Our Project
My team's objective was to build a prototype car using an alternate energy source other than nuclear and chemical energy. Remote control was also not allowed. The car had to be able to carry at least 250g and travel 5m exactly. We then had to pitch this product to our class and explain why this would be the most efficient car.
Our car was powered by a rubber band which gave it elastic potential energy. We had about 2 weeks to plan and build our car. We first had to create our schematic. This design had axles that did not work so we had to find another way to attach the axles to our car by trial and error. We finally came to the perfect design using a thin dowel and brackets to hold the axles to the car and also allowing it to move with as little friction as possible. For our wheels we used 2 CDs glued together to give it as little friction as possible. In order to get the car to not exceed 5m we had to add a total of 400g of mass onto the car and lessen the amount of times to wind the rubber band around the axel. Click the file to see our slides.
Our car was powered by a rubber band which gave it elastic potential energy. We had about 2 weeks to plan and build our car. We first had to create our schematic. This design had axles that did not work so we had to find another way to attach the axles to our car by trial and error. We finally came to the perfect design using a thin dowel and brackets to hold the axles to the car and also allowing it to move with as little friction as possible. For our wheels we used 2 CDs glued together to give it as little friction as possible. In order to get the car to not exceed 5m we had to add a total of 400g of mass onto the car and lessen the amount of times to wind the rubber band around the axel. Click the file to see our slides.
Concepts |
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- Potential energy elastic- the energy stored in a elastic by pulling on it
- Kinetic energy- energy due to motion
- Spring constant- Measure of how much a spring wants to pull back together
- Thermal energy- energy lost to friction
Reflection
The design was completed the first day of planning and our car worked the first day we tested it so we kept that design. This project has taught me many things. I learned how to have more of a leadership role, while working on this project. I also learned to leave enough time to fix any problems that may possibly come up later. I could've done better in planning for things that could go wrong and how to fix them. I could also improve on making sure we have enough materials for the project and for mess ups. Some things that went well for our project was that our car had one of the best mechanical advantages our teacher, Mr. Williams, has ever seen. One thing that was a major set back for my team was that one of our axles broke. The car was falling off the table and as an attempt to save it, the car was caught before it hit the floor. Luckily the axle was the only thing that broke but even so, we had a major problem. We ran out of dowels that were the right size for our axle. We tried to carve one out ourselves but that added to much friction and it was to fragile. Fortunately I had a wooden skewer that was the perfect size that we could use. Overall, I learned so much from this project and ended up having built an amazing car with my teammates.