Rube Goldberg Machine

Goal 1 : to use different forms of energy

Goal 2 : using knowledge about the physics of projectiles to launch a marble onto a target on the floor between 1 and

2 meters away

Rube Goldberg machine

• A machine that performs a simple task in a complicated way

Rube Goldberg gets his think-tank working and evolves the simplified pencil-sharpener.

    Open window (A) and fly kite (B).  String (C) lifts small door (D) allowing moths (E) to escape and eat red flannel shirt (F).   As weight of shirt becomes less, shoe (G) steps on switch (H) which heats electric iron (I) and burns hole in pants (J).   Smoke (K) enters hole in tree (L), smoking out opossum (M) which jumps into basket (N), pulling rope (O) and lifting cage (P), allowing woodpecker (Q) to chew wood from pencil (R), exposing lead.  Emergency knife (S) is always handy in case opossum or the woodpecker gets sick and can't work.

Your machine will

• Lift a marble up to the beginning of a ramp• The ramp angle can be adjusted to aim for

the target• The distance between the end of your ramp

and the target will be revealed once your machine is taped down on my table, but it will be between 1 and 2 meters, and on the floor.

This is sort of it, but more complicated, and with the right color scheme…

To prepare, you’ll make a virtual

machine in Interactive

Physics

Rules for the “virtual” machine, done in Interactive Physics

• Main Ball in red, which is raised from a low position to the high end of a ramp, and rolls down the ramp, off the end, and into a bucket.

• Motionless parts in black• Motion parts in blue• At least 5 different actions using 5 different tools

or parts• Demonstrate you’ve played with most of the IP

tools.

Your Real machine will

• Use the following forms of energy to raise the marble to the beginning of the ramp

• Chemical

• Electrical

• Stored mechanical energy (spring, rubber band)

• Stored Potential energy (height of mass)

Your machine will have

• At least one simple machine which trades force for distance

• A ramp with an adjustable angle. This is the only adjustment point, once everything is set up, that you can you use to aim the ball for the target.

Once in the room, you will catch the ball at the end of your ramp

until it comes time for the official test.

• You will NOT do trial & error testing in the room, on the day of testing.

http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/more_stuff/Applets/ProjectileMotion/jarapplet.html