Our Rube Goldberg Machine

Our task was to create a Rube Goldberg Machine with a minimum of ten steps that utilize at least five of the simple machines: a lever, a wheel and axle, a pulley, an inclined plane, a wedge, and a screw. We were given nine days to build our machine and four days to calculate the physics of our machine and design our presentation. Each machine also needed to have a theme, such as 'rainforest' or 'under the lights'. We brainstormed our first ideas for our machine theme by individually drawing out sketches of what we wanted our project to look like. We then came together and discussed our own ideas and combined them to create our first original blueprint. After we built our entire machine, we then redrew our blueprint to be as accurate as possible.

While we were building our machine, we were adding onto our Construction Log. The Construction Log recorded and explained what progress we made each day. The Construction Log can be seen down below. We showed this to viewers who came on the presentation night to give them a detailed description of our daily progress. This was important to us because if a problem where to occur while building our machine, we could look back and see when it happened and what was affected by it.

We also created a pamphlet to give to viewers who came to watch our presentation. In the pamphlet we included information about the dimensions of the ramps, balls, and funnels that we used in our machine. We also included the physics for each step and how each step functioned. The pamphlet is shown below.

Physics

Velocity: Velocity is the rate of distance, covered in a direction. The equation for velocity is V=change in distance/change in time. Velocity is labeled in m/s (meters per second). We calculated velocity in our machine in Step 4 when the ball rolled down the ramp. This is how we solved it.

Velocity=change of distance/change of time

Velocity=0.203m/0.55s

Velocity=0.37m/s

Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity (how much something is speeding up or slowing down). To find the acceleration of something use the equation a=change of velocity/change of time. Acceleration is labeled by m/s^2. An example of when we calculated acceleration in our machine was on Step 10, when we raised the flag. The acceleration is of the flag raising is about 9.8m/s^2 because acceleration is always 9.8m/s^2 but may be slower due to friction (of the string rubbing against the pole).

Force: Force is the amount of push or pull on an object. The formula to find a force of an object is F=ma (mass times acceleration). Force is labeled in Newtons (N). An example of force in our Rube Goldberg machine is on the chicken and weight pulling down on the red wire, on step 1. This is how we solved for the force.

F=ma (Force=mass times acceleration)

F=(0.015kg+0.5kg)(9.8ms^2)

F=5.047N

Work: Work is the amount of energy put into something. The equation for work is W=Fd (force times distance). Work is labeled in joules (J). An example of of finding work for something would be in a problem such as: A student applies a force of 5oN to move a desk in the classroom, 5 meters. How much work did the teacher do? To solve this you would do...

W=Fd

W=50N(5m)

W=250J

Potential Energy: Potential Energy is energy an object has due to its position at a height or in a a gravitational field. To find the potential energy of an object use the equation PEg=mgh (mass times acceleration due to gravity times height). Potential energy is also labeled in joules (J). We found the potential energy the ball has at the top of the funnel, during Step 7

PE=mgh (mass, acceleration due to gravity, height)

PE=0.008kg*0.05*0.05m

PE= 0.004J

Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. The equation for kinetic energy is KE=0.5mv^2 (0.5 times mass times velocity squared). Kinetic energy is also labeled in joules (J).

Mechanical Advantage: The mechanical advantage is how much easier (or less force) a tool makes a task. The equation for mechanical advantage is MA= Fload/Feffort (F is the force). If the mechanical advantage is greater than one that means it made the task easier. We found mechanical advantage in our pulley system. We solved it by...

MA= Fload/Feffort

MA= 0.120kg/.120kg

MA=1

While working on this project a lot of things went wrong. Whether it was what I was working on or what someone else was working on, something always seemed to go wrong. That became extremely frustrating at times and you could tell when my teammates and I were getting frustrated. When we were frustrated we did not work as efficiently and would lose focus. I feel that if I try to stay more positive in the future, that would have a positive impact on my teammates. If we all stay happy and confident we tend to get more work done and enjoy each other more. I also would like to work on staying on task. It was hard to stay on task when working with three friends. If I stayed on task more I could have been more helpful to my team and could have gotten more work done sooner. Overall, I will continue to work on staying extremely focused so I can finish all my work.

Something positive I learned about myself is that I am good at solving problems. When someone was stuck in my group, I d always help them and we would continue to work as a team to figure it out. This was helpful so that we did not get stuck on one task and could keep moving forward.

Something positive about working with my team is that we all worked well together. When we first met we were all a little shy and were not the best at communicating. Though, throughout the project we started to click and mesh well together. We figured out each other's weaknesses and strengths that way we could assign different people to the tasks that we knew they could get done. We also had fun working together. Unlike some other groups, our group never fought and always listened to each other's ideas. I think being able to work so well with my group helped us create such a successful project without getting mad or frustrated with each other while building it.

One thing that we could have done better in our group was dividing the work load. It was obvious that people were doing more work than what they should have been doing, and others were doing much less work than they could be doing. This made it hard on the people who did do most of the work because they had a lot of stress to make sure they finish it.

Overall, this project was super fun and I loved working with new people and tools. It was a great experience building my first Rube Goldberg Machine, and learning all the information that comes with it. I now know how to calculate force, velocity, acceleration, work, potential energy, kinetic energy, and mechanical advantage. I also learned helpful information about myself and how to work well with others. I can not wait for the next project in STEM.