Sound and Light Project
As we made our project we realized that our original idea was simply not going to work. Our original idea was to take two sub-woofers and attach rods to the drivers. The rods would then push in and out with the speaker and pump into the side of a plastic bottle. The fog inside the bottle would then pump out of the top of the bottle and make cool figures in the air. Our final project is a lot different than that. The first reason we were not able to make our original idea was we could not find two adequate speakers to mount the rods on. This was the biggest reason we could not follow up on our idea. We went back to the drawing board and figured out that air would pump from the speaker very well if it is funneled into a bottle. This is what we based our second draft on. So, we mounted a cone and a big tequila bottle on the mouth of the speaker. Then we put a hose that connects a fog machine directly to the cone of the speaker. When we run the project the fog fills up the bottle and dances around inside it quite nicely.
In my opinion our project looks awesome, but there is one fatal flaw that greatly takes away from the project. This flaw is the lack of an air tight seal between the cone and the mouth of the speaker. Seeing that the speaker we are using is nice and we did not want to ruin it, we had to come up with a temporary way to attach the cone. We could not glue the cone directly to the speaker mouth because it would never come off. So, we decided to clamp the cone down to the mouth and duct tape the cone down to the speaker face. The problem with this is that a lot of fog escapes from the edges of the cone and it takes away from the solidarity of the bottle. It does not wreck the effect of the project, but it would be better of one hundred percent of the fog was going to the top resonating chamber.
Our project represents our theme because our project is misty and cool. When we were coming up with our idea we wanted to make a project that is sort of like an effect show at a concert. I wanted to combine the cool factor with an aspect of science. I feel like we covered these categories very well. We combined music, fog, and awesome lights. These three things are the main components of advanced effects at events like concerts.
Nathan Stilwell
Rube and Goldberg’s amazing series of steps
-Problem- The problem or task of our Rube Goldberg project is to pour a cup of cereal into a bowl.
-Materials- Throughout the project I used many tools and materials, here is a complete list of them:
· Drill
· Skill saw
· Screws
· Tape measure
· Markers
· Nails
· Wooden dowels
· OSB
· 2 by 4’s
· Plastic pulley system
· String
· Cardboard
· Yoyo
· Marbles
-Procedure- There were quite a few steps that went in to building my project those steps were:
1. Construct downward sloped ramp out of angled cardboard that a marble can roll down.
2. Cut a slit in the ramp for a cardboard stopper to fit in to hold the marble in place.
3. Take two wooden dowels and cut them to the same length. Screw them into a base board.
4. Drill a hole into both of the dowels and place a nail into the two the hole. Put the plastic pulley in the middle of the dowels hanging from the nail.
5. Attach a piece of cardboard onto the end of the string.
6. Attach a paper cup to the other end of the string.
7. Hang the string on the pulley.
8. Make a table/platform a few inches off the ground.
9. Make an inclined plane that travels half way down the platform.
10. Make a cardboard track going down the ramp to guide the yoyo down to the cup.
11. Attach paper cup to a lever of some sort so that it will pivot and release the cereal at the end of the platform.
12. Attach the cup to the very end of the platform.
13. Glue a bowl under the cup to catch the cereal when it falls.
Step # | Description | Concept | Calculation |
1 | Pull string and release marble from stopper | N/A | N/A |
2 | Marble rolls down incline plain | Incline Plain | .258 m/s |
3 | Marble lands in cup and pulls down on the yoyo stopper | Pulley | MA= 1 |
4 | Yoyo is released from cardboard stopper and rolls down the incline plain | Incline Plain | .277 m/s |
5 | Yoyo hit the cup and knocks it into a pivot session | Lever | MA= 1 |
6 | Cereal falls into bowl | N/A | .6 m/s |
-Transfer of energy-
When the marble at the beginning is detained by the cardboard stopper it has potential energy. As soon as the marble is released it builds up kinetic energy until it rolls off the track and lands in the cup. Once the marble lands in the cup the force of the objects pull down on the string and the string is attached to the cardboard stopper holding the yoyo in place. The yoyo has potential energy as it is held by the cardboard. When the yoyo is released it rolls down the incline plane and it builds kinetic energy. The yoyo carries enough momentum to roll over the flat area and run into the cup of cereal. The yoyo transfers all of its energy to the cup and the cup is pushed up and over the pivot point. Then gravity pulls down on the cereal and it falls into the bowl. The cereal stays at rest and the transfer of energy is done.
