RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE
Our schematics drawing for our Rube Goldberg. (to scale)
All of our calculations for each step.
Working on the project and fixing problem areas.
Working on painting our project with red paint.
Our project at the beginning.
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Our Rube Goldberg machine was a very complicated way of cutting a variety of fruits. We worked on our Rube Goldberg for about 4 weeks, and made all of the calculations in another few days. My group was Leo, Ben, and Eric. Our machine had 5 simple steps, 4 energy transfers, and 12 steps. Steps: Step 1: Ben blew through a straw and started the ball bearing rolling down the inclined plane. Step 2: The ball bearing rolling down the first inclined plane with a velocity of 1.82 m/s. Step 3: The ball bearing falling into a cup that's attached to a pulley, sending the pulley down with a force of 0.162 N. Step 4: The cup with the first ball bearing in it hits another ball bearing, sending that ball rolling with an acceleration of 1.1 m/s^2. Step 5: The ball bearing rolls through a funnel (also a screw) with a mechanical advantage of 5.14. Step 6: The ball bearing falls into a cup attached to a lever, that rotates and drops the ball 180 degrees later onto an inclined plane with a mechanical advantage of 1.19. Step 7: The lacrosse ball is released and rolls down the inclined plane with a force of 153.076 N, rolling towards to clip to release the guillotine. Step 8: The ball bearing from the the lever falls onto the inclined plane with a change of potential energy of 0.0024 J. Step 9: The ball bearing rolls through the pegs and rolls on an inclined plane with a mechanical advantage of 3.67. Step 10: The ball bearing falls through a tube and lands on the computer to make a cheering sound with a force of 0.16 N. Step 11: The lacrosse ball sends the ring up activating the guillotine's pulley with a force of 10 N. Step 12: The guillotine falls and cuts the fruit with a mechanical advantage of 2200. Physics: velocity: V=d/t the rate of change of an object (step 2) acceleration: a=v/t the rate at which the velocity of an object changes over time (step 4) mechanical advantage: input/output the ratio of the output force produced by a machine to the applied imput force (steps 5, 6, 9, and 12) change in potential energy: PE=mgh where the force of gravity is the change in height of total work done by gravity (step 8) speed: d/t the rate at which someone or something is able to move or operate force: F=ma can cause an object with mass to change it's velocity (steps 3, 7, 10, and 11) impulse: I=Ft a sudden strong and unreflexive urge or desire to act momentum: M=mv the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of it's mass and velocity work: W=Fd a displacement of the point of application in the direction of the force power: P=w/t the rate of doing work Our group worked very well together. We did a really good job brainstorming our ideas, comparing our answers, and choosing as a team what we wanted to follow through with. We also communicated our ideas to eachother in a friendly way so we didn't hurt anyody else's feelings. We could have worked on concentrating a little more, and focusing more when we needed to work. We also could've improved our building skills to make the presentation cleaner on the board. To improve our projects presention, we probably could've made a more detailed power point and showed pictures of the beginnings of the project to the audience. I learned two major things working on this project. First, I learned way more working with a group for more than a few days, so you get to know each other well. We actually got really close as a group, because we spent almost 40 hours working together in class. Second, I learned about searching the internet more. This came up when we tried to find where to buy a mini guillitine (you can't- we made it), find the right sound effect for cheering, and to find correct definitions for different physics concepts. I could have done a couple things better. I could have worked more at home to make our presentation stronger, and fix minor details that didn't always work. I also could've worked harder during class, to make our machine work 100% of the time, and not just 90%. Finally, I should have worked harder to make our group focus as a whole, and solve minor conflicts we had in our group. |