For the past couple weeks we have been wrapping up our machine unit. Machines make certain work forces easier. Work uses energy. You have to have energy to do work. Machines tend to change the direction of force applied. Advantage = direction. They also change the distance (speed) at which resistance moves. Their are 3 certain types of machines. Ideal, Simple, and Compound. All require work. (Work input = work output.)
The week before Thanksgiving break we had motion stations, one of those stations was building a Rube Goldberg machine. When you got to the Rube Goldberg machine you would have 15 minutes to add to what the other groups built. (With the help of Mr. Fritts.) Our goal was to make the machine somehow hit our easy button. This goal was accomplished! I truly was a little skeptical is it was going to work or not. It turns out that it worked! We did 3 trials but only the first one worked. I honestly thought it was sort of funny when everyone pulled out their phones to record the second trial and it didn’t work.
My favorite simple machine is the pulley. The pulley can be used to pull something up like a basket from the floor ground to a tree house. To be able to pull the basket up you need to be have energy. Work requires energy. We usually have to do a few big pulls to get the basket where you wan’t it.
Thanks for reading, xo Taylor