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Our Rube Goldberg, titled the Abstracter due to its final result, was our first project in the 9th grade STEM class, and it was utterly amazing! We were frantic in finishing the presentations, and getting our actual, physical project under the line within the time constraints given to us. We were given six weeks to do this project, which meant thirty school days of working, but there were also two days a week in which we would dedicate our time to labs, which meant that we lost another twelve days, and three other days were lost to special occasions, which meant we had fifteen working days. In our first three days, we got our initial schematic completed and had brought in most of the supplies that we thought we would need to complete the first portion of our project. Within the next nine days, we used up all of our designated working days, but due to a few arguments within our group and the fact that we had to change our plans accordingly, most of our production bled into our three presentation days. To cope with this, we split up into two groups to divide and conquer this situation.
The Rube Goldberg itself was fairly moderately built, not too difficult to follow, but also convoluted enough to be considered complex, not a series of simple ramps and drops. We started the machine off with a "cat toy", which in reality was a small dowel rod bound to a wedge, which was the first of our five simple machines. After pulling the wedge, the metal marble would fall in the first cup, thereby lifting the second cup of the pulley system, knocking over the first of multiple levers. Upon the lever, there was another marble, which rolled down a tube, pushed a foosball off of a ledge, and into a small box on top of the second lever. That lever would push forward a wooden plank, which would in turn push another foosball into a cup attached to a wheel and axle. The force of the the ball landing in the cup would push the cup downwards, subsequently raising the attached dowel rod which would cause a metal track with a marble on it to rise. The marble would roll down a large tube, knock over a set of dominoes, and the final domino would knock over the cup of paint, covering our easel with any color.
Physics Concepts:
The Six Simple Machines- Levers, Pulleys, Inclined Planes, Wedges, Wheels And Axles, and Screws. The lever could be found multiple times throughout this machine, mostly first-class, where the fulcrum is located in between the load and effort forces. The pulley was the third simple machine used, in which the direction of the force of the ball downwards was reversed and exerted a force upwards. The inclined plane primarily made up our ramp, the wedge was used as a stopper for the initial marble, and the wheel and axle was used to change and amplify the force of the foosball.
Potential Energy- The energy an object has relative to its position to another platform or the ground. In our project, it was the first component calculated, using the formula PE=mgh, which is PE=0.014kg*9.8m/s^2*0.0127m, which equals 0.0017J.
Mechanical Advantage- How much easier a machine makes anything, or how much longer you have to push something using a tool. In the Rube Goldberg, we calculated that the MA of the pulley system is one because there is only one thread supporting the load.
Force- A push or pull on an object. In the third step of our machine, we found the force that the ball had on the first cup by using the formula F=MA, which would translate to F=0.014kg*9.8m/s^2, resulting in a force of 0.1372N.
Kinetic Energy- The energy an object has due to motion. We calculated the kinetic energy by using the principle of Delta KE is equal to Delta PE, therefore, KE=PE=mgh. KE=0.009kg*9.8m/s^2*0.0381m, resulting in a kinetic energy of 0.003J
Momentum- The tendency of a moving object to keep moving. In the project, no specific momentum is calculated, but in step 6, it is referenced where the momentum of the smaller metal ball is transferred to the foosball.
Work- The amount of energy put into something. In the ninth step, the work done by the dowel rod on the metal track was calculated to be W=FD, or W=0.2577N*0.0127M, resulting in a value of 0.0033J.
Velocity- The rate of covered distance over time. Towards the end of the Rube Goldberg, we calculated the velocity of the marble rolling down the tube by dividing the distance by the time it took, resulting in a velocity of 0.706m/s.
Energy Transfers- This involves the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy, the transfer of momentum between two objects, and the change to thermal energy, generating heat or sound because of friction. In our presentation, we had to identify at least four different energy transfers in our Rube Goldberg.
Reflection:
Looking back now at how we worked as a group and how we tackled and coped with the challenges presented to us due to circumstances, I can see a lot that I could have changed about the way I interacted with the rest of my group. Within the first few days of the project, an evident rift had been formed and had dichotomized our group into two: Collin, Rachel, and Timmy, and the other group contained me and Zack. As soon as we had decided what we were going to do, we split up and started to work separately, thinking that this would be an efficient process, but ultimately, this is what dragged us into overtime. Even though the two individual groups were cohesive in the sense that the members worked well together, when our two groups came together to tell each other what we had accomplished, things went awry. Timmy's group had completed their work at a continuous but slow rate, while Zack would occupy himself with either criticizing everyone's ideas, fiddling with his cat toy, or drilling holes into the board. Honestly, the one good thing that we were able to do was the fact that we had managed to evenly spread out the amount of work evenly and keep things as organized as possible. Eventually, the rift had grown so large that Zack would often do something alone that wouldn't contribute while Timmy, Rachel, and Collin would come to help me. We also worked outside of class, with the majority of us spending six hours at Rachel's house or after school and even occasionally at lunch, which, when considering that we're freshmen with games to play or friends to hang out with, is a commendable feat. Our best and most productive time working together was at Rachel's house, when there were less of the members and we had a single mindset as to what we should be doing. In the presentation, though, things went out of hand very quickly, with Zack striving to make the presentation more of his own speech. We had set up a system in which we knew exactly what we would talk about, but that was interfered with when he would step in on Rachel's portion as well as a bit of Timmy's, and not properly accomplish his own portion. During the course of this project, I learned that I was a relatively proficient leader, being able to organize the group and distributing the amount of work evenly. I also learned that I have a long way to go when it comes to cooperating with other members of my group because I'm stubborn, so I tried to change that quality and improve more on that front. I also could have been less overbearing when it came to managing time and effort, because I now see that I would repeatedly tell them what to do, which is something that I need to change to work well as a leader in a group. One important skill I acquired is the ability to quickly and thoroughly respond to anyone's questions or concerns about not just our project, but anything in fact.
