I made my Rube Goldberg machine with Chapin, Jake and Joey. Our machine was chef boyardee themed. Our end goal was to pour a can of raviolis into a bowl
The Machine
Process
Over the course of about 4 weeks, we built our machine, calculated the physics and made a presentation. I did a lot of work on the pully and the lever for the machine. For the presentation, I did all of the physics calculations, the construction log, the energy transfers and identifying the 5 simple machines. We first brainstormed an idea. We had many ideas, but we chose chef boyardee because we thought it would be both "easy and amusing." We then spent the next 2 and a half weeks building our machine and the blueprint. We didn't go from top to bottom, we started on the top and bottom and worked towards the middle. After that, we spent the rest of the time working on our presentation
Reflection
I personally think that my group did a fairly good job on the construction, but not so much on the other aspects. One peak I had would be making sure work got done. Whenever I was doing work, I would give it my all and I wouldn't stop until the job was done. I may have not known what I was doing, but I would eventually figure it out. Which leads me to another peak which was stepping down. Since I had little to no skill with power tools, I had to step down and let another student be a leader which is not something I do easily. A pit of mine would be keeping good relations between the groups. My group would have a lot of arguments over little things and I wasn't exactly helping to stop them. In fact I usually caused the arguments which is something I hope I can not do as much in future projects. Another pit I had was time management. Even if I eventually did the work I didn't exactly do it in a reasonable time. We spent 3 days on the pulley alone and were still doing work when we had 5 minutes until the presentation. Even so I still think I did just a good of a job on this project as everyone else, which was pretty dang good.
Concepts
Force: The amount of push or pull on an object. Force can be found by multiplying mass by acceleration. It is measured in newtons(N). Whenever any object hit another I.E. the domino hitting the meat hammer it would have force
Velocity: The rate of covered distance in one direction. Velocity is found by dividing distance by time. It is measured in meters per second. Whenever an object moved from one place to another I.E. the ball rolling down the ramp it has velocity
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes. It is calculated by dividing the change in velocity by time. It is measured in meters per second squared. Whenever an object had its velocity change I.E. the ball moving once the lever goes up it has acceleration
Mechanical Advantage: Mechanical advantage is how much easier a machine makes a task. It is calculated by dividing the amount of force on the load by the amount of force on the effort. It has no unit. If a simple machine functions and makes a task easier I.E. the pulley it has mechanical advantage
Potential Energy: Potential energy is how much energy an object has due to its position in height. It is calculated by multiplying mass by acceleration due to gravity times height. It is measured in Joules. Whenever an object has height and is affected by gravity I.E. the hammer on the platform it has potential energy
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. It is calculated by taking half of the objects mass times velocity squared. It is measured in Joules. When an object has a change in potential energy I.E. the hammer swinging it has kinetic energy.
Acceleration due to Gravity: Acceleration due to gravity is how fast an object moves due to gravity. It is always 9.8m/s^2 on Earth. Whenever an object inside Earth's gravitational pull is not being acted upon by an outside force I.E. the cup moving down on the pulley it has acceleration due to gravity
Mass: Mass is how much matter is in an object. It is found with a scale. It is measured in kilograms. If an object exists, it has matter
Work: Work is how much energy is put into something. It is found by multiplying force by distance. It is measured in Joules. If an object is moving due to force I.E. the cup moving down after the sauce is in the cup it has work
Velocity: The rate of covered distance in one direction. Velocity is found by dividing distance by time. It is measured in meters per second. Whenever an object moved from one place to another I.E. the ball rolling down the ramp it has velocity
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes. It is calculated by dividing the change in velocity by time. It is measured in meters per second squared. Whenever an object had its velocity change I.E. the ball moving once the lever goes up it has acceleration
Mechanical Advantage: Mechanical advantage is how much easier a machine makes a task. It is calculated by dividing the amount of force on the load by the amount of force on the effort. It has no unit. If a simple machine functions and makes a task easier I.E. the pulley it has mechanical advantage
Potential Energy: Potential energy is how much energy an object has due to its position in height. It is calculated by multiplying mass by acceleration due to gravity times height. It is measured in Joules. Whenever an object has height and is affected by gravity I.E. the hammer on the platform it has potential energy
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. It is calculated by taking half of the objects mass times velocity squared. It is measured in Joules. When an object has a change in potential energy I.E. the hammer swinging it has kinetic energy.
Acceleration due to Gravity: Acceleration due to gravity is how fast an object moves due to gravity. It is always 9.8m/s^2 on Earth. Whenever an object inside Earth's gravitational pull is not being acted upon by an outside force I.E. the cup moving down on the pulley it has acceleration due to gravity
Mass: Mass is how much matter is in an object. It is found with a scale. It is measured in kilograms. If an object exists, it has matter
Work: Work is how much energy is put into something. It is found by multiplying force by distance. It is measured in Joules. If an object is moving due to force I.E. the cup moving down after the sauce is in the cup it has work