A brief description of our project would be that our idea of our project is to place a flag on the moon. The description of a Rube Goldberg project is to have a simple task and a complex way of doing it. However placing a flag on the moon is not a simple task, we instead had a replica of the moon and a small flag. Our Rube Goldberg project is a great way of showing the factors of mechanical advantage. It has several advantages such as a lever, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and a screw. Our Project is a simple combination of beauty and engineering, with its shining pulleys and paint design.
Force: It is the push or pull that results from one objects interaction with another.
Work: Work is when a force is applied to an object in order to move it.
Potential Energy: The energy an object has due to its position.
Kinetic Energy: The energy an object has due to its motion.
Mechanical Advantage: The amount an input force is multiplied by due to a simple machine.
Our project has some engineering concepts behind the glitter and stickers as well.
For our starting point we have two funnels that act as screws that go into several inclined planes.
We calculated the mechanical advantage by measuring the height and length of each plane and then dividing the two. After the planes each plane leads to a different part.
One leads to a peg board which the marble rolls down and knocks over a cup, The cup then pulls a gate up. The other marble goes down and waits at the gate until the cup is knocked over.
It goes down a FIRST CLASS LEVER and into a frisbee with clay around it in the shape of a swirl.
The clay acts as a screw which pushes the marble foward using mechanical advantage. The marble then drops out of the frisbee's core and goes down a board with popsicle sticks acting as
a guide. The marble, as it tiredly rolls down an inclined plane, kicks a basket thats tide to a string. The string is attached to a pulley that has a mechanical advantage of two (counting the second pulley)
and releases a flag with a personal insignia on it. The Flag however has a part of mechanical advantage as well. It shoots down to meet styrofoam and WEDGES in between the painted
styrofoam and is "placed on the moon."
Work: Work is when a force is applied to an object in order to move it.
Potential Energy: The energy an object has due to its position.
Kinetic Energy: The energy an object has due to its motion.
Mechanical Advantage: The amount an input force is multiplied by due to a simple machine.
Our project has some engineering concepts behind the glitter and stickers as well.
For our starting point we have two funnels that act as screws that go into several inclined planes.
We calculated the mechanical advantage by measuring the height and length of each plane and then dividing the two. After the planes each plane leads to a different part.
One leads to a peg board which the marble rolls down and knocks over a cup, The cup then pulls a gate up. The other marble goes down and waits at the gate until the cup is knocked over.
It goes down a FIRST CLASS LEVER and into a frisbee with clay around it in the shape of a swirl.
The clay acts as a screw which pushes the marble foward using mechanical advantage. The marble then drops out of the frisbee's core and goes down a board with popsicle sticks acting as
a guide. The marble, as it tiredly rolls down an inclined plane, kicks a basket thats tide to a string. The string is attached to a pulley that has a mechanical advantage of two (counting the second pulley)
and releases a flag with a personal insignia on it. The Flag however has a part of mechanical advantage as well. It shoots down to meet styrofoam and WEDGES in between the painted
styrofoam and is "placed on the moon."
What went well must have been the inclined planes, they were easy to place and absolutely were important for our project. However our levers were extremely obnoxious, we had to set it up every time and less than half of the time it worked. Another item that was hard to make was the Frisbee screw, it took so long to make and was frustrating to build. We could have probably changed the way we started, we started by painting it then doing the longest part first which it ended up slightly useless and unnecessary. Another thing we could have done differently is to have more things about Joules and velocity, not just mechanical advantage. Me as a person can improve these by planning what to do in detail and to always have note cards of what equations I need to show. I learned about
myself in two ways; I tend to do better when I'm second in command, I love being creative about the structures I build or help out with.
myself in two ways; I tend to do better when I'm second in command, I love being creative about the structures I build or help out with.