Reflection: I think that this project went by very fast. I would have enjoyed spending more time with my awesome group but sadly we couldn't. This car design started out simple with nothing more than a rubber band, a screw,two axles and four wheels. We started out by rolling our axles with the non-stick side of duct tape then stuck them on the underside of our car. After many failed attempts at moving it more than a meter, we realized that the duct tape was causing too much friction. We then proceeded to use many other methods such as using LEGO blocks with holes and other small mechanical parts made of plastic and still fail. Eventually we found that drilling holes in the struts on the side of our car helped reduce friction so much that it rolled far past ten meters! My group was so excited and shocked that this happened, and then we remembered that it had to carry 250g of mass. We doubtfully put the mass on and gave it a try. To our astonishment the car performed just as perfectly as before! The reason for this was that the rubber band was pulling so hard on the back axle that the wheel wasn't gripping the floor hard enough. The extra mass pushed the wheels harder on the ground so it could grip it more. This project was very fun (even after tons of trial and error!)and I would definitely do it again.
Concepts:
Acceleration: Acceleration is rate at which an objects velocity is increasing. If an object is accelerating at 2 m/s then every second its velocity is growing by two m/s.
Velocity: Velocity is the rate at which an object is moving over a certain distance. If an object is moving at 2 m/s then every two seconds it will move four meters.
Potential Energy: Potential energy is the amount of energy something has built up but not released. A spring has a lot of potential energy because the energy it has is not being used but is still there.
Kinetic Energy: Is the energy something exerts. A ball has tons of kinetic energy when it is flying through the air.
Thermal Energy: Thermal energy is the amount of energy something is putting into making heat. When you rub a stick vertically over a log and you make fire, the reason it lit was because the motion of the stick rubbing the log cause friction and the friction created thermal energy that eventually sparks the wood to start a fire.
Concepts:
Acceleration: Acceleration is rate at which an objects velocity is increasing. If an object is accelerating at 2 m/s then every second its velocity is growing by two m/s.
Velocity: Velocity is the rate at which an object is moving over a certain distance. If an object is moving at 2 m/s then every two seconds it will move four meters.
Potential Energy: Potential energy is the amount of energy something has built up but not released. A spring has a lot of potential energy because the energy it has is not being used but is still there.
Kinetic Energy: Is the energy something exerts. A ball has tons of kinetic energy when it is flying through the air.
Thermal Energy: Thermal energy is the amount of energy something is putting into making heat. When you rub a stick vertically over a log and you make fire, the reason it lit was because the motion of the stick rubbing the log cause friction and the friction created thermal energy that eventually sparks the wood to start a fire.