Home Wrecker

Members of the Team Ricky Arras Brandon Sory David McDarby

What our Device Does Pt. 1 A ball rolls down a steep incline into a loop, and then it goes out the loop. The Potential energy at the very beginning is converted to kinetic energy, and then some of it goes back to Potential as it goes up the loop, then back to Kinetic as it goes back down the loop.

What our Device Does Pt. 2 After the loop the ball goes down a tube and hits dominoes, which follow a line up some stairs. As each domino falls over, it’s potential energy is yet again converted into kinetic energy, then that kinetic energy hits another domino so it’s Potential energy is converted into Kinetic Energy, and so on.

What our Device Does Pt. 3 And Finally, the dominoes hit a “boulder” which is precariously perched above our dear home, and as the balls rolls, it –should- roll forever… but that accursed friction always slows stuff down. The boulder falls down a cliff, and in our last gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy conversion, destroys our house of cards. We didn’t have insurance.

Conclusion Potential Energy to Kinetic energy conversions happen everyday! We just need to look at them closer. Our Rube Goldberg device may not be as confounding as his were, but it gets the job done.