This is my groups Hybrid Car we designed. It's base is constructed from a standard cereal box. This gives us a sturdy enough box to all the rest of the components together, while still being very lightweight. For wheels we used CD discs. Since the edges of the CD's were slick on the tile floor we wrapped them in tape for traction. Our barbecue skewers served as very efficient axles. The way they rotated was by rolling inside of the slippery straws we ran the skewers through. They did this while keeping extreme friction on the wheels themselves because we used hot glue to attach them. For the energy source we used elastic energy coming from our rubber band attached to the front of our car. The rubber band would be wound up directly around the back axle. When we let it go it transferred its energy right into the axle, moving the car.
Friction: a force in the opposite direction of motion. The friction of the axle to the wheel was extremely high and helped transfer more energy.
Pressure: Amount of force per unit area. The rubber band exerted pressure on the front of our car. (P=F/area)
Energy: The ability to do work. The car started with Potential energy which turned into a lots of thermal and some of kinetic. (W=ΔKE=ΔPE)
Kinetic Energy: Energy due to motion. Our car moving was evidence of kinetic energy. (KE=1/2mv^2)
Gravitational PE: Energy due to gravitational pull and height. (PE=mgh)
Spring Constant: Measure of elasticity of a spring. (F=kx)
Elastic potential Energy: Energy due to the compression or expansion of a elastic material.
Entropy: Disorder and randomness. Our time management was an entropy.
Power: Rate at which is done. (P=W/t)
Pressure: Amount of force per unit area. The rubber band exerted pressure on the front of our car. (P=F/area)
Energy: The ability to do work. The car started with Potential energy which turned into a lots of thermal and some of kinetic. (W=ΔKE=ΔPE)
Kinetic Energy: Energy due to motion. Our car moving was evidence of kinetic energy. (KE=1/2mv^2)
Gravitational PE: Energy due to gravitational pull and height. (PE=mgh)
Spring Constant: Measure of elasticity of a spring. (F=kx)
Elastic potential Energy: Energy due to the compression or expansion of a elastic material.
Entropy: Disorder and randomness. Our time management was an entropy.
Power: Rate at which is done. (P=W/t)
Reflection: This project was another project full of many ups and downs. At the beginning of the project we were in a good situation and had a good sketch and materials list. But the next 3 days of building nobody in the group brought in the correct materials to build with. This resulted in 3 days of essentially no work being done. Eventually my group members and I brought in the materials. We were back into building. Bur then I got sick and was not there. At the same time another one of my group members was sick also. That left one group member alone without all the information he needed to build. The very next day me and the same group member left school early for a sporting event. This left our other group member alone yet again. eventually we were all there for the final few build days and finished our car. This gave us a little time to tweak until presentation day and it turned out all OK.
I could have done several things better in this project. the most important, I think, was getting materials in on time. I didn't get materials in fast enough, wasting build time. From now on I will work on finding materials and getting them in as soon as possible. Another thing I could have done better was helping my group even when I wasn't at school. I could do this via text or email. I could even drop off materials at school for my group if needed. I will also work on doing this in the future.
Some things I have learned about myself have been that I work well in smaller groups. I have also gained experience with wheels and axles. Before I had no idea how to attach an axle to a wheel or transfer energy to that axle.
I could have done several things better in this project. the most important, I think, was getting materials in on time. I didn't get materials in fast enough, wasting build time. From now on I will work on finding materials and getting them in as soon as possible. Another thing I could have done better was helping my group even when I wasn't at school. I could do this via text or email. I could even drop off materials at school for my group if needed. I will also work on doing this in the future.
Some things I have learned about myself have been that I work well in smaller groups. I have also gained experience with wheels and axles. Before I had no idea how to attach an axle to a wheel or transfer energy to that axle.