The Rube Goldberg itself was fairly moderately built, not too difficult to follow, but also convoluted enough to be considered complex, not a series of simple ramps and drops. We started the machine off with a "cat toy", which in reality was a small dowel rod bound to a wedge, which was the first of our five simple machines. After pulling the wedge, the metal marble would fall in the first cup, thereby lifting the second cup of the pulley system, knocking over the first of multiple levers. Upon the lever, there was another marble, which rolled down a tube, pushed a foosball off of a ledge, and into a small box on top of the second lever. That lever would push forward a wooden plank, which would in turn push another foosball into a cup attached to a wheel and axle. The force of the the ball landing in the cup would push the cup downwards, subsequently raising the attached dowel rod which would cause a metal track with a marble on it to rise. The marble would roll down a large tube, knock over a set of dominoes, and the final domino would knock over the cup of paint, covering our easel with any color.
Physics Concepts:
The Six Simple Machines- Levers, Pulleys, Inclined Planes, Wedges, Wheels And Axles, and Screws. The lever could be found multiple times throughout this machine, mostly first-class, where the fulcrum is located in between the load and effort forces. The pulley was the third simple machine used, in which the direction of the force of the ball downwards was reversed and exerted a force upwards. The inclined plane primarily made up our ramp, the wedge was used as a stopper for the initial marble, and the wheel and axle was used to change and amplify the force of the foosball.
Potential Energy- The energy an object has relative to its position to another platform or the ground. In our project, it was the first component calculated, using the formula PE=mgh, which is PE=0.014kg*9.8m/s^2*0.0127m, which equals 0.0017J.
Mechanical Advantage- How much easier a machine makes anything, or how much longer you have to push something using a tool. In the Rube Goldberg, we calculated that the MA of the pulley system is one because there is only one thread supporting the load.
Force- A push or pull on an object. In the third step of our machine, we found the force that the ball had on the first cup by using the formula F=MA, which would translate to F=0.014kg*9.8m/s^2, resulting in a force of 0.1372N.
Kinetic Energy- The energy an object has due to motion. We calculated the kinetic energy by using the principle of Delta KE is equal to Delta PE, therefore, KE=PE=mgh. KE=0.009kg*9.8m/s^2*0.0381m, resulting in a kinetic energy of 0.003J
Momentum- The tendency of a moving object to keep moving. In the project, no specific momentum is calculated, but in step 6, it is referenced where the momentum of the smaller metal ball is transferred to the foosball.
Work- The amount of energy put into something. In the ninth step, the work done by the dowel rod on the metal track was calculated to be W=FD, or W=0.2577N*0.0127M, resulting in a value of 0.0033J.
Velocity- The rate of covered distance over time. Towards the end of the Rube Goldberg, we calculated the velocity of the marble rolling down the tube by dividing the distance by the time it took, resulting in a velocity of 0.706m/s.
Energy Transfers- This involves the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy, the transfer of momentum between two objects, and the change to thermal energy, generating heat or sound because of friction. In our presentation, we had to identify at least four different energy transfers in our Rube Goldberg.
Reflection:
Looking back now at how we worked as a group and how we tackled and coped with the challenges presented to us due to circumstances, I can see a lot that I could have changed about the way I interacted with the rest of my group. Within the first few days of the project, an evident rift had been formed and had dichotomized our group into two: Collin, Rachel, and Timmy, and the other group contained me and Zack. As soon as we had decided what we were going to do, we split up and started to work separately, thinking that this would be an efficient process, but ultimately, this is what dragged us into overtime. Even though the two individual groups were cohesive in the sense that the members worked well together, when our two groups came together to tell each other what we had accomplished, things went awry. Timmy's group had completed their work at a continuous but slow rate, while Zack would occupy himself with either criticizing everyone's ideas, fiddling with his cat toy, or drilling holes into the board. Honestly, the one good thing that we were able to do was the fact that we had managed to evenly spread out the amount of work evenly and keep things as organized as possible. Eventually, the rift had grown so large that Zack would often do something alone that wouldn't contribute while Timmy, Rachel, and Collin would come to help me. We also worked outside of class, with the majority of us spending six hours at Rachel's house or after school and even occasionally at lunch, which, when considering that we're freshmen with games to play or friends to hang out with, is a commendable feat. Our best and most productive time working together was at Rachel's house, when there were less of the members and we had a single mindset as to what we should be doing. In the presentation, though, things went out of hand very quickly, with Zack striving to make the presentation more of his own speech. We had set up a system in which we knew exactly what we would talk about, but that was interfered with when he would step in on Rachel's portion as well as a bit of Timmy's, and not properly accomplish his own portion. During the course of this project, I learned that I was a relatively proficient leader, being able to organize the group and distributing the amount of work evenly. I also learned that I have a long way to go when it comes to cooperating with other members of my group because I'm stubborn, so I tried to change that quality and improve more on that front. I also could have been less overbearing when it came to managing time and effort, because I now see that I would repeatedly tell them what to do, which is something that I need to change to work well as a leader in a group. One important skill I acquired is the ability to quickly and thoroughly respond to anyone's questions or concerns about not just our project, but anything in fact.