Crushing a Soda Can
Our Machine in Action
Physics concepts
Acceleration - a=∆velocity/∆time- The rate of change of velocity speeding up or slowing down.
Force - F=m•a - Is the push or pull on an object. It causes a change in motion.
Work - W=F•d - The amount of energy put into something.
Potential Energy - PE=m•g•h - Energy an object has due to position at height, or location in a gravitational field.
Kinetic Energy - KE=1/2 mv^2 - Energy due to motion.
Mechanical Advantage- MA(real)=F load/F effort ˜ MA(ideal)=d effort/d load - How much easier something makes something else.
Force - F=m•a - Is the push or pull on an object. It causes a change in motion.
Work - W=F•d - The amount of energy put into something.
Potential Energy - PE=m•g•h - Energy an object has due to position at height, or location in a gravitational field.
Kinetic Energy - KE=1/2 mv^2 - Energy due to motion.
Mechanical Advantage- MA(real)=F load/F effort ˜ MA(ideal)=d effort/d load - How much easier something makes something else.
Our PowerPoint
Simple Machines
Wedge - A triangular prism like shape that can hold an object of more weight than its own. We had a wedge in our Rube Goldberg machine holding a marble on a lever, which once the pulley moved the marble was able to roll down it like an inclined plane.
Lever - A piece of something resting on a pivot, allowing it to move a large weight with a smaller weight. We had a double lever in our Rube Goldberg machine because we had a weight falling and we wanted it to move a marble down into a funnel.
Inclined Plane - We had quite a few Inclined planes in our machine. We had some going one direction that dropped the ball onto another set of inclined planes going the other direction.
Pulley - The pulley was a crucial simple machine in crushing our can. The pulley made it so we were able to have a can full of weights pull closed a pair of scissors.
Reflection
Our Rube Goldberg Machine completed the task of crushing a soda can. It took us about 4 weeks of planning, building, and calculating to complete it. Along the way we ran into many problems, but also had many unexpected successes as well. The very first problem we ran into as a group was what task should our machine accomplish, and how. We first came up with a list of ideas of what our final product could be. We decided as a group that we didn't really want to do something someone else was doing so we decided on crushing a can. Then we ran into the problem of how hard it really is to crush a can. When we first tested it we tried to crush the can like you would normally see a can crushed, but we found out that that took to much force to do so we had to crush the can on it's side. We also ran into a lot of problems when constructing the pulley. We (a.) couldn't get the pulley to sit high enough (b.) couldn't get the scissors to cut the string and (c.) didn't have enough wait from the ball to pull the pulley. We solved these problems by (a.) making the string shorter (b.) switching from string to fishing whir, and using sharper and stranger scissors and (c.) added weight into a can that the ball just pushed off a platform to get it to have enough force to pull closed the scissors.
Over our project I learned that I am an okay group mate. I came up with a lot of good ideas for our projects. Also, i learned that I am good at when i know what to do i will get it done. However, I need to work on staying on task. I would often get distracted by something and have a hard time getting back on task. Also, I need to work on when I'm doing something to still listen to others input and combine it with my ideas. This taught me new things about myself and about working with others. I can't wait to start on another project where I can learn more.
Over our project I learned that I am an okay group mate. I came up with a lot of good ideas for our projects. Also, i learned that I am good at when i know what to do i will get it done. However, I need to work on staying on task. I would often get distracted by something and have a hard time getting back on task. Also, I need to work on when I'm doing something to still listen to others input and combine it with my ideas. This taught me new things about myself and about working with others. I can't wait to start on another project where I can learn more.