Advanced Science Night Rube Goldberg Machines

Criteria and constraints At least three different simple machines At least seven energy transfers Have a cohesive theme Human can only touch the machine once to start it Constraints No taller than five feet above the table No bigger than one foot all the way around the table (the tables are 30” x 70”) Items can only be from the following categories: Ten dollars from the school supply store Ten dollars from an outside source Ten dollars from the STEM store Recyclable items Things from home (upon approval)

Example Rube Goldberg Machine Steps: A Toy Story Remote control is pressed to make truck go Truck runs into Sheriff Woodie Sheriff Woodie hits marble Marble rolls down tube and hits trigger of mousetrap Mousetrap springs, yanking prop from cup Cup tips releasing ball Ball hits four wheeler Four wheeler rolls into books Book hits button on robot Button turns on motor Motor winds up string attached to chair Chair falls releasing zip line commando Commando releases string String opens umbrella Source: https://www.rubegoldberg.com/teams/milan-middle-school-milan-2016/

What is Potential vs. Kinetic Energy? Potential energy is stored energy while Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. When potential energy is used it is converted into kinetic energy. You can think of potential energy as kinetic energy waiting to happen.  Your task is to create a Rube Goldberg Machine that contains at least seven different steps where you transfer the potential energy of an object into kinetic energy to complete the simple task of your choice.

Your machine needs to utilize at least three simple machines: Inclined Plane Wedge Screw Lever Wheel and Axel Pulley http://hgsciencecorner.blogspot.com/2015/03/simple-and-compound-machines-poster.html

These are the items all teams are given to start out.

Rube Goldberg School Supply Store Item   Quantity Cost per unit Total Cost 2 x 4 Wood 1.12 1.5 x 3 Wood .37 Hinge 2.27 2.47 Screw eye Twine 2.18 Parachute Cord 2.97 Twisted Mason Line 2.78 Pulley 2.36 Black Foam tube .59 S hook 1.18 per 3 Brace corner 3.68 PVC ½ inch 23 per foot PVC 1 inch 40 per foot PVC Elbow 1.50 PVC T Connector Total

Rube Goldberg stem store You will be given ten dollars worth of STEM money to purchase additional items from the STEM store. The store will contain finite amounts of useful items. Examples of these are dominoes, wire, marbles, tennis balls, golf balls, twine, tape etc..

Click HERE to be taken to my web page with all of the necessary documents on my web site. Click on Advanced Science Night tab.