Description- A Rube Goldberg is a machine that uses many complex steps to complete a simple task, in our case, Mentos into Coca Cola. It has variety of fluid steps that connect and contribute to a larger purpose. Our Rube Goldberg machine had 12 total steps which can be seen as recorded below and worked consistently. The machine was fun to build as well as extremely educational and helped my learn more about the real life applications.
Step by Step: 1. a 1000 g weight slides down inclined plain that has a mechanical advantage of 1.67 and pulls the trigger on the nerf gun 2. nerf gun fires the wedge (a tacked dart), and wedges into balloon, popping it. 3. a ball from inside the balloon falls through our yellow funnel where its potential energy is 0.4 Joules and into a cup, activating the pulley which has a mechanical advantage of 1 4. pulley lifts lever, angling it so the ball can roll down it with an average velocity of 0.66 cm/s² and a final velocity of 1.32 cm/s² 5. the ball then falls off the lever and runs through the pegboard 6. ball exits pegboard and rolls down inclined plane with a mechanical advantage of 6 7. the ball falls into cup, activating lever with a mechanical advantage of 1.25 8. that same ball rolls down our screw, executing our last few steps. 9. ball rolls down another inclined plane, hitting a weight with a potential energy of 0.74 Joules, that is attached to a "trapdoor" 10. weight falls of plank, releasing the trapdoor 11. mentos drops with an average velocity of 2.2 cm/s² and a final velocity of 4 cm/s² 12. mentos enter coke creating a fizzy chemical reaction
Energy Transfers- 1. PE > KE ~ Step 3 3. PE > KE ~ Step 4 2.PE > KE ~ Step 1 4. PE > KE ~ Step 7 & 8
Construction Record- 8/31. We began our original schematic and planned our end result 9/1. We completed our schematic and agreed on who would bring what materials 9/2. We created a revised, full scale schematic,complete with measurements and steps 9/8. We spent our entire first build day piecing together a perfect 4x4 vertical base 9/10. We completed the first step on our base 9/11. Step 2 and 3 were completed, taking up the whole period 9/15. On this day, we set up, tested, and perfected our 1st pulley 9/16. We attached our reliable pulley to a lever, also known as step 4 9/18. We build and secured a pegboard to our base 9/22. Jake, Eliza, and I created a ramp while Addie glued support to the pegboard 9/23. On this day we created a second pulley and lever as our step 7 9/25. Eliza spent most of the period on our homemade screw while we finished up the last few steps and completed the project 9/28. This period was spent tweaking and testing our project 9/30. We created our presentation all period 9/31. Presentation Day
Formulas and Forces- Force: With the equation Force = Mass x Acceleration, Force is calculated in Newtons (N) Acceleration: With an equation of Acceleration = change in velocity % change in time, Acceleration is calculated in meters/seconds Velocity: With an equation of Velocity = change in distance % change in time, Velocity is also calculated in meters/ seconds Mechanical Advantage: With an equation of MA = effort % load, MA doesn't have a unit of measure Work: With an equation of Work = Force x Distance, Work is calculated in Joules (J) Potential Energy: With an equation of PE = Mass x Acceleration of Gravity x Height, PE is measured in Joules Kenetic Energy: With an equation of KE = 1/2 x Mass x Velocity²
Reflection- This project was extremely fun, not to mention very educational. Not only did it teach me building and physics skills, but also taught me a lot about group work and social skill. One mechanical thing I learned about was different formulas and how to apply them. For example, my group and I had to figure out the velocity of a few inclined planes, so we measured the length of our ramp in meters and recorded the time it took for our ball to roll down the ramp. This was helpful because I could apply my knowledge of velocity to a real world scenario. I also learned how to overcome problems within group work. One problem was that I didn't step up to a leadership role as well as I'd have liked to. When we were deciding on how to set up the pegboard, I just followed everyone's ideas, rather than pitching in my own. In the future, I will contribute and argue my veiwpoint. I really enjoyed this project because i am fascinated with the design and building aspect of it. The Rube Goldberg machine was a great project and I hope to do more like it.