Rude Goldberg Machine
Evidence of Work:
During the start of the school-year, we began working on our first project in STEM which is our Rube Goldberg Machine. When my group and I had started working on the project, we initially wanted to make our machine western themed. We started out by making a sketch of the machine and by gathering pieces to put on our board. Halfway through the making of our machine, we had realized that the western theme did not pertain to the design of our wooden board and the pieces already on it. Due to the fault, we decided to change the theme to arcade. This helped us with the design aspect and certain other things, but this made us work a lot harder because we had only half of the time compared to other groups. After we finished screwing in everything onto the board, we painted the background and made paper characters. The first part of the machine is like the arcade game Donkey Kong whereas Donkey Kong throws down barrels in a black background. The second part of the machine is Mario themed which shows Mario jumping on the grass with a blue sky in the background.
Reflection
After completing our Rube Goldberg project, I have learned a lot about my own weaknesses when working with a group and strengths. One of my strengths is being cooperative. For example, if someone in my group were to ask me to do something, I would get right on it. Another one of my strengths was my leadership. In the beginning of the work production of our machine, we just let one person lead us as a group. This was good because we had a clear goal in mind but at the same time none of us got to experience what its like to be a leader, or at least until halfway through. After our first collaboration check-in, my group had realized that we should try switching roles and giving non-leaders the chance to lead. When i first got to lead, I tended to stay more on task and keep the rest of the group on task. A thing my group struggled with was deciding on a theme. The reason why this was a problem is because we were already halfway through the project and most of the nails and platforms we had on the board were for our previous theme. Thankfully though, our group worked extra hard hard for the last days of the project and we were able to successfully change our theme with very minor repercussions. After I had gone through that, I learned that its best to decide on a thing that your group will stick with early on in a development cycle. All in all, I am very happy with the group I was in because it felt like we all taught one another something.
Concepts
Force- Force is the push or pull on an object(the weight). To find the Force of an object you use the equation F=ma(Force equals mass times acceleration) The unit Force uses is newtons which when written in an equation, is represented by N.
Speed/Velocity- Velocity is the rate of distance covered in a direction. The equation used to find the velocity of something is v=^d/^t(velocity equals the change in distance over the change in time). The unit used for velocity is m/s which stands for meters a second.
Mechanical Advantage(ideal)- How much further you have to push when using a tool(distance). The equation to get the ideal mechanical advantage is MA(ideal)=d^effort/d^load(mechanical advantage ideal equals distance of the effort divided by distance of the load. The unit you use for this is a ratio.
Mechanical Advantage(real)- How much easier a tool makes a task(using less Force. The equation to find real mechanical advantage is
MA(real)=f^load/f^effort(mechanical advantage real equals force of the load divided by the force of the effort. The unit you use for this is a ratio.
Acceleration - Acceleration is the rate of change in an object(speeding up or slowing down), plus or minus. The equation used for acceleration is
a=^v/^t(acceleration equals the change of velocity over the change in time. The unit used for acceleration is m/s^2(meters per second squared).
Potential Energy- Potential Energy is the energy an object has due to its position at a height or in a gravitational field. To find the potential energy of something, you use the equation PE=mgh(potential energy equals mass times gravity times height). The unit used for potential energy is J which stands for Joules.
Kinetic Energy- Kinetic Energy is the energy due to motion. The equation used to find Kinetic Energy is KE=1/2mv^2(Kinetic Energy equals half of mass times velocity squared). The unit used for Kinetic Energy is Joules which is represented by J.
Work- Work is the amount of energy put into something. To find the work of an object, you use the equation W=Fd(Work equals Force times distance). The unit you use for Work is Joules, which is represented by J.
Force- Force is the push or pull on an object(the weight). To find the Force of an object you use the equation F=ma(Force equals mass times acceleration) The unit Force uses is newtons which when written in an equation, is represented by N.
Speed/Velocity- Velocity is the rate of distance covered in a direction. The equation used to find the velocity of something is v=^d/^t(velocity equals the change in distance over the change in time). The unit used for velocity is m/s which stands for meters a second.
Mechanical Advantage(ideal)- How much further you have to push when using a tool(distance). The equation to get the ideal mechanical advantage is MA(ideal)=d^effort/d^load(mechanical advantage ideal equals distance of the effort divided by distance of the load. The unit you use for this is a ratio.
Mechanical Advantage(real)- How much easier a tool makes a task(using less Force. The equation to find real mechanical advantage is
MA(real)=f^load/f^effort(mechanical advantage real equals force of the load divided by the force of the effort. The unit you use for this is a ratio.
Acceleration - Acceleration is the rate of change in an object(speeding up or slowing down), plus or minus. The equation used for acceleration is
a=^v/^t(acceleration equals the change of velocity over the change in time. The unit used for acceleration is m/s^2(meters per second squared).
Potential Energy- Potential Energy is the energy an object has due to its position at a height or in a gravitational field. To find the potential energy of something, you use the equation PE=mgh(potential energy equals mass times gravity times height). The unit used for potential energy is J which stands for Joules.
Kinetic Energy- Kinetic Energy is the energy due to motion. The equation used to find Kinetic Energy is KE=1/2mv^2(Kinetic Energy equals half of mass times velocity squared). The unit used for Kinetic Energy is Joules which is represented by J.
Work- Work is the amount of energy put into something. To find the work of an object, you use the equation W=Fd(Work equals Force times distance). The unit you use for Work is Joules, which is represented by J.