Hybrid Car Project
For our third project of the year we had to design and build a small car that runs on alternative energy(wind, water, spring, etc.) and would travel exactly 5 meters with a weight of 150 grams. Once we finished the car we had to create a presentation explaining why you should buy our car and the calculations and graphs of energy. In my group this time, it was myself, Jordan, Ky, and Jack. Our car used rubber bands as its energy source. The car itself got banged out pretty quickly, but it was the tweaking that took a long time. We had the car, but it wouldn't go 5 meters. We wasted a lot of time trying to get it just perfect, and when we actually did get it to go 5 meters we were stuck with trying to get the calculations and the presentation finished in a day or so.
Definitions
Energy- The ability to do work
Kinetic energy- Energy due to movement or motion
Spring constant- A measure of elasticity of a spring (firmness of spring)
Spring potential energy- Energy due to the compression or expansion of an elastic material
Reflections
I think this was a fun project. We still had some trouble with time management though, so next time we should set a stricter time limit. The first few days went great and we had the car finished, but that was when we noticed the struggle of getting it to go any further than 3 meters. We had to sacrifice a few lunches and a lot of class time trying to figure out how to get it 5 meters. Once we completed that we had to do all our calculation and our whole presentation. The last few days of the project were stressful and we were all glad when it was time to present. When we presented the car only made it about 4 meters.
For our third project of the year we had to design and build a small car that runs on alternative energy(wind, water, spring, etc.) and would travel exactly 5 meters with a weight of 150 grams. Once we finished the car we had to create a presentation explaining why you should buy our car and the calculations and graphs of energy. In my group this time, it was myself, Jordan, Ky, and Jack. Our car used rubber bands as its energy source. The car itself got banged out pretty quickly, but it was the tweaking that took a long time. We had the car, but it wouldn't go 5 meters. We wasted a lot of time trying to get it just perfect, and when we actually did get it to go 5 meters we were stuck with trying to get the calculations and the presentation finished in a day or so.
Definitions
Energy- The ability to do work
Kinetic energy- Energy due to movement or motion
Spring constant- A measure of elasticity of a spring (firmness of spring)
Spring potential energy- Energy due to the compression or expansion of an elastic material
Reflections
I think this was a fun project. We still had some trouble with time management though, so next time we should set a stricter time limit. The first few days went great and we had the car finished, but that was when we noticed the struggle of getting it to go any further than 3 meters. We had to sacrifice a few lunches and a lot of class time trying to figure out how to get it 5 meters. Once we completed that we had to do all our calculation and our whole presentation. The last few days of the project were stressful and we were all glad when it was time to present. When we presented the car only made it about 4 meters.