Project Description
This project was the most interesting so far. The goal was to build a hybrid car that could travel five meters and then stop. My group, which had three members, decided to go above and beyond to make two different cars that ran on solar and elastic energy. We started our project by making a blueprint for the rubber-band car, which at the time, we wanted to make it with spring energy. It had four wheels and a breaking system made of string. Just after we started building, we began to see the biggest of our problems. We barely had the axle trimmed and the frame done by the third build day, and we knew that we only had a couple days to complete the car. Due to that, we had to put in many hours after school, and on weekends trying to finish our car. It also was slightly bad that all of us wanted to make it perfect and attractive, so every wrong tweak meant a remodel. This wasn't completely negative, because as you can see in the slideshow we have two perfectly functional and attractive cars. On the third build day, Nathan was absent and he took the blueprint for our car with him. Sebastian and I were faced with a dilemma, not do any work at all, or find something else to work on. We chose the second option, which ended up paying off. During that class time, we obtained solar equipment and started to make that car. By the end of the day we had a fully functional car that could complete the task (rolling a set distance). As I said before, our group strived for perfection, and because I felt attached to the solar car I wanted to make it better. So then during class, for the rest of the time, we split into different working groups. Those were me, working on the solar car by myself, and the other two working on the rubber band car. We were not completely split however, because we still gave each other ideas and helped out. Doing this, we struggled to make it through the various work checkpoints, but finished in the nick of time, with two extraordinary products.
Terms and Concepts
- Potential Energy (spring): How much energy a spring, or rubber band, is storing. Measures in Joules (J). We used this to calculate how much energy the rubber band car had before we released.
- Potential Energy (solar): How much energy a solar panel gives off per second. Measured in watts (W), and one watt is equal to one Joule per second. We used this to see how much energy the solar car would generate per second from the sun.
- Kinetic Energy: Energy due to motion. Measured in Joules (J). We used this to see how much of our potential energy was converted to movement force.
- Thermal Energy: The energy not converted to kinetic, and instead converted to things like sound and friction. Measured in Joules (J). We used this to see how ineffective our cars could be.
- Law of Conservation: The law that states that no energy is created or destroyed. We used this to find out how much energy was converted to thermal, because we know none of the potential energy can be destroyed.
- Spring Constant: How difficult it is to move a spring. the higher the spring constant, the harder it is to move. We used this to help us find out how difficult, or easy, it was to stretch our rubber band.
- Distance vs Time Graph: A graph that represents the distance traveled over a certain amount of time. The slope of this graph is the velocity of the object. We used this to represent how far our cars went every second, up to 5m.
Click Below To see Slideshow and Graphs
Reflection
Our project may have looked well put together, but many things went wrong and many things could have gone better. Our main problems were time usage, perfectionism, and focus. We did not use our time as effectively as we could have. First of all, we had to spend over five hours outside of school to finish because we could not get enough done in class. This made it so we could finish in time, but we all would have enjoyed it better if we had finished in class. Also, since we tried to perfect our cars, that also wasted time in class remodeling our cars over and over again. We rebuild and changed the Nova about seven times, and the Razor was majorly changed once and adjusted many times. Also, our group was mostly good with getting work done, but when we spent time after school, there were distractions. This all ties back into time usage, because if we had used our time perfectly none of these problems would have existed. This project, we all did remarkably well even with all of our time issues, we were able to build multiple cars and our presentation was precise. I would not have done this project much differently besides chose a group with more people. With more people, everyone can do things at the same time, and we can get much more done. Also, I have to try to lead my group to be more focused in class. That is not always a bad thing, but when we are on a crunch for time it could be useful to be quiet. Overall, this was my favorite project so far and I enjoyed every extra minute I put into it.