Section A: by

Jackie C
.

What is a Rube Goldberg machine?

By wikipedia.orgs definition of
the invention, a Rube Goldberg machine
is classified as
a contraption, invention,
device or apparatus that is deliberately
over-engineered to perform a simple
task in a complicated fashion, usually
including a chain reaction. Reuben
Garrett Lucius Rube Goldberg was an
American cartoonist, sculptor, author,
engineer, and inventor.

The initial idea behind what we now know today as the Rube Goldberg machine was
presented in the form of a cartoon (on right). The cartoon, drawn in 1915, depicts a delighted
Professor Butts with a large, winding metal contraption holding a bird, a clock, a spoon, a
skyrocket, a pendulum, and other various outlandish objects strapped to his forehead. The
machine extends outward in every direction and facilitates the transfer of energy using several
different methods. Each action of the machine serves a central purpose: to wipe a napkin
across Professor Butts mustache-adorned cheeks.
Modern Rube Goldberg machines consist most typically of casual household
commodities like marbles, toilet paper rolls, string, and cardboard, and often use construction
system toys such as Knex, Legos, and Hot Wheels tracks. Although many larger, more
convoluted Rube Goldberg machines have utilized cars, bicycles, rockets, and an otherwise
enormous variety of exotic heavy machineries in their chain reactions.

Team Name & Theme of the Machine:

My colleagues and I agreed on the executive decision to make our team name Team
Name, because of the inessential sentiment it holds. Our utterly needless, non-specific Team
Name signifies the redundant nature of Rube Goldberg machines and the mundane purposes
they serve.
The underlying theme of our machine is Life in Motion. The kinetic and potential
energy involved in our machine is a working representation of the time we are given and how
we make use of it. Each step you take in life is a direct result of the steps you have already
taken, just as the steps in our machine are directly responsible for the steps that occur before
and after them. Early on in life, as with our machine, we possess seemingly infinite potential,
and as time goes on we experience thousands of sunrises and sunsets, each a unique transfer of
energy.
We cannot turn back time to change events that have transpired or create more time, in
the same manner that energy cannot be destroyed or created.
The time we are given in life is limited; the energy present in our universe is limited as well. One
thing that we all have in common is that we will most certainly die, and the one thing that our
Rube Goldberg machines have in common is that they will most certainly pop a balloon.
So, in theory:
steps = experiences
life = machine
energy transfer = time passing
balloon = death.
The laws of physics work together to create an inherently organic experience, and while
most find it mundane or commonplace, those of us who comprise the philosophically aware
Team Name share not only a strong appreciation for physical engineering, but a deep-rooted
passion
. We worked tirelessly to solve problems and were met with profound satisfaction in our
final product.

Equipment & Physics Definitions

1. Lever
- A rigid bar resting on a pivot, used to move a heavy or firmly fixed load with one end when
pressure is applied to the other.
2. Pulley
- A wheel with a grooved rim around which a cord passes, which acts to change the direction
of a force applied to the cord and is used to raise heavy weights.
3. Gear
- A toothed wheel that works with others to alter the relation between the speed of a driving
mechanism (the engine of a vehicle) and the speed of the driven parts (the wheels).
4. Inclined plane
A plane surface inclined to the horizon, or forming with a horizontal plane any
angle but a right angle.
5. (1) Screw, (2) wedge
(1)A slender, sharp-pointed metal pin with a raised helical thread running
around it and a slotted head, used to join things together and held tightly in place by being rotated.
(2) A piece of wood, metal, etc. having one thick end and tapering to a thin edge that is driven
between two objects secure or separate them.
6. Wheel & axle
- A cylindrical drum to which a wheel concentric with the drum is firmly fastened:
ropes are applied so that as one unwinds from the wheel, another rope is wound on to the drum.
7. Displacement
- The action of moving something from its place or position.
8. Velocity
- The speed of something in a given direction.
9. Acceleration
The increase in speed or rate.
10. Energy Transfer
- When an amount of energy crosses the boundary between two objects, thus
increasing the energy content of one object while decreasing the energy content of the other object
by the same amount.

