Our first project in STEM the Rube Goldberg machine was a fun yet challenging task to complete. Combining both construction from scratch and new physics concepts this project this project has set a good pace and beginning for STEM. Throughout the project we constructed Rube Goldberg machines in groups of 4. Due to the unstructured nature of this project it lead to lots of creative designs. A Rube Goldberg machine a system of complex parts put together in order to achieve a simple action like ringing a bell, pouring a container of dog food or in our case popping a balloon. Throughout the project we had nine work days to our machine with the need of at least 10 steps and include a minimum 5 different simple machines. These machines are screws, wedges, inclined plane, pulley, lever and wheel and axle. Our Rube Goldberg machine used the pulley, screw, inclined plane, lever and wedge. Our rube Goldberg machine began by dropping a marble down an inclined plane. The marble will then role till it hits a lever which will spin and let the marble role down into our second inclined plane. After the same marble will role down that and hit another marble down a screw then the first marble will fall into a cup so it doesn't affect any other steps. The second marble will role around in a 540 degree loop until it hits a cup which will activate a pulley. The pulley will pull on lever with the force of the ball which then causes a ball on the lever to fall and being its journey down our 3rd and 4th inclined plane. After these steps the ball will begin rolling down a contraption which I'm calling the pinball machine which is a inclined plain with a track for the ball to follow this cause the ball to hit pins which create a feint but satisfying ping noise. After this the ball will role down one last inclined plain where it will hit a piece of wood which will swing in an arc and pop a balloon with a nail acting as a wedge.
Equations
Our rube GOLDBERG machine in action
physics Concepts
Velocity- Velocity is the rate of distance covered in a direction. Its unit is meters per second and can be seen well in most our inclined planes. Velocity is basically how fast something is going in one direction due to it being a vector. Velocity is calculated by distance divided by time.
Acceleration- Acceleration is the rate of a change of velocity. It is often talked about in things like cars as how quickly it gets to a certain speed. Acceleration is calculated by dividing the velocity by time and unit is meters per seconds squared. It can be seen during our screw as it's speed increase down the track.
Force- Force is the amount of push or pull something emits. It is calculated using mass multiplied by acceleration and unit is the Newton and in the American system pounds. A good example of force in our Rube Goldberg machine is during its last step where the metal marble swings and hits the wood piece to pop the balloon.
Work- Work is the amount of energy required to complete an action. It is calculated by force times distance and unit is Joules. A good example of work in the outside world is a worker moving box up a ramp where force the worker is exerting to move the box and the distance he is moving it makes up the work.
Gravitational Potential Energy- Gravitational Potential Energy is the amount of energy an object has when being pulled down by earths gravity. It is calculated by mass times gravitational acceleration times height and also uses Joules as its unit. Its effects can be seen when the marble is being rolled down a ramp.
Mechanical Advantage- Mechanical Advantage is how much an tool make something easier to do. It is calculated through many means but generally it is the force without the tool divided by the force with the tool. It can be seen in the inclined planes where the gravitational acceleration is reduced by the length of the ramp.
Acceleration- Acceleration is the rate of a change of velocity. It is often talked about in things like cars as how quickly it gets to a certain speed. Acceleration is calculated by dividing the velocity by time and unit is meters per seconds squared. It can be seen during our screw as it's speed increase down the track.
Force- Force is the amount of push or pull something emits. It is calculated using mass multiplied by acceleration and unit is the Newton and in the American system pounds. A good example of force in our Rube Goldberg machine is during its last step where the metal marble swings and hits the wood piece to pop the balloon.
Work- Work is the amount of energy required to complete an action. It is calculated by force times distance and unit is Joules. A good example of work in the outside world is a worker moving box up a ramp where force the worker is exerting to move the box and the distance he is moving it makes up the work.
Gravitational Potential Energy- Gravitational Potential Energy is the amount of energy an object has when being pulled down by earths gravity. It is calculated by mass times gravitational acceleration times height and also uses Joules as its unit. Its effects can be seen when the marble is being rolled down a ramp.
Mechanical Advantage- Mechanical Advantage is how much an tool make something easier to do. It is calculated through many means but generally it is the force without the tool divided by the force with the tool. It can be seen in the inclined planes where the gravitational acceleration is reduced by the length of the ramp.
REFLECTION
The Rube Goldberg machine project was a fun and great project to begin my high school stem career. It helped show the pacing of what STEM would be like it also showed me what I could improve on in group work and construction projects. During the project I learned that I needed to communicate better when I try to explain things and learned how to communicate through examples. An example of this was when I was constructing the pinball machine my teammates couldn't under stand what I was trying to explain, but after I started working on what I was doing my group understood and started doing similar things with other parts on the machine. I also learned how to solve almost all problems involving mechanical advantage, velocity, acceleration, and force. I developed this ability through the last 2 days of work where I did all the required equation from hand made measurements. This was a big advancement due to before me doing the calculations I had struggled to solve equations. Throughout the whole project I struggled with communication having problems explaining my ideas and telling my teammates what they should due. This was shown well during the planning stages as I had struggled in my attempt to explain how we should pop the balloon. Another point I struggled at during the project was my inability to correctly measure and place drill holes. Though this is mainly due to my impatience it was very detrimental in time management and cause me to take up to 30 minutes to drill holes without premarked holes. This is shown well during my time attaching the pinball board to the main board which took way to long to successfully attach the 2 pieces.