Hybrid Car
Overview
The goal for this project was the build a car that could drive 5 meters carrying 250 grams and then stop. This car was supposed to be able to do this on it's own, without giving it any help (for example, you could not push the car to get it going).
The purpose of doing this project was to learn about new physics concepts. The most important of these concepts that we used in this project were tension and spring constant. To learn more about these concepts, scroll down to the 'Terms' section down below.
We went through multiple ideas trying to build a car that would work. Our first idea was to use gears and a wind-up mechanism. However, we ditched this idea after attempting to build it, because we realized it was very difficult and too beyond our physics knowledge. Our next idea involved a rat trap. We quickly moved on to another idea after getting grossed out because the mouse trap was old and nasty (it may have been used...). Gross. At that point we were kind of out of ideas, and running out of time. We attempted to put a big, heavy door hinge on the back of the car and tie strings to it. We thought that once the top of the hinge dropped down, it would spin the front axles, which we tied to other end of the string to. However, the string only went lax and sat there motionless. We were stressing for ideas and time was very short. So, we looked to the internet. We found a basic car idea and decided to build one of our own.
Our car was built using a cereal box for the base, CD's for the wheels, sticks as the axles, and a rubber band that attached to the inside of the base and stretched to the back axle. We tied a paper clip around the rear axle and used that to hold the rubber band in place once it was stretched back. By rotating the back wheels once this was done, it stretched the rubber band enough so that it would spin the wheel once let go. After lots of adjustments, we were able to stretch the rubber band just perfectly so that it would stop right at the 5 meter mark.
I think that our project could have been better if we had decorated our car. Other than that, I can't think of much else that could have gone better!
During this project, I learned a few things about group projects. It is best to not worry when something doesn't happen the way you want it to. If you start stressing out, then you will begin to worry and everything will seem impossible to accomplish. Also, it is very important that you let everyone give their opinion on something. By collaborating, you can pull together all of those ideas to make a possible solution that works well. While working on this project, I learned that I am prone to stressing out about things. When something doesn't work, I start to worry and then things seem hopeless.
Here, you can take a look at our PowerPoint presentation to get some more explanations behind the physics of our car:
The purpose of doing this project was to learn about new physics concepts. The most important of these concepts that we used in this project were tension and spring constant. To learn more about these concepts, scroll down to the 'Terms' section down below.
We went through multiple ideas trying to build a car that would work. Our first idea was to use gears and a wind-up mechanism. However, we ditched this idea after attempting to build it, because we realized it was very difficult and too beyond our physics knowledge. Our next idea involved a rat trap. We quickly moved on to another idea after getting grossed out because the mouse trap was old and nasty (it may have been used...). Gross. At that point we were kind of out of ideas, and running out of time. We attempted to put a big, heavy door hinge on the back of the car and tie strings to it. We thought that once the top of the hinge dropped down, it would spin the front axles, which we tied to other end of the string to. However, the string only went lax and sat there motionless. We were stressing for ideas and time was very short. So, we looked to the internet. We found a basic car idea and decided to build one of our own.
Our car was built using a cereal box for the base, CD's for the wheels, sticks as the axles, and a rubber band that attached to the inside of the base and stretched to the back axle. We tied a paper clip around the rear axle and used that to hold the rubber band in place once it was stretched back. By rotating the back wheels once this was done, it stretched the rubber band enough so that it would spin the wheel once let go. After lots of adjustments, we were able to stretch the rubber band just perfectly so that it would stop right at the 5 meter mark.
I think that our project could have been better if we had decorated our car. Other than that, I can't think of much else that could have gone better!
During this project, I learned a few things about group projects. It is best to not worry when something doesn't happen the way you want it to. If you start stressing out, then you will begin to worry and everything will seem impossible to accomplish. Also, it is very important that you let everyone give their opinion on something. By collaborating, you can pull together all of those ideas to make a possible solution that works well. While working on this project, I learned that I am prone to stressing out about things. When something doesn't work, I start to worry and then things seem hopeless.
Here, you can take a look at our PowerPoint presentation to get some more explanations behind the physics of our car:
Details
- Our car has a mass of 0.145 kilograms without the weights.
- With the weights, our car has a mass of 0.395 kilograms.
- Our car has an average velocity of 0.593 meters per second.
- Our car has a Potential Energy of 6.604 Joules.
- Our car never rises above 0.074 Joules of Kinetic Energy.
- The Thermal Energy in our car slowly rises from 0 Joules to 6.604 Joules.
Terms
Mass- A measure of how much matter is in an object.
Gram- One of the two standard unit measurements for mass (1000 grams = 1 kilogram).
Kilogram- One of the two standard unit measurements for mass (1 kilogram = 1000 grams).
Velocity- The rate of change of the position of an object, equivalent to a specification of its speed and direction of motion.
Potential Energy- Energy an object has stored because of its position.
Kinetic Energy- Energy an object has due to motion.
Thermal Energy- Energy an object has regarding its temperature.
Joule- The standard unit measurement for energy
Gram- One of the two standard unit measurements for mass (1000 grams = 1 kilogram).
Kilogram- One of the two standard unit measurements for mass (1 kilogram = 1000 grams).
Velocity- The rate of change of the position of an object, equivalent to a specification of its speed and direction of motion.
Potential Energy- Energy an object has stored because of its position.
Kinetic Energy- Energy an object has due to motion.
Thermal Energy- Energy an object has regarding its temperature.
Joule- The standard unit measurement for energy