Our Goal
Through a series of interactions and energy transfers using tools of conventional physics
we must (attempt to) pop a single balloon. There are many ways to pop a balloon, but typically
the easiest ways involve sharp and/or heavy things. In an allotted amount of time (6 weeks) we
must plan, design, build, and test a Rube Goldberg machine of our own devising using materials
brought from home and checked out from the Rube Goldberg store in G-1.

Initial Planning
On Monday, December 14th, our team began speculating ideas on how to build our own
Rube Goldberg machine. After watching several videos and gathering information on the
subject, we decided to work backwards through the building process starting with our end goal
which is to pop a balloon. We asked ourselves what items might possess balloon-popping
capabilities, and of those items which one would be most appropriate to incorporate in our
project. We figured that a balloon could be popped if an object bearing a sharp edge collided
with it at a certain speed, thus creating our first step (which is actually the last step)!

First Design
Here is the second-drafted illustration of how we first wanted our Rube Goldberg machine to
work. There are 10 complete steps. This was drawn by all three members of Team Name on the first
day of the challenge. As the building process began, many ideas were scrapped, but some key
elements of our final product were ideated on this sheet. This is technique sometimes referred to as
the iterative prototyping process in different industries: it is a development model by which
products are designed and redesigned in a rapid cycle as to test the feasibility and overall integrity of
an idea.

Finalized Steps
Team Names long-winded machine that symbolizes the fragility of life consists of 10 unique
energy transfers
and is activated when:
(1) a cork is placed atop a slanted book (
inclined plane
) and knocks down a popsicle stick at
the end which in turn causes another preset cork to roll down a book slanted in the opposite
direction, which in turn knocks down another popsicle stick holding in place the final cork that
also rolls down a third and final book.
(2)
The last cork falls and activates a set of dominoes that wind around the book.
(3) The last domino falls onto a mousetrap, the mousetrap is attached to a wooden block by
string.
(4)
The mousetrap snaps and
displaces
the block, which activates a catapult.
(5)
The catapult swings around on an
axis
and hits a ball.
(6)
The ball rolls into a cup attached to one end of a
pulley
.
(7)
The ball weighs
pulley down, other side rises and hits a small platform with hexagons on
top.
(8) Atop each hexagon is a popsicle stick, and the sticks intersect with one another at the
ends. When one popsicle stick falls it causes the next one to fall as well.

(9) The last popsicle stick is taped to a domino that falls and activates several others. The
dominoes activate a row of magnets sitting upright in small plastic cups, each one is
positioned with the north end facing up. The magnets repel each other.
(10) The last magnet to be repelled hits a
lever that activates a hammer with a wall tack taped
to the front, which swings on an
axis
and pops the balloon. :-)

Section B: by
Arthur S
.

Questions, Part 1

A. Describing types of motion

Rotary motion
is demonstrated when an object turns in a circular motion, such as a
wheel or a gear.
Linear motion
is demonstrated when an object moves in a straight line, like on a paper
trimmer.
Reciprocating motion
is demonstrated when an object moves backwards and
forwards in a straight line, like with a bandsaw.
Oscillating motion
is demonstrated when an object swings from side to side, like with a
pendulum.
B. Describing displacement, velocity, & acceleration
Displacement
is the moving of something from its place or position by an outside force.
Velocity
is the speed of something in a given direction.
Acceleration
is the continually increasing speed of an object.
C. Describing forces involved
Force is energy as an attribute of physical action or movement. Force and motion are
related in Isaac Newtons three laws of motion, which are as follows:

1. every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless
compelled to change its state by the action of an external force (inertia).
2. the velocity of an object changes when it is subjected to an external force
(momentum).
3. for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.

D. Describing energy transfers

In general, an energy transfer is the conversion of one form of energy into another, or
the movement of energy from one place to another. There are five common types of energy,
which are heat, sound, light, nuclear, and kinetic. In a Rube Goldberg machine the most
practical form of energy transfer involves kinetic energy, otherwise known as movement
energy. Energy can change forms but cannot be created nor destroyed, which means kinetic
energy must be derived from another sort of energy. Thats where potential energy comes into
the picture! Potential energy is also known as stored energy and is found primarily in physical
structures like people or objects.

Section C: by
Ryan G
.

