Fire Away Process

The goal of this project was to make a catapult or trebuchet that would sling a ball of clay the furthest. My group, consisted of me, Noah and Erik. We built a where given 2 build days to make this contraption. We built the base out of wood, and the axle out of metal, the arm out of PVC. We chose to make the axle out of metal because it had very low friction rubbing against the PVC. To make the arm move we connected 6 rubber band to it. Then each group choose on aspect of the trebuchet that they could redesign to make it launch further. Some design aspects that our class found that could be applied to increase launch distance where, adding string, spiting on the axle, and changing the effort to load ratio. In the end, we made our catapult made go a whooping 43 meters!

Alternative Energy Vehicle process

The goal for this project was to make a vehicle that would travel exactly 5 meters and be reusable. We created a slingshot type car that would would hold it's two rolls of pennies in a half pipe of PVC. And it has four wheels with a 4 inch nail sticking out of the top. This nail is for the rubber bands. We made a platform for our car to sit on and for the poles to hold the rubber bands. Then we took calculations and made graphs. Then we presented our project as part of finals.

Content

Spring potential energy- This is the amount of potential energy in an elastic or spring type object. The rubber bands has spring potential energy when pulled back.

Gravitational potential energy- This is the amount of energy an object has in relation to the ground. On example of this is our car before it has moved.

Total energy- This is the total amount of energy an object has. To calculate this, you find the original potential energy.

Thermal energy- Thermal energy is the amount of energy lost to heat. To find this do Total energy-PE-KE. For example, if you rub your hands together fast they heat up, that is thermal energy.

Reflection

After doing this two part project with my team I learned that I could improve on two things: time management and perseverance. One way I could improve my time management is by making a schedule of the things I have to do for the project. This could help me keep on track of things i have to do and help me think ahead for different aspects of the project. One way I could be better at persevering when completing a project is to not get discouraged when encountering difficult circumstances. Instead, I could try to approach the challenge a new way. In the next project, I will try very hard to improve on these two teamwork traits.

Two things that I believe that I excelled in this project are leadership and presentation making. I excelled in leadership in this project because I kept the group on track and listened to their ideas. This was crucial to finishing the project on time and doing well on it. I did well in presentation making in this project because I learned how to do new things, such as making tables and graphs and presenting them. This is skill that I can use through high school and for the rest of my career.