For our hybrid car, we created a car that was powered by rubber bands unwinding. It was made by Me, Hunter Gray, Ryan Loeber, Joaquin Arellanes. It consisted of various materials such as wood, rubber bands, CDs, and screws. The car was held together primarily by glue and the screws.. The car took about two hours to design, but many more to create and perfect.
Our car’s source of forward momentum is very simple. There is a string of rubber bands attached to a nail in the front of the car that stretches towards the back. Once the rubber bands reach the axle, they are tightly wound up around the axle until they cannot be stretched further. Then, the axle is released. This spins the wheels, which make the car move forward. The rubber bands unwind in the first few meters, but the momentum it gives the vehicle propels it close to the one meter mark.
Besides Math, I can make a connection between this and a drama or speech class. In speech classes and drama classes, you frequently have to present projects, productions, or designs in front of a crowd of people. In this Hybrid Car project, we had to present our idea and prototype in front of the class. While we are presenting something much different than you would in a drama or speech class, the two correlate to each other in this sense.
The main concepts in this project were energy and energy transferring. Our car runs because of the energy transferred throughout the car. For example, the original potential energy of the stretched rubber bands is put into use when the axle is released, causing the rubber bands to unwind. The energy then goes to the axle and then to the wheels, and is converted to kinetic energy in the process. All of the lost potential energy that is not converted to kinetic energy is converted to thermal energy instead. Specifically, our car started with seven joules of potential energy. At around just before the halfway mark, our car 1.53 joules of potential energy and 0.26 joules of kinetic energy. This means that 5.73 joules were lost to heat. At the end of the car’s journey, all energy was lost to heat.
One thing we did very well was having an open mind. There were multiple times that we got to a point where something on the original blueprint did not work, we were very open to each other's suggestions. Also, worked very well for us was our original idea. The winding up of the axle type engine was our first real idea, and it did us very well. One of the only things I believe we did poorly was time management. For example, there were multiple instances where not everyone was doing something. Because of this, we did have as good of a presentation as I would have liked. If I were to do this again, I would try my best to make sure that everyone had something to do at all times. Personally, the main thing I could have done better is being off topic less. During this project, my mind got side tracked to other thoughts very frequently.
Some of the concepts we covored were potential energy, kinetic energy, thermal energy, and acceleration. These concepts are defined below:
This project made me learn a lot about about all kinds of energy. Also, I learned how beneficial it can be to have a thorough original plan. I really enjoyed this project because we are dealing with a real world problem, in the pollution of modern cars. Who knows, maybe in the future everyone will be driving rubber band powered cars.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uYxqJ0TZdUJDfY5A-AcSkXzM4lCZgXAI309uS01M2U4/edit#gid=0
Our car’s source of forward momentum is very simple. There is a string of rubber bands attached to a nail in the front of the car that stretches towards the back. Once the rubber bands reach the axle, they are tightly wound up around the axle until they cannot be stretched further. Then, the axle is released. This spins the wheels, which make the car move forward. The rubber bands unwind in the first few meters, but the momentum it gives the vehicle propels it close to the one meter mark.
Besides Math, I can make a connection between this and a drama or speech class. In speech classes and drama classes, you frequently have to present projects, productions, or designs in front of a crowd of people. In this Hybrid Car project, we had to present our idea and prototype in front of the class. While we are presenting something much different than you would in a drama or speech class, the two correlate to each other in this sense.
The main concepts in this project were energy and energy transferring. Our car runs because of the energy transferred throughout the car. For example, the original potential energy of the stretched rubber bands is put into use when the axle is released, causing the rubber bands to unwind. The energy then goes to the axle and then to the wheels, and is converted to kinetic energy in the process. All of the lost potential energy that is not converted to kinetic energy is converted to thermal energy instead. Specifically, our car started with seven joules of potential energy. At around just before the halfway mark, our car 1.53 joules of potential energy and 0.26 joules of kinetic energy. This means that 5.73 joules were lost to heat. At the end of the car’s journey, all energy was lost to heat.
One thing we did very well was having an open mind. There were multiple times that we got to a point where something on the original blueprint did not work, we were very open to each other's suggestions. Also, worked very well for us was our original idea. The winding up of the axle type engine was our first real idea, and it did us very well. One of the only things I believe we did poorly was time management. For example, there were multiple instances where not everyone was doing something. Because of this, we did have as good of a presentation as I would have liked. If I were to do this again, I would try my best to make sure that everyone had something to do at all times. Personally, the main thing I could have done better is being off topic less. During this project, my mind got side tracked to other thoughts very frequently.
Some of the concepts we covored were potential energy, kinetic energy, thermal energy, and acceleration. These concepts are defined below:
- Potential Energy - the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position relative to others, stresses within itself, electric charge, and other factors
- Kinetic Energy - energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion
- Thermal Energy - the energy that comes from heat. This heat is generated by the movement of tiny particles within an object. The faster these particles move, the more heat is generated
- Momentum - the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity
- Acceleration - increase in the rate or speed of something
This project made me learn a lot about about all kinds of energy. Also, I learned how beneficial it can be to have a thorough original plan. I really enjoyed this project because we are dealing with a real world problem, in the pollution of modern cars. Who knows, maybe in the future everyone will be driving rubber band powered cars.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uYxqJ0TZdUJDfY5A-AcSkXzM4lCZgXAI309uS01M2U4/edit#gid=0