Homemade Potato Battery
All batteries have 3 components to them: an anode, cathode, and electrolyte. In my potato battery, the potatoes provide the electrolytes for the battery. My galvanized nails are made of zinc and are the anodes for the battery. The copper pennies are the cathodes for the battery. All of these combined together like the picture above and creates a battery.
Physics Rube Goldberg Machine Project
Our goal for this project, was to create a Rube Goldberg Machine and to connect it to a satirical piece we made for Humanities. For the RGB, we were required to include six simple machines have a challenge step. The RGB had to complete a goal at the end or else it wouldn't be a RGM, Ex: Popping a balloon. The pieces of the machine or end message of it had to relate and be connected to a satire we made for Humanities. The satire was required to be about something we had a strong opinion on. We were then to make a satire using two of any of the satirical devices; parody, hyperbole, understatement, juxtaposition, irony, sarcasm, caricature, double-entendre, euphemism, juvenalian.
Reflection
Energy-
I am going to be explaining two types of energy, conservation of energy and energy transfer. Conservation of energy is when energy can neither be made nor destroyed. The energy will only pass to another object. An example of conservation of energy in my Rube Goldberg Machine is the axe falling onto the balloon and popping it. The axe was full of potential energy, and when the string holding it up was cut, gravity (another form of energy) was used to pull the axe to the ground and pop the balloon. Energy transfer is like what I explained before. It is when energy is transferred from one object to another. The axe can be used as an example for this, too, but another example is the marble falling off the incline ramp and onto the wheel and axle to make it move. When the ball hit the wheel and axle, it transferred it's energy to it, and gave it the energy to move, and to the air surrounding it where it became heat.
Mechanics-
The six simple machines of a RGM are incline ramp, screw, pulley, wedge, wheel and axle, and lever. The six simple machines are meant to use little to no moving parts, this is what makes them simple. The six simple machines are important because they are used to make something easier, however, they do make it longer to complete the task at hand.
In my RGM, I included every simple machine. At the beginning, we see a ball go down a spiral. This is the screw, meaning the object is going through multiple circles to go a short distance. After the ball had gone down the screw and gained up momentum, it then traveled up an incline ramp to help it get higher up in order to have the force it needed to hit the wheel and axle in order for it to move. The wheel and axle were used to easily activate the pulley by making them spin and drop the weight on one end of the pulley that was resting on top of the axle and pull the string down. The pulley is used to easier lift or pull something of heavier weight. My pulley pulled on the other end of the string that was attached to scissors, causing them to close. This is our lever, a lever is usually used to make lifting a weight easier. The lever then cuts a string that is holding our axe up, dropping it onto the balloon. The axe is our wedge in this, which is used to push something apart.
In our machine, we needed to have a challenge step. This challenge step have been a closed off box that kept the ball in it for ten seconds before letting it out called a warp box, a 360° spiral, or a 720° spiral. I chose to go with the 720° spiral as it would be simple for me to do, as I could combine it with my screw. The 720° spiral was simply a spiral, like the screw, that rotated around at least two full times.
Learning and Growth-
My biggest take away from this project was to make sure I always listen to the teacher during class. There were a few times where I had spaced out during class and become confused on what was happening a few minutes later, and would have to ask the teacher what she said, or find out on my own. It was very confusing, hard, and stressful. I quickly learned that I must listen at all times.
My greatest challenge that I faced was the pulley on my RGM. I didn't really understand how pulleys worked, and when we learned about them in math, I had missed a day due to quarantining and had no clue what was happening the seconded day. I over came this by doing my own research and had asked my brother, who is very handy with mechanics, to help me and explain how it worked.
I feel my greatest strength came from planning and sketching out our plans for the RGMs. I have always been pretty good at coming up with plans for projects, I just struggle to execute them well. But my sketch had been neat and detailed, thoroughly explaining what my plan was. It made it easy for me to understand what I wanted to complete and the steps needed to complete the machine.
I am going to be explaining two types of energy, conservation of energy and energy transfer. Conservation of energy is when energy can neither be made nor destroyed. The energy will only pass to another object. An example of conservation of energy in my Rube Goldberg Machine is the axe falling onto the balloon and popping it. The axe was full of potential energy, and when the string holding it up was cut, gravity (another form of energy) was used to pull the axe to the ground and pop the balloon. Energy transfer is like what I explained before. It is when energy is transferred from one object to another. The axe can be used as an example for this, too, but another example is the marble falling off the incline ramp and onto the wheel and axle to make it move. When the ball hit the wheel and axle, it transferred it's energy to it, and gave it the energy to move, and to the air surrounding it where it became heat.
Mechanics-
The six simple machines of a RGM are incline ramp, screw, pulley, wedge, wheel and axle, and lever. The six simple machines are meant to use little to no moving parts, this is what makes them simple. The six simple machines are important because they are used to make something easier, however, they do make it longer to complete the task at hand.
In my RGM, I included every simple machine. At the beginning, we see a ball go down a spiral. This is the screw, meaning the object is going through multiple circles to go a short distance. After the ball had gone down the screw and gained up momentum, it then traveled up an incline ramp to help it get higher up in order to have the force it needed to hit the wheel and axle in order for it to move. The wheel and axle were used to easily activate the pulley by making them spin and drop the weight on one end of the pulley that was resting on top of the axle and pull the string down. The pulley is used to easier lift or pull something of heavier weight. My pulley pulled on the other end of the string that was attached to scissors, causing them to close. This is our lever, a lever is usually used to make lifting a weight easier. The lever then cuts a string that is holding our axe up, dropping it onto the balloon. The axe is our wedge in this, which is used to push something apart.
In our machine, we needed to have a challenge step. This challenge step have been a closed off box that kept the ball in it for ten seconds before letting it out called a warp box, a 360° spiral, or a 720° spiral. I chose to go with the 720° spiral as it would be simple for me to do, as I could combine it with my screw. The 720° spiral was simply a spiral, like the screw, that rotated around at least two full times.
Learning and Growth-
My biggest take away from this project was to make sure I always listen to the teacher during class. There were a few times where I had spaced out during class and become confused on what was happening a few minutes later, and would have to ask the teacher what she said, or find out on my own. It was very confusing, hard, and stressful. I quickly learned that I must listen at all times.
My greatest challenge that I faced was the pulley on my RGM. I didn't really understand how pulleys worked, and when we learned about them in math, I had missed a day due to quarantining and had no clue what was happening the seconded day. I over came this by doing my own research and had asked my brother, who is very handy with mechanics, to help me and explain how it worked.
I feel my greatest strength came from planning and sketching out our plans for the RGMs. I have always been pretty good at coming up with plans for projects, I just struggle to execute them well. But my sketch had been neat and detailed, thoroughly explaining what my plan was. It made it easy for me to understand what I wanted to complete and the steps needed to complete the machine.
Photographs of Physics
For this project this unit, we were required to take a photograph of a natural or contrived(man made) physics phenomenon. This photo had to show our understanding one of the topics we learned this unit which was reflection, waves, refraction, color, light waves or light emission.
Autumn Reflection
What we are seeing in the photo is a rainbow being cast over a group of flowers. This is an act of dispersion. With normal rainbows, the light of the sun enters a droplet and then disperses the light into its individual colors allowing us to see them. When using a CD or DVD, the light will also be dispersed off because of the ridges on it and create colors as seen in the image.