Rube Goldberg Machine – Bell Ringer 5000
Brief Introduction
For our Physics unit in science, we got the opportunity to create our own Rube Goldberg machines. With my partner, Sophia, we made a machine that would ring a bell. This task was not as easy as we thought it would be, but we did it!
Video
Drawing
Explanation of Steps
A – The ball rolls down the ramp hitting the books.
B – After the ball hits the book, it triggers a domino reaction that leads to C.
C – One of the books hits a can (weighted with rocks) off the edge of the table dragging along the second can with it.
D – When the second can is pulled away, it releases a toy car.
E – The toy car hits a ball, sending it down the little ramp.
F – The ball bounces off the cardboard and hits the second piece of cardboard.
G – The ball rolls off the second piece of cardboard and knocks into the popsicle sticks
H – When the popsicle sticks are hit, they tug on the string attached to the bell, causing it to ring.
Energy Transfers and Types of Energy
As you could see in the video, we started off with potential energy and gravitational energy with the ball being held over the ramp. That energy was then converted into kinetic energy as it rolled down the ramp. The domino effect happened with the use of mechanical and gravitational energy. Gravity once, agained helped with the can falling off and being able to pull the second can with it. There is also a use of elastic energy towards the end of our project. The bell was held by a rubber band and string. The string was pulled so that it was tense, allowing for when the ball hits the popsicle sticks that it would temporarily release the tension allowing for the bell to ring.
Another thing we had to focus on was the momentum. We had to make sure that each step had enough momentum to power the step after it. To ensure this, we made it so that something was always hitting something smaller than it, unless we had a lot of power. (ex. using a bigger car to hit the ball). The main exception in this was the beginning because we had enough force created with the use of the ramp. An example of this working would be the ball hitting into the popsicle sticks to make the bell ring.
Core Competency Reflection