I will learn from my negatives and work hard to improve them and I will continue to do my positives.