For our third project, we were tasked with designing a car that didn’t run on gas and could go exactly five meters with a 250 gram weight. There were many variations on the power source, like running on springs, water, and of course, batteries. After several failed attempts, my group settled on the last option. We used a K`Nex motor, attached several K`Nex pieces, and connected wheels. The result was a self-braking tricycle that would brake literally by breaking in two, and traveled 0.1 meters per second. While it wasn't the fastest in the class, it was reliable.
I have always grown somehow in every project, and this time was no exception. I think this time around, I really learned to keep redesigning, and to never give up. My group went through three different designs, and we were always improving. Our first design was a carbon dioxide powered car, but the release of carbon dioxide was too short, and blew our car up. Next, we tried a spring powered car, but our wheels wouldn't grip the ground, and would just spin at the starting line, until the spring was no longer wound up. We, however, were pretty wound up, so we finally decided to go for the battery powered car.
Another thing that i really thought I did well, was that I didn't panic, at least, I didnt show it on the outside. I didn't want to freak out the other people in my group, since stress can be contagious, so even though I was going crazy on the inside, I didn't let my group see it. Now onto the things I didn't do so well. I thought I could have come up with something a little more creative and original than a battery powered car, after all, the idea was to come up with a new energy source. I also thought we could have researched more, not jsut as a group, but as a class as a whole, not just dumped into it with little to no prior knowledge, and no research. Overall, I thought this was a good project, not my best, but certainly not bad.
Key Concepts:
Distance: How far an object travels.
Velocity: The velocity is basically speed with direction. It is rate of how far an object goes in a certain time. So, it can be calculated by taking the distance and dividing it by time.
Acceleration: Acceleration is how the velocity of an object changes with time, and so it is calculated by the velocity divided time.
Potential Energy: The theoretical or stored energy an object possesses due to its position. It can come from being high up, and having gravity act on it, or it can be stretched out, and have potential energy due to tension.
Kinetic Energy: The actual energy that an object possesses because it is in motion. Anything moving has kinetic energy.
I have always grown somehow in every project, and this time was no exception. I think this time around, I really learned to keep redesigning, and to never give up. My group went through three different designs, and we were always improving. Our first design was a carbon dioxide powered car, but the release of carbon dioxide was too short, and blew our car up. Next, we tried a spring powered car, but our wheels wouldn't grip the ground, and would just spin at the starting line, until the spring was no longer wound up. We, however, were pretty wound up, so we finally decided to go for the battery powered car.
Another thing that i really thought I did well, was that I didn't panic, at least, I didnt show it on the outside. I didn't want to freak out the other people in my group, since stress can be contagious, so even though I was going crazy on the inside, I didn't let my group see it. Now onto the things I didn't do so well. I thought I could have come up with something a little more creative and original than a battery powered car, after all, the idea was to come up with a new energy source. I also thought we could have researched more, not jsut as a group, but as a class as a whole, not just dumped into it with little to no prior knowledge, and no research. Overall, I thought this was a good project, not my best, but certainly not bad.
Key Concepts:
Distance: How far an object travels.
Velocity: The velocity is basically speed with direction. It is rate of how far an object goes in a certain time. So, it can be calculated by taking the distance and dividing it by time.
Acceleration: Acceleration is how the velocity of an object changes with time, and so it is calculated by the velocity divided time.
Potential Energy: The theoretical or stored energy an object possesses due to its position. It can come from being high up, and having gravity act on it, or it can be stretched out, and have potential energy due to tension.
Kinetic Energy: The actual energy that an object possesses because it is in motion. Anything moving has kinetic energy.
Note* There is supposed to be dialogue that the real life presenter says, this is just the background video. Skip to 1:18 for pictures of our car.