Alternative Energy Vehicle
Design/Modifications:
Our group made multiple modifications and drafts during our alternative energy project. At first, our group wanted to make a car that would be set in motion by releasing rubber bands. One of our group members would hold the rubber bands and release the car. This did not work constantly, you had to time the release of the rubber bands with the release of the car. This was very complicated, so our group choose a different route. We decided to make an arch, which we would attach the rubber bands to. This helped because we would only have to release the car to set it in motion.
After modifying our release mechanism, we needed to keep our passengers (Coins) in place when the car was moving. At first we had two makeshift pieces of wood holding the coins in place, but just like the rubber bands, this was to complicated and we strived to find a better alternative. We decided to use a piece of foam to hold the passengers in, just as a seat would. For extra safety, we put multiple rubber bands over the coins, which acted as a seat belt. This modification not only helped our car function, but had real world concepts.
Calculations:
Potential Energy: 0.82 J
Kinetic Energy: 0.306 J
Thermal Energy: 0.513 J
Total Energy: 0.82 N
Velocity: 1.18 m/s
Distance vs Time: 5m/4.3s
Reflection: One thing I did well in this project was keeping our groups moral high. Working every day can make many people annoyed or just mad in general. I tried to make jokes and have fun to an extent, while completing work a the same time. Another thing I did well in this project was brainstorming. In most projects, initial plans do not work very well, but in this project we came up with our vehicle, and kept the same main design from our brainstorm throughout the entire project. One thing I could improve on for next project is working with new people. I was in a group with two of my friends, which made it much easier for us to get off task. Finally, another thing I could improve on for our next project is time management. With this group especially, we used a lot of class time being unproductive, even though we finished and modified our car, it could have been better. Overall this was a very fun project and I furthered my understanding in physics and engineering.