Project Goal:
The goal of the project was to design and build an efficient car that can travel 5 meters while carrying a 250 gram mass; without using batteries, gasoline, or any other form of chemical energy.
Overview:
Me and my group (Jared, Evelyn, and Citlalli) have recently finished our hybrid car project. During the first week, we brainstormed ideas and researched alternate forms of energy. We concluded that spring power (rubber bands) was the best way to go. During the next two weeks of class, we built our concept. We built our car using...
1 copper axle - $1.00
2 CD's - $1.00
2 Lego Wheels (2") - $1.50
1 Lego axle (4") - $0.50
4 small pieces of wood (Frame) - $2.00
Nails/ Screws - $1.00
Tire Treads (Traction) - $2.00
TOTAL - $9.00
... our car design was surprisingly efficient and would consistently travel 5 meters. Our final task, the presentation, took us three days to make. We finished our project two days early and used the time to perfect our presentation. Our presentation went great and the project was a success.
Concepts:
Spring Constant- Spring constant is the measure of elastically of an object. To find the sprin constant ina n object the equation is F= kx. Our spring constant was 2.25 N/m.
Gravitational Potential Energy- This is the amount of energy and object has before going in motion duw to gravity. Gravitational potential energy can be found from the equation PE=mgh (mass x gravity x height). Our car's potential energy was 5.5J.
Kinetic Energy- Kinetic energy is how much energy and object has due to motion. It is calculated by taking half of the product of mass and velocity squared (KE= 1/2mv^2). After passing each meter, our kinetic energey slowly decresed.
Thermal Energy- Thermal energy is the lost energy during the transfer of potential energy to kinetic. Th thermal energy increased as the car passed each meter.
Spring Potential Energy- This is energy due to compression or expansion of an elastic material. This is found with the equation of PEs= 1/2kx^2. The spring potential energy was 0.23J.
Velocity- This is speed with a given direction. Velocity can be found by dividing distance over time (V=d/t). Our car increases in velocity then reached the third meter and slowly decreased.
Friction- This is the force that affects motion. For our car, the CDs didn't have enough friction so we added the tire threads to increase it.
Reflection
Overall, the entire project went great. I had tons of fun building our car and tweaking it. My group and I didn't get along too well because some members slacked off and didn't do much (Pit). This led to a few problems for our group, icluding time management. We were rushed towards the end of the project and made some last-minute changes.
Despite this, our car was incredibly efficient and fast, going the 5 meters in under 4 seconds. Also, we were the closest group in class to get the car to go 5 meters (Peak). I learned alot in this project. I learned many new methods of alternate energy. I also learned how to manage time well. This was definitely one of the better projects and I hope that the many projects in the future can be similar to this one.
The goal of the project was to design and build an efficient car that can travel 5 meters while carrying a 250 gram mass; without using batteries, gasoline, or any other form of chemical energy.
Overview:
Me and my group (Jared, Evelyn, and Citlalli) have recently finished our hybrid car project. During the first week, we brainstormed ideas and researched alternate forms of energy. We concluded that spring power (rubber bands) was the best way to go. During the next two weeks of class, we built our concept. We built our car using...
1 copper axle - $1.00
2 CD's - $1.00
2 Lego Wheels (2") - $1.50
1 Lego axle (4") - $0.50
4 small pieces of wood (Frame) - $2.00
Nails/ Screws - $1.00
Tire Treads (Traction) - $2.00
TOTAL - $9.00
... our car design was surprisingly efficient and would consistently travel 5 meters. Our final task, the presentation, took us three days to make. We finished our project two days early and used the time to perfect our presentation. Our presentation went great and the project was a success.
Concepts:
Spring Constant- Spring constant is the measure of elastically of an object. To find the sprin constant ina n object the equation is F= kx. Our spring constant was 2.25 N/m.
Gravitational Potential Energy- This is the amount of energy and object has before going in motion duw to gravity. Gravitational potential energy can be found from the equation PE=mgh (mass x gravity x height). Our car's potential energy was 5.5J.
Kinetic Energy- Kinetic energy is how much energy and object has due to motion. It is calculated by taking half of the product of mass and velocity squared (KE= 1/2mv^2). After passing each meter, our kinetic energey slowly decresed.
Thermal Energy- Thermal energy is the lost energy during the transfer of potential energy to kinetic. Th thermal energy increased as the car passed each meter.
Spring Potential Energy- This is energy due to compression or expansion of an elastic material. This is found with the equation of PEs= 1/2kx^2. The spring potential energy was 0.23J.
Velocity- This is speed with a given direction. Velocity can be found by dividing distance over time (V=d/t). Our car increases in velocity then reached the third meter and slowly decreased.
Friction- This is the force that affects motion. For our car, the CDs didn't have enough friction so we added the tire threads to increase it.
Reflection
Overall, the entire project went great. I had tons of fun building our car and tweaking it. My group and I didn't get along too well because some members slacked off and didn't do much (Pit). This led to a few problems for our group, icluding time management. We were rushed towards the end of the project and made some last-minute changes.
Despite this, our car was incredibly efficient and fast, going the 5 meters in under 4 seconds. Also, we were the closest group in class to get the car to go 5 meters (Peak). I learned alot in this project. I learned many new methods of alternate energy. I also learned how to manage time well. This was definitely one of the better projects and I hope that the many projects in the future can be similar to this one.