A rube goldberg is a complex contraption that does a simple task. Our rube goldberg made hot chocolate. To start off the rube, you rolled a ball down a ramp, which dropped through a hole into a cup, which was attached to a pulley. Attached to the pulley was a string. That string was tied to a weight. When the cup fell down, it pulled on the weight, and the weight swung and hit a car on a ramp. The car then ran into dominoes, and the dominoes fell on a string that pulled a mouse trap. A PVC pipe was attached to the mousetrap, so when the mouse trap was set off, the pipe hit blocks that are stacked. The top block was attached to another pulley, so when the blocks fell, the pulley was pulled down. There was another ramp set up, and a ball was being held in place by the end of the pulley. When that part fell, the ball rolled into a block of wood that fell on a string that pulled down the cup to dump the hot chocolate mix into the cup of hot water.
Talking Points
1. What hands on skills did you learn through working in your group? I learned how to problem solve and build a complex contraption from scratch. I also learned good communication skills. 2. What steps were most challenging to make work? Our second step was the most challenging to make work. We ran into a lot of complications with our pulley, and we finally got it to work a few days before exhibition. 3. Explain the efficiency of energy throughout the whole rube from start to finish? In some parts of the rube, the flow of energy was slow and didn’t apply enough force, and in some parts it applied too much force. We had to adjust some parts and put weights on things to make it flow, so that the efficiency would be better. 4. What one physics concept from your analysis is most important to the overall function of your rube? I think that force was the most important concept that we used.
Life In the Cold
For this project, we got the freedom to come up with our own experiment question. My group's experiment was to test what would be the most effective homemade fire starter material. We made three different fire starters with wax and different types of material. We all shared equal roles for this project. If someone was not able to do their job, someone would pick up the slack. We were a pretty well functioning team.