Feed the fish- Our Rube Goldberg Machine
By Gabriella Vasquez, Andersen Teoh, Elliott Thurlow, and Luke Venezia
The Process
Our machine's goal is to feed a fish. We had 9 days to design and build our Rube Goldberg machine. We started out by individually sketching out a blueprint and collaborating ideas. We tried to incorporate everyones designs and inputs and created a final blueprint. We then set to work and slowly began building around our theme, which is "underwater". The first couple of days went by slowly as we began to get ahold of working in a group in the most productive way, using all of the tools properly, and trying to manage our time. Each day we made a goal of how much of the project to finish and then divided the work to make sure these goals were achieved. Our construction log can be found to the right. While putting together all of the pieces, we kept in mind some principles of design and how to make it look aesthetically pleasing. On the last day, we painted our machine and added the finishing touches. We finally made a presentation on Prezi and practiced it so we'd be fully prepared for Rube Goldberg Night. The link to our Prezi presentation can be found at the bottom of the page. Our machine had 10 total steps: 1. The ball is swung towards the dominoes starting the machine 2. The dominoes are hit by the ball and fall over and into eachother 3. The dominoes hit a toy car into motion down an inclined plane 4. The car rolls down and onto the right side of the fulcrum of a lever 5. The lever hits a marble down a tube 6. The marble rolls downa screw 7. The marble hits the weight tied to one side of the pulley 8. The pulley pulls a wooden block off of a wedge 9. The wedge slides down an inclined plane 10. The fish food is hit by the wedge and falls into the bowl (You can see all of these steps in motion above in the youtube video) Content
time- progress of events (seconds) distance- amount of space between two points (meters) velocity- rate of distance covered in a direction (meters/second) Eq: change in distance/change in time speed- rate of distance covered (meters/second). Eq: distance/time acceleration- rate of change of velocity by speeding up or slowing down (meters/seconds squared). Eq: change in velocity/change in time acceleration due to gravity- gravity is a force between two objects directly proportional to their mass and the distance between them (object's always free fall at 9.8 meters/seconds squared) mass- amount of matter and weight of atoms in an object (kilograms) force- push or pull on an object (Newtons). Eq: mass multiplied by acceleration work- amount of energy put into something (Joule). Eq: force multiplied by distance gravitational potential energy- the energy an object has due to its position/height in the gravitational field (Joule). Eq: mass multiplied by acceleration due to gravity multiplied by height kinetic energy- energy due to motion (Joule). Eq: 1/2 mass multiplied by velocity squared mechanical advantage- how much easier (less force) a tool makes something and how much farther (more distance) you have to push. Eq: Output force divided by input force momentum-how much an object wants to keep going and how difficult it is to stop (kilograms times meters/seconds). Eq: mass multiplied by velocity |
Named after a famous cartoonist, a Rube Goldberg machine is compiled of a series of complicated steps to accomplish a simple task. Our machine had to have five of the six simple machines (levers, inclined planes, wedges, pulley systems, and a wheel and axle), many transfers of potential and kinetic energy, and prevalent principles of design.
Our Rube Goldberg machine project needed to:
Physics of each step:
1. F=ma, a=change v/change t; The force of the ball is 0.073 N and the acceleration is 0.26 m/s2 2. Toppling force is 0.61 N 3. F=ma, a=change v/change t; The force of the car is 4.7 N and the acceleration is 0.11 m/s2 4. The force the lever exerts would be the same force the car has on the lever 5. a=change v/change t; the acceleration of the marble is 0.07 m/s2 6. a=change v/change t; the acceleration of the marble in the screw is 1.14 m/s2 7. F=ma; The force of the marble is 0.45 N 8. MA= F load/ F effort; The mechanical advantage is ! 9. F=ma, a=change v/change t; The force of the wedge is 0.63 N and the acceleration is 0.17 m/s2 10. Toppling force of 0.52 N |
Reflection
The Rube Goldberg machine was our very first STEM project and gave a taste for what to expect for the next four years as a San Marin student. For our first big high school assignment and the first time this group of people have worked together, I believe we did pretty good. We managed to create a great machine that looked aesthetically pleasing and worked a majority of the time, but we did come across some difficulties along the road. Individually, I believed I did well in some areas, and then there were things I could work on. I am not the best public speaker and I get fairly nervous in front of large groups, so before we had to present our machine, I made note cards with guide lines and practiced my speaking parts a fair amount of times to help prepare. I took some constructive criticism from my group, and I believe that my presentation was very good compared to previous times. Another thing that was beneficial to this project and to me was the use of different power tools. Prior to this project, I've never really used many tools such as a miter saw or a drill bit or other appliances, and during this experience I was properly taught when to use and how to safely use many different tools. But along with the perks and pros of this project, there are also a couple of things that I can personally work on for next time. One thing to work on would be leadership. I tend to be a shy person and keep my ideas to myself, so throughout the month we had to work on this project I mostly stood back and allowed my group members to take charge. During the project, I did try to work on my leadership, and my group mates agreed that I improved on this characteristic, but I never fully took charge. Another thing I realized I could've worked on was my productivity. We tended to stay on track during this project, but there were moments where I would get distracted or wander off, and it took a toll on our time management. Some things I could take into reference in future projects would be to make sure I'm contributing in a helpful and productive way.
The Rube Goldberg machine was our very first STEM project and gave a taste for what to expect for the next four years as a San Marin student. For our first big high school assignment and the first time this group of people have worked together, I believe we did pretty good. We managed to create a great machine that looked aesthetically pleasing and worked a majority of the time, but we did come across some difficulties along the road. Individually, I believed I did well in some areas, and then there were things I could work on. I am not the best public speaker and I get fairly nervous in front of large groups, so before we had to present our machine, I made note cards with guide lines and practiced my speaking parts a fair amount of times to help prepare. I took some constructive criticism from my group, and I believe that my presentation was very good compared to previous times. Another thing that was beneficial to this project and to me was the use of different power tools. Prior to this project, I've never really used many tools such as a miter saw or a drill bit or other appliances, and during this experience I was properly taught when to use and how to safely use many different tools. But along with the perks and pros of this project, there are also a couple of things that I can personally work on for next time. One thing to work on would be leadership. I tend to be a shy person and keep my ideas to myself, so throughout the month we had to work on this project I mostly stood back and allowed my group members to take charge. During the project, I did try to work on my leadership, and my group mates agreed that I improved on this characteristic, but I never fully took charge. Another thing I realized I could've worked on was my productivity. We tended to stay on track during this project, but there were moments where I would get distracted or wander off, and it took a toll on our time management. Some things I could take into reference in future projects would be to make sure I'm contributing in a helpful and productive way.
Here is my Prezi document that we used during our presentation. Within it, you can find our blueprint, an explanation of the energy transfers used in our project, the principles of art and design incorporated, and a more thorough explanation of our ten steps and our simple machines.
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Below are links to my teammates websites for this Rube Goldberg Project:
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