Description
The objective of the project we have been working on is to build a car that runs on an alternate form of energy and goes precisely five meters. My particular group used rubber bands and their spring potential energy to power our car. The way our car worked is we screwed in four screws with loops at the end to a platform. Then, we put wooden axles through the loops and attached wheels. After that, we glued a box to the platform to hold the payload of 250 grams. Next, we nailed a wood rod to our car so it stuck out the front. Finally, we hooked a string of rubber bands to the rod at one end and wound the other end around the front axle so when the rubber bands unwound, the axle would rotate and the wheels would turn, propelling the car forward. This turned out to be our fifth and final design.
Reflection
Reflecting back on the project, it was a good lesson in patience, as well as physics. Our car didn't work perfectly the first time, or even at the end and I learned to deal with that, so one of my peaks was gaining patience. Another peak was managing participation in our group. I think that throughout the project everyone got a turn to lead. One pit was time management. Because we didn't manage our time very well, we were rushed towards the end and had to work on it at home. In addition, I think I could have been more focused throughout the project. This also led to poor time management. Overall though, I think our project went exceedingly well and I am happy with the result.
Concepts
Potential Energy- Potential energy is the energy of an object in a certain position. PE is calculated by multiplying mass, acceleration due to gravity, and the height of the object. If you are calculating the spring potential energy, you would use the spring constant. When we stretched out the rubber bands they had spring potential energy.
Kinetic Energy- Kinetic energy is how much energy an object has due to motion. It is calculated by multiplying 1/2 mass and velocity squared. When the car is moving it has kinetic energy.
Thermal Energy- Thermal energy is how much heat is created by friction. It is calculated by subtracting kinetic energy from potential energy. The friction between the axles and the screws made some potential energy convert to thermal energy.
Speed/Velocity- Speed is the amount of distance an object covers in a given amount of time, and velocity is speed with a direction. They are calculated by dividing distance and time. Our car had a certain velocity as it traveled across the floor.
Acceleration- Acceleration is the rate of change in an object's motion. It is calculated by dividing the change in velocity and the change in time. As our car started moving and sped up it accelerated.
Here are some graphs illustrating some of these concepts:
The objective of the project we have been working on is to build a car that runs on an alternate form of energy and goes precisely five meters. My particular group used rubber bands and their spring potential energy to power our car. The way our car worked is we screwed in four screws with loops at the end to a platform. Then, we put wooden axles through the loops and attached wheels. After that, we glued a box to the platform to hold the payload of 250 grams. Next, we nailed a wood rod to our car so it stuck out the front. Finally, we hooked a string of rubber bands to the rod at one end and wound the other end around the front axle so when the rubber bands unwound, the axle would rotate and the wheels would turn, propelling the car forward. This turned out to be our fifth and final design.
Reflection
Reflecting back on the project, it was a good lesson in patience, as well as physics. Our car didn't work perfectly the first time, or even at the end and I learned to deal with that, so one of my peaks was gaining patience. Another peak was managing participation in our group. I think that throughout the project everyone got a turn to lead. One pit was time management. Because we didn't manage our time very well, we were rushed towards the end and had to work on it at home. In addition, I think I could have been more focused throughout the project. This also led to poor time management. Overall though, I think our project went exceedingly well and I am happy with the result.
Concepts
Potential Energy- Potential energy is the energy of an object in a certain position. PE is calculated by multiplying mass, acceleration due to gravity, and the height of the object. If you are calculating the spring potential energy, you would use the spring constant. When we stretched out the rubber bands they had spring potential energy.
Kinetic Energy- Kinetic energy is how much energy an object has due to motion. It is calculated by multiplying 1/2 mass and velocity squared. When the car is moving it has kinetic energy.
Thermal Energy- Thermal energy is how much heat is created by friction. It is calculated by subtracting kinetic energy from potential energy. The friction between the axles and the screws made some potential energy convert to thermal energy.
Speed/Velocity- Speed is the amount of distance an object covers in a given amount of time, and velocity is speed with a direction. They are calculated by dividing distance and time. Our car had a certain velocity as it traveled across the floor.
Acceleration- Acceleration is the rate of change in an object's motion. It is calculated by dividing the change in velocity and the change in time. As our car started moving and sped up it accelerated.
Here are some graphs illustrating some of these concepts: