Overview
In STEM we made Rube Goldberg machines. For those that do not know what that is, it is a complicated machine or contraption that performs a simple task. My group decided that our simple task would be to close a curtain. In the next month we had to plan, build, fine tune, and present our machine. The first three days were dedicated to planning out what we were going to include in our machine and create a blueprint of it. We then spent nine days building everything: the ramps, platforms, etc. After we were about done with the building, we spent three days fine tuning our machine, and getting it to work consistently. After that it was time to present our project. It wasn't perfect, but it worked pretty well.
For our Rube Goldberg Machine, we used five out of the six simple machines. We used a lever (a second class lever to be exact), many pulleys, a wedge to hold something up, a screw for a marble to roll down, and an inclined plane for various objects to roll down. all of these machines worked pretty smoothly. We also made sure to have at least four energy transfers throughout our machine. Energy transfers are when energy in an object is transferred to another object. For example, in our machine, we had an energy transfer where a marble hit a ball with potential energy which then became kinetic energy.
We had many physics concepts throughout our Rube Goldberg Machine as well. One concept was calculating force. Force is a push or pull on an object that causes change in motion. The equation for force is F=ma (Force = mass x acceleration). We found a force in our machine to be F = 0.04 kg x 0.83 m/s squared ---------- F = 0.0332N That is the force of the marble running down the screw.Another concept was mechanical advantage. Mechanical Advantage is how much easier (less force) a tool makes something or how much farther (more distance) you have to push using a tool. The equation you use to find Mechanical Advantage is MA=F without machine/ F with machine or MA= d with machine / d without machine. I found that the Mechanical Advantage of one of the pulley systems was 1 because it was a single pulley and however many pulleys there are being used is the Mechanical Advantage. One more concept was gravitational potential energy. That is the energy an object has due to its height or position in a gravitational field. The equation for it is PEg = mgh. The Potential energy of the marble at the beginning of the machine is PEg = 0.04 kg x 9.8 m/s squared x 1.22 m -------- PEg = 0.48
For our Rube Goldberg Machine, we used five out of the six simple machines. We used a lever (a second class lever to be exact), many pulleys, a wedge to hold something up, a screw for a marble to roll down, and an inclined plane for various objects to roll down. all of these machines worked pretty smoothly. We also made sure to have at least four energy transfers throughout our machine. Energy transfers are when energy in an object is transferred to another object. For example, in our machine, we had an energy transfer where a marble hit a ball with potential energy which then became kinetic energy.
We had many physics concepts throughout our Rube Goldberg Machine as well. One concept was calculating force. Force is a push or pull on an object that causes change in motion. The equation for force is F=ma (Force = mass x acceleration). We found a force in our machine to be F = 0.04 kg x 0.83 m/s squared ---------- F = 0.0332N That is the force of the marble running down the screw.Another concept was mechanical advantage. Mechanical Advantage is how much easier (less force) a tool makes something or how much farther (more distance) you have to push using a tool. The equation you use to find Mechanical Advantage is MA=F without machine/ F with machine or MA= d with machine / d without machine. I found that the Mechanical Advantage of one of the pulley systems was 1 because it was a single pulley and however many pulleys there are being used is the Mechanical Advantage. One more concept was gravitational potential energy. That is the energy an object has due to its height or position in a gravitational field. The equation for it is PEg = mgh. The Potential energy of the marble at the beginning of the machine is PEg = 0.04 kg x 9.8 m/s squared x 1.22 m -------- PEg = 0.48
During this project, I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I have a quiet voice when it comes to working in groups. I need to learn to be more outspoken and take more of a leadership role. I learned that I'm good at coming up with ideas of when the rest of the group can't think of anything.
As for the project, my group and I experienced some peaks and pits. Unfortunately there were a few pits. they were the days when we wouldn't accomplish much in the time we were given to build. They were also the days when we would have to take apart a section of the machine that had taken us a long time to build, and fix it. Another pit was when after we finished building, and it wouldn't work. The machine would not accomplish the end goal of closing the curtain for the first few days after we finished building, which you can imagine being very frustrating. The peaks of the machine was when we had really productive days and the machine would do what we intended for it to do. Also when we saw it work perfectly from start to finish.
Over all completing this project was a great experience. I loved planning, building and presenting it. I had a lot of fun doing it, and also learned a lot. I'm glad I got to be apart of the whole experience.
As for the project, my group and I experienced some peaks and pits. Unfortunately there were a few pits. they were the days when we wouldn't accomplish much in the time we were given to build. They were also the days when we would have to take apart a section of the machine that had taken us a long time to build, and fix it. Another pit was when after we finished building, and it wouldn't work. The machine would not accomplish the end goal of closing the curtain for the first few days after we finished building, which you can imagine being very frustrating. The peaks of the machine was when we had really productive days and the machine would do what we intended for it to do. Also when we saw it work perfectly from start to finish.
Over all completing this project was a great experience. I loved planning, building and presenting it. I had a lot of fun doing it, and also learned a lot. I'm glad I got to be apart of the whole experience.