Funnest Swing Design
- Evidence of Work
For this project, our group was tasked with finding what makes a swing fun to swing on and how we can use those factors to make the funnest swing possible (even if "funnest" isn't technically a word). Once our group decided on what makes a swing fun, we designed our blueprint and installed our swing behind the STEM building. We tied a rope to a large tree branch and tied the other ends to a plank of wood. We determined that a swing being partially dangerous made it fun so our group installed the swing in a place where you would hit the tree trunk if you went too fast. Along with being dangerous, our group also concluded that the you had to go fast on a swing to have fun. In order to gain more speed, the rider of the swing needs to start from a higher position. Which is why we built our swing hanging from a very tall tree branch. After, we recorded people of various masses swinging on the swing, even though we only used one person for the data in our presentation since we found mass had no effect on the period. In the second part of the project, we added a rotational motion component by putting a torque on the system. To do this, one of our group members pushed off a pole tangential to the motion to make him spin while swinging. This way we could find the change in angular momentum when a torque was added. Once we recorded our group member on the swing, we were able to analyze the footage to prove different concepts such as the conservation of energy in a system including the torque and the conservation of rotational momentum. When making our slideshow, we used a jazz theme since jazz music swings and the project was centered around swings.
2. Content
Period of Pendulum: This is based on the equation T = 2π√L/g. Where L is equal to the length of the pendulum's string and g is equal to the gravity. This was used in our project since we were able to measure the length of the period using the videos that we took and we then were able to solve for the length of the connecting ropes which would help us then find the change in height of swing. We also found mass had no effect on this between the different scenarios we recorded which is also supported by the equation.
Period of Spring: This is based on the equation T = 2π√m/k. Where m is the mass of the object on the spring and k is the spring constant of the spring. We did not use this concept in our project but it is a very important concept we learned during this unit. What makes this equation different from the period of a pendulum is the fact that mass plays a role in this equation unlike the period of a pendulum.
Arc Length: This was a minor concept we learned which can be found by using the equation s = (θ/360)(2πr). We used this equation to find the distance that we travel in half a period when swinging on the swing.
Torque: A force that is applied tangential to the object's center of motion. This could be someone twisting a doorknob to open a door or in our case, Holden pushing off of a pole to start spinning while swinging.
Rotational Motion: This unit focused on this concept which was used throughout the second half of the project. The equations to find different factors of rotational motion are the same as the kinematics equations we learned in the first unit but all the variables are switched for theta, omega, and alpha. We used these equations to find the velocity of the person swinging to help us prove that energy is conserved.
Conservation of Angular Momentum: We learned about conservation of linear momentum in the previous unit, however we continued to expand upon that concept with angular momentum. Like linear momentum, angular momentum is always conserved unless acted upon by a force outside of the defined system. We used this concept when analyzing Holden spinning on the swing in the second half of the project.
3. Reflection
This was my best project this year since I had a group that collaborated and communicated well together which resulted in a project I am very proud of. We problem solved very well in this group since we had lots of issues getting our swing onto the tree and through lots of collaboration (and lots of failure), we constructed our swing. While we did have to take it down 5 minutes later since the class period was about to end, it was a good example of how well we collaborated as a group since we tried different methods until we landed on tying a counterweight to the rope and tossing it above the tree branch. This collaboration was true in the rest of the project since three of us worked very well together when doing the calculations and the analysis of the videos we took. I also think that I did a good job at critical thinking this project because a lot of new concepts and ideas were introduced in this project and I had never used them in a real world scenario before which is why the video analysis took lots of critical thinking.
One thing that I could improve upon is engaging my whole group in the project since one member consistently wouldn't do any work and I feel as if that is partially my fault since they may have been lost or confused and I could have helped them understand the material better. I feel that I could have made the project better if I had motivated the fourth person in our group since they could have then contributed more to the problems we were facing as a group and then worked to help fix them. In the future, I will make attempts to engage my entire group since I believe that everyone has potential to be a successful member of the team. I also feel as if I could improve upon my communication skills since at certain points during the project I did not clearly communicate how our group needed to achieve certain goals.