Rube Goldberg Machine
The first project we did in STEM this year was the Rube Goldberg Machine. Rube Goldberg machines were named after famous cartoonist, inventor, author, and engineer Rube Goldberg. He is most known for his cartoons depicting simple tasks being completed using inefficient steps. Our STEM class has decided to use our new knowledge of physics to create a three-dimensional Rube Goldberg machine based on his comics.
|
|
Our Rube Goldberg Machine:
The purpose of our Rube Goldberg Machine was to staple two pieces of paper together while including five simple machines, four energy transfers, and at least ten steps.
In our machine, we chose to utilize a pulley, inclined planes, a lever, a wedge, and a screw. In our first step, we rolled a metal ball down an inclined plane to hit a lever. Once the ball hit the lever, the other side of the lever would exert a force onto a line of dominos, which would hit another ball previously held by a wedge. This ball would continue a path down three inclined planes to hit a piece of wood stopping our "zip line" from moving. Once the zip line was released, a mass moved down an inclined plane made of wire, which was our zip line, to hit a golf ball. The golf ball would roll down an aluminum foil screw and fall into a cup to put a force onto an open pair of scissors. The scissors would be pushed together, cutting a string attached to our pulley, causing a mass to fall onto a stapler, pushing down the stapler and stapling the pieces of paper together.
Physics Concepts Used:
Mechanical Advantage- How much easier a machine makes work. We used mechanical advantage on our pulley system and inclined planes. For example, our pulley had a mechanical advantage of 1, and our first inclined plane had an MA of 1.6.
Work- Work is calculated using force times distance (W=Fd). On our machine, we calculated the amount of work done on the dominoes by the lever.
Potential and Kinetic Energy- Potential energy are theoretically equal, but are actually different because of our imperfect conditions including friction and air resistance. The energy of our pulley system is easily explained in the photo to the right.
Force- It can be described as a push or pull. Force is acceleration times mass (F=ma). Our lever exerted a force on our first domino.
Simple Machines- Having the knowledge of simple machines helped to make it easier to complete this project efficiently because we already knew how to easily calculate the physics behind our project. If we had used other steps to make our machine, it would be much harder to explain the physics behind it.
The purpose of our Rube Goldberg Machine was to staple two pieces of paper together while including five simple machines, four energy transfers, and at least ten steps.
In our machine, we chose to utilize a pulley, inclined planes, a lever, a wedge, and a screw. In our first step, we rolled a metal ball down an inclined plane to hit a lever. Once the ball hit the lever, the other side of the lever would exert a force onto a line of dominos, which would hit another ball previously held by a wedge. This ball would continue a path down three inclined planes to hit a piece of wood stopping our "zip line" from moving. Once the zip line was released, a mass moved down an inclined plane made of wire, which was our zip line, to hit a golf ball. The golf ball would roll down an aluminum foil screw and fall into a cup to put a force onto an open pair of scissors. The scissors would be pushed together, cutting a string attached to our pulley, causing a mass to fall onto a stapler, pushing down the stapler and stapling the pieces of paper together.
Physics Concepts Used:
Mechanical Advantage- How much easier a machine makes work. We used mechanical advantage on our pulley system and inclined planes. For example, our pulley had a mechanical advantage of 1, and our first inclined plane had an MA of 1.6.
Work- Work is calculated using force times distance (W=Fd). On our machine, we calculated the amount of work done on the dominoes by the lever.
Potential and Kinetic Energy- Potential energy are theoretically equal, but are actually different because of our imperfect conditions including friction and air resistance. The energy of our pulley system is easily explained in the photo to the right.
Force- It can be described as a push or pull. Force is acceleration times mass (F=ma). Our lever exerted a force on our first domino.
Simple Machines- Having the knowledge of simple machines helped to make it easier to complete this project efficiently because we already knew how to easily calculate the physics behind our project. If we had used other steps to make our machine, it would be much harder to explain the physics behind it.
Reflection:
In creating this machine, we obviously experienced some problems and setbacks. When we first started our project, our group was very eager to begin, but we had trouble creating a concrete plan for our machine in a timely manner. We each had envisioned the project in a different way, and had no idea that it would take so long to combine our ideas into the perfect machine that would utilize all of our resources and have a small part of each of our plans in it. It was difficult to agree on some steps while in the designing stage. Once we actually came up with our design, we were unable to create our three-dimensional project while using our time wisely. Our group got along very well, but this was a pitfall in our construction, as we would repeatedly get distracted or not know how to continue construction without finishing previous steps. In the second half of the time we were given, we realized that we had not made enough progress. Since we were rushing to finish our machine, we did not complete it to the full potential it could have had if we had used our time wisely.
Although we had a few problems, most of my experience of this project was actually very good. I was able to gain many new skills, including using power tools. Before STEM, I had never used a drill, and definitely had no idea what a drill bit was. I also found that I had been underestimating my arm strength and could actually hammer down a nail and saw through a piece of wood pretty well. Another skill I learned was multitasking in a group project to be more successful and timely. While other group members were working on one step, I realized that continuing the project by doing another step helped us tremendously when putting all the steps together in the final product.