2. Compound Machine Project

Driving Questions:

• How can I apply the Design Process to build a compound machine?
• How do simple machines with high Mechanical Advantage affect the overall Mechanical Advantage of a Compound Machine?

In this project we were supposed to come up with a compound machine which should include at least 3 mechanisms (Pulleys,Levers,etc.). With that machine we created as a group had to launch a golf ball 6ft or more. The project my group and I created had a pulley and two levers and we managed to shoot the ball 3 floor tiles (6 feet).

What I learned...

In this project I learned the importance of mechanical advantage in a machine. Mechanical Advantage shows how easy it is to function the machine. This is really important because it allows one to determine the most functional machine.

Conclusion Questions:

1. For which mechanism was it the easiest to determine the mechanical advantage or drive ratio? Why was it the easiest?

It was the easiest to determine the mechanical advantage of the levers because you could just set the lever on top of the gauge and it will show you it's resistance force and for the effort force you just had to push it up.

2. For which mechanism was it the most difficult to determine the mechanical advantage or drive ratio? Why was it the most difficult?

In my opinion I thought the pulley was the hardest to determine it's mechanical advantage because when we were measuring it's force the knot kept on slipping from the gauge so it made it quite tedious.

3. At what value would you estimate the input and output forces of your compound machine? How did you arrive at your estimated values?

We used the vernier gauges to measure the forces involved with our machine.

4. What modifications could you make to your compound machine to make it more mechanically efficient?

We could've added another pulley to make it a bit easier to launch the golf ball further. We also could've added more weights on one of the lever to increase the total force to launch the golf ball.