-Discussion-
The conservation of momentum is a theory that states that if a moving object hits an object standing still the momentum stays the same. Two steps that this applies to in my project is the marble hitting the cup and the yoyo hitting the cup of cereal. This applies to the marble hitting the cup because when the marble rolls down the ramp the cup is standing still. Then the marble rolls into the cup and the cup receives the marbles momentum. The next step is the yoyo and the cup of cereal. When the yoyo is released from the stopper it starts to build up momentum as it rolls down the incline plane. As the yoyo builds momentum the cup has none, but as soon as the cup is struck by the yoyo the momentum is transferred. The momentum stays the same until the cup is stopped when the lever runs out of pivot room.
Newton's first law states that an object at rest or an object in motion will stay in motion or rest at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an outside force. This law applies the last step of our project, the cereal in the cup. Before the cereal is hit by the yoyo it is at rest. The cereal will not move until acted on by the outside force of the yoyo. Finally when the yoyo runs into the cup the cereal is set in motion. The cereal is thrown from the cup to its way down to the bowl. When the cereal starts its short descent the over all body of cereal moves in one constant mass. The mass is pulled down by gravity, and the cereal accelerates until it hits the cup. The cereal is acted upon by the outside force of the bowl, and it is once more at rest until it is eaten.
Simple machines are useful for many things, but the thing that they were most useful for in my project was allowing objects to gain speed and displace them from point A to point B. Both for the marble and the yoyo the incline plain force the to accelerate. Now the acceleration was more important for the yoyo because the yoyo needed to carry enough speed to knock over the cup of cereal. This made our task easier by causing a way to increase speed. With out the plain we would have had to find some way to push the yoyo fast enough, but with the plain all we had to do was nudge it and gravity did the rest.
The transfer of energy starts when the marble at the beginning is detained by the cardboard stopper it has potential energy. As soon as the marble is released it builds up kinetic energy until it rolls off the track and lands in the cup. Once the marble lands in the cup the force of the objects pull down on the string and the string is attached to the cardboard stopper holding the yoyo in place. The yoyo has potential energy as it is held by the cardboard. When the yoyo is released it rolls down the incline plane and it builds kinetic energy. The yoyo carries enough momentum to roll over the flat area and run into the cup of cereal. The yoyo transfers all of its energy to the cup and the cup is pushed up and over the pivot point. Then gravity pulls down on the cereal and it falls into the bowl. The cereal stays at rest and the transfer of energy is done.
-Reflection-
Time management is a very valuable skill to learn in life, and during this project I learned a few things about time management. The majority of all of the class periods I was working until the last minute before we had to clean up. Fortunately I never had to work on the project outside of class. Unlike some groups and group members I never goofed off or just watched someone work. Without good time managing I would have had to do plenty of work outside of class. I think that one of the reasons I worked so diligently was that I don not have that many friends in physics; I don't have as many people to joke around with. In the end it worked in my favor though. This made it very easy to manage my time and work like a sweatshop worker.
My roll in the group was the leader. I sort of made the plans and then executed them. I noticed that Lauren and Tyler would ask me what to do next or how to do something. Even in the exhibition I explained the project and set it up most of the time. I was very happy with my roll. I like being the boss and giving orders. Plus if I wanted something done some way I would make up my mind and do something. In the future I would not change anything. I am very industrious and once I get something in my head I make it exactly how I want to make it. I think it is fun having control and I wish it would never change.
The most positive part of the project was wood working. I love working with wood and power tools in general. Taking a single piece of 2x4 and turning it in to a six inch platform is great fun. Plus it is just like making anything it is rewarding if it turns out good. Also, wood working is a very valuable skill it is like driving a stick. It will definitely help me on any manual job and even if I just need to make a shelf it is good to know how.