Questions, Part 2

E.
Describing collisions in term of momentum
(Equation for determining momentum) P = mass * velocity
There are only two types of momentum: linear and angular.
Spinning object has angular momentum/An object traveling with velocity has linear
momentum.
There are generally only two types of collision which are classified as elastic and
inelastic. Collision occurs when two or more objects hit each other. The objects involved in a
collision are affected by the force of every other object. Force alters the momentum of each
object in a collision. While the momentum of each individual particle involved in the collision
changes, the total momentum always remains the same.
Elastic collision is defined as a collision where all kinetic energy is conserved. A real life
example of elastic collision would be like what happens in a game of billiards. Inelastic collision
is defined by loss of kinetic energy due to the action of internal friction. Inelastic collision
happens frequently in car accidents.
F.
Describing consequences of the conservation of energy and conservation of momentum
The law of conservation of energy states that energy cant be created or destroyed, but
only changed from one form into another or from one object to another. The law of

conservation of momentum states that the total momentum of a closed system doesnt
change. This means when two objects collide, the total momentum of the objects before the
collision is the same as the total momentum of the objects after the collision.
Newtons second law is the consequence of conservation of energy and momentum.
The principals are that every action has an opposite or equal reaction. Newtons cradle is a
perfect example of conservation of energy and conservation of momentum.

G.
Diagram including layout and measurements blueprint

H. Task Timeline

12/16- We worked on making a catapult that would launch a ball after it rolls and knocks a
block off the catapult to launch the ball. We also worked on a step where are three books at
different levels and a ball rolls hit a popsicle then another popsicle stick and then another then
that hits a ball making it fall activating another step.
1/5- We worked on are sketch up of are design of our Rube Goldberg and worked on are pulley
and decide we were going to change a step where we had a mouse trap move a block out of the
way with we would have the mousetrap tied to the block on the catapult so the ball would be
on the catapult already and the mousetrap would activate and pull the block off the catapult so
it launches the ball
1/8- We replaced the first step, which was the books and popsicle and balls and changed it to
where we just have a ball roll off of a angled up book so the ball rolls off and bounces and hits
the second step and activating it.
1/11- We were going to have a step where a weight tied to a piece of string would swing and hit
a pair of scissors that is taped to the table with string in between them so when the scissors
close it cuts a piece of string that drops a wooden block in a hole so a ball can roll over it so it
doesnt fall the hole. The reason we decide not to use this step is because we will not have
enough space. We also worked on the pulley and worked on figuring out what we were going to
replace the scissor and wooden block step.
1/12- Today Ryan is working on making a structure that can hold a hammer like object with a
thumb nail on the end to pop the balloon. Jackie is working on a structure that has popsicles
sticks where when a certain stick gets hit the other ones fall one after each other so that the
last stick hits something and activates it. Arthur worked on the pulley with cups so when a ball
rolled into one cup the other would go up and the part Arthur worked on a lever like structure
that would be taped on the table and would stick off the table and the string attached to the
cups would go in between the structure taped to the table so when the cup hit he structure it
would lift up and knock something over activating the next step.
1/14- We worked on the step that pops the balloon. We worked on how to activate the lever
that is a part of the structure that pops the balloon, which is a hammer like object with a thumb
nail on it to pop the balloon that is held in place with a plastic connector pieces with a small
lever on the back of that, so when it is hit it lets the hammer fall and pop the balloon.
1/19- We worked on setting up are Rube Goldberg machine to test and see where we could
make some adjustments to are machine. We did multiply test of are Rube Goldberg machine
and we have seen what we need to fix. Ryan taped Popsicle sticks to the side of the structure
that lets the tennis ball roll. Arthur worked on adjusting the pulley so it would be at the right
height. Jackie worked on the books the corks rolled off of because the cork would roll off the
book or the popsicle keeping the cork in place would be a little to high and the cork before it
would roll under it.

1/20- Today Arthur worked on testing a few of the steps by themselves just to make sure they
work they way we want them to. Ryan worked on the blue prints measuring the items and
started making them in Sketchup. Jackie was absent but she was still able to help because
Arthur said we may need a bigger box so Ryan messaged Jackie asking if she had a box and she
did so she should be bring it in tomorrow.
1/21- Today Ryan worked on the blueprints for the report making models in sketchup and
measuring some of the structures for the blue prints. Arthur step up and test a few of the steps
to make sure they worked the way we wanted them to work. Jackie worked on the report and
helped Arthur with some of the steps.