Fire Away! and Alternative Energy Vehicle
What was the Goal for these Projects?
Fire Away!: The goal for the Fire Away project was to create a catapult or trebuchet that launched a projectile as far as possible.
Alternative Energy Vehicle: The goal for this project was to a create a vehicle that used environmentally safe materials and transported two "passengers" (rolls of pennies) five meters.
Fire Away!
Evidence of Work:
Alternative Energy Vehicle
Evidence of Work:
The Process:
When we were first given the assignment to create this car we immediately overlooked the level of difficulty that this would be given the circumstances that we chose. After being given some time to research alternative energy sources, we chose to focus on solar energy. With this, we ordered a solar panel, a few small motors, and two pulleys. After a long session of testing (with the help of Mr. Williams), we discovered that our solar panel and motors were not compatible. Following that, we messed around with our car using a battery. But, since our axle stays still, we couldn’t use a motor to move our wheels. Due to the unnecessary amount of time spent on different methods that didn’t provide much to our car, we resorted to using a ramp. This way we could easily add to the height of it which would either slow down or accelerate the speed of our car.
Content and Physics
Spring Potential Energy
Definition: Potential Energy measured in the compression or expansion of a spring.
Equation: PEspring= 1/2kx^2
Unit: Joules (J)
Use in Project: The rubber bands on the trebuchet used Spring Potential Energy.
Gravitational Potential Energy
Definition: Energy an object has due to being at height or its position in a gravitational field.
Equation: PE=mgh
Unit: Joules (J)
Use in Project: Gravitational Potential Energy was used in the Alternative Energy Vehicle with the ramp.
Kinetic Energy
Definition: Energy that an object has due to motion.
Equation: KE=1/2mv^2
Unit: Joules (J)
Use in Project: Kinetic Energy was used because the vehicle moved to get its destination using an energy.
Total Energy
Definition: The sum of the Potential and Kinetic Energies.
Equation: Etotal= PE+KE
Unit: Joules (J)
Use in Project: The Total Energy was calculated when creating the Energy Graph for the Alternative Energy Vehicle.
Thermal Energy:
Definition: The energy that comes from heat generated by movement particles (friction)
Equation: TE= Etotal-PE-KE
Unit: Joules (J)
Use in Project: The Thermal Energy is related to the friction that ended up stopping our car at the five meter mark. It was also use in the Energy Graph.
Distance Vs. Time
Definition: The comparison between distance and time.
Equation: N/A
Unit: N/A
Use in Project: In the Alternative Energy Vehicle Project, we created a graph showing this relationship. As you can see, the distance moves at a relatively steady rate, than spikes at around the one second mark. This is because the vehicle started to turn slightly as it made its way to the finish line.
Velocity Vs. Time
Definition: The comparison between velocity and time.
Equation: N/A
Unit: N/A
Use in Project: In the Alternative Energy Vehicle Project, we created a graph showing this relationship. Shown on the graph, the velocity spikes at 0.5 seconds, then begins to decrease. This is because that was when the vehicle had just gone off the ramp, therefore it was at its fastest speed.
Rotational Inertia
Definition: Something that is rotating will stay rotating, and something that is not rotating will not rotate unless acted upon by another force.
Equation: I=mi^2
Unit: kg m^2
Use in Project: Rotational Inertia was the force that acted upon the wheels. It was started and stopped our vehicle.
Reflection
These two projects were the hardest of the four we have done so far. For the Rube Goldberg Machine and the Physics of Sports Video, I had little problems completing them, with little mistakes in construction, and editing. These projects, however, had many slip ups. While both projects were completed in time, we had to completely change each design more than once. I'm not exactly sure why this happened. It may have been bad luck, or it may have been poor decision-making on my group and I's part. Either way, it was a very challenging task to complete both projects.
However, it was not all bad, because even with the slip-ups, my group worked quite well together. While, not always on task, we were on task enough to the point in which we got both projects done in time. My group was friendly, and someone who I thought would not work at all, actually helped quite a lot. So, the collaboration was definitely the best part of this project.
Something that I learned about myself is that trying to be relaxed at all times is not always the best option. While being calm and level-headed can be good, it is not always what is needed to completed certain tasks. Sometimes, you need to work quickly to finish. And I definitely learned that while working on these projects.