How to Feed the Fish
The past month in room 206 at San Marin high school we have been building Rube Goldberg Machines (complex machines built to do one simple task.) Our final product had ten steps. After making a small sketch of steps we wanted to include we started building. the first step is to release a wooden ball that swings like a pendulum. then six wooden dominoes knock over after the first one starts a chain reaction. the last domino hits s car that lands on a lever. the lever hits a marble placed on a wooden block then goes down a tube. After it is out the first tube it goes into a screw once it comes out the screw it hits a weight attached to a wedge through a pulley the other side of the pulley goes up letting the wedge under slide out and hit the fish food hitting it into the bowl. After we finished the building part we created a power point presentation including a equation that had physics for each step.
Reflection
Although our machine did not work my team and I did put in a valent effort. We didn't do a perfect job and certainly could have improved in several areas. We had about a month to prepare for physics night where we presented our machine. The end goal of our machine was to feed a fish. My group had a lot of fun working on this project and often got sidetracked with other topics.The most exciting part of this project was making the blue prints. Although it had to be finished quickly because we were a little inefficient when it came to timing, I had fun measuring the lengths and widths and finding the angles of shapes. I used a 3D blueprint website named tinker-cad. One of the hardest things about the blueprints was finding the right shape to use for the tubes we had in our machine. Since all the groups had the same materials to use around them i asked to see what shape other classmates used in the blueprints. I'm still not 100% sure if the final spring shape i used was the right one because the website had so many other shapes that looked similar. The presentations went alright but some of us were quite nervous before and were quite relieved afterwards. I think a way i can minimize this unsteadiness in future presenting would be to memorize key items i want to go over in my part.
The past month in room 206 at San Marin high school we have been building Rube Goldberg Machines (complex machines built to do one simple task.) Our final product had ten steps. After making a small sketch of steps we wanted to include we started building. the first step is to release a wooden ball that swings like a pendulum. then six wooden dominoes knock over after the first one starts a chain reaction. the last domino hits s car that lands on a lever. the lever hits a marble placed on a wooden block then goes down a tube. After it is out the first tube it goes into a screw once it comes out the screw it hits a weight attached to a wedge through a pulley the other side of the pulley goes up letting the wedge under slide out and hit the fish food hitting it into the bowl. After we finished the building part we created a power point presentation including a equation that had physics for each step.
Reflection
Although our machine did not work my team and I did put in a valent effort. We didn't do a perfect job and certainly could have improved in several areas. We had about a month to prepare for physics night where we presented our machine. The end goal of our machine was to feed a fish. My group had a lot of fun working on this project and often got sidetracked with other topics.The most exciting part of this project was making the blue prints. Although it had to be finished quickly because we were a little inefficient when it came to timing, I had fun measuring the lengths and widths and finding the angles of shapes. I used a 3D blueprint website named tinker-cad. One of the hardest things about the blueprints was finding the right shape to use for the tubes we had in our machine. Since all the groups had the same materials to use around them i asked to see what shape other classmates used in the blueprints. I'm still not 100% sure if the final spring shape i used was the right one because the website had so many other shapes that looked similar. The presentations went alright but some of us were quite nervous before and were quite relieved afterwards. I think a way i can minimize this unsteadiness in future presenting would be to memorize key items i want to go over in my part.
- Force- Force can be described as a push or pull on an object. It is calculated by multiplying mass to acceleration. When the car hits the lever it had a certain amount of force.
- Speed/Velocity- Speed is the amount of distance an object covers in a given amount of time, and velocity is speed with a direction. They are calculated by dividing distance and time. When the car rolls down the ramp, it has a certain speed and velocity.
- Mechanical Advantage- Mechanical advantage is how much easier the machine makes work. This is calculated by dividing the input distance by the output distance. The lever that launched the marble had a certain mechanical advantage.
- Work- Work is the amount of force applied to move an object a certain distance. It is calculated by multiplying force and distance. When the marble moves the cup on the other side of the pulley, it is doing work.
- Potential Energy- Potential energy is the energy of an object in a certain position. PE is calculated by multiplying mass, acceleration due to gravity, and the height of the object. When the car is at the top of the ramp it has a certain amount of PE.
- Kinetic Energy- Kinetic energy is how much energy an object has due to motion. It is calculated by multiplying 1/2 mass and velocity squared. When the car is moving down the ramp it has a certain amount of KE. Work, the change in PE, and the change in KE are all equal.
- Acceleration- Acceleration is the rate of change in an object's motion. It is calculated by dividing the change in velocity and the change in time. As the car rolls down the ramp it accelerates.
This is our prezi presentation.