For this project my group and I were tasked with making a car that would consistently go exactly 5 meters while carrying 250 grams of weight. Josh Franks, Ryan Loeber, Joaquin Arellanes, and I made a car using rubber bands connected to the wheel axel to make the car go. We got this car to the target around 50 percent of the time. It took us around a month to plan, make, test, and finalize this car.
When we planned the car we started by brainstorming different ways to make a car. At first we thought of a design similar to our final one. This car had a pole sticking out the top with a string attatched to that and the axel. The poll turned while turning the axel as well. We then thought of a simpler design of have rubber bands wrapped around the axel creating tension which when released would move the car forward.
The way this propels our car is by using elastic energy. The rubber bands are distorted by being stretched which creates tention and potential elastic energy. Upon release of the rubberband, this energy gets released and acts on the car makng it gain momentum and speed. This makes our car go.
There are several components to our car. We made our wheels out of CDs wrapped with rubber bands for grip. Our wheel axles were made of wood and were attatched to the main part of the car by PBC pipes. The body of our car was made up by wood planks. We used rubber bands to propel our car as well.
CONTENT:
- Momentum - the quantity of motion an object posseses. The momentum in our project come from the movement of the car as it starts going. The equation for momentum is p=mv and its unit is kg.m/s
- Acceleration - increase or decrease in how fast an object is traveling. Acceleration is shown in our project When the car picks up and loses speed. You find an objects acceleration by using the equation a=v/t and the unit for acceleration is m/s2.
- Potential Energy - the energy possessed by an item that is stored and can be converted into kinetic energy. The equation for potential energy is PE=mgh. It is represented in joules (J).
- Kinetic Energy - energy that an item posseses due to its motion. This is involved in our project when the car is moving and exerting kinetic energy. The equation for kinetic energy is KE=1/2mv squared.
- Thermal Energy - the energy that comes from heat but it's created by the movement of particles. The key to this energy is motion.
- Elastic Energy - Energy stored in a distorted object. This turns into kinetic energy and it acts on the car.
During this project I worked with good friends. This usually sounds like a recipe for disaster. But we gelled as a team during this project because we knew eachother better and there were no awkward moments for whatever reason. Overall I found it to be an eye opening project in that i can get work done with my friends and not just goof around. I found it to make the project more enjoyable, I was more excited for class, and work was just made easier, During this project I found out that i have more of a drive and will to work around people I enjoy spending time with. I got more work done and stayed on task more. However we did not distribute our time well so we did not finish our graphs on time. I will work on getting more work done from a group perspective.