Hybrid Car battery
The objective
-Build a prototype for a new hybrid car
-Have the car travel exactly 5 meters
-Create performance graphs
-Put together a sales pitch
-Have the car travel exactly 5 meters
-Create performance graphs
-Put together a sales pitch
Materials
-Thin pieces of wood
-A rat trap
-Toy wheels
-2 pencils
-zip ties
-Styrofoam
-Paint
-A rat trap
-Toy wheels
-2 pencils
-zip ties
-Styrofoam
-Paint
The process
We started by discussing different ways that we could even make the car move. We thought of using a battery, springs, a motor and many other ideas. After trying to think of a way to use a battery, we decided to go a different route and use a rat trap. We then decided on using thin wood to build the car. We brought in materials and got to work right away. We weren't quite sure how exactly to build it. The first time we tried it went almost five meters. After a couple more attempts, the string snapped. We went to use a different type of string, and of course that one had to break too. We decided to braid three strands of string together to make it stronger, and that worked excellently.
Sadly that wasn't the only difficulty we ran into. We could not get the car to go exactly five meters. First it would go past, then we tried again without changing anything, and it didn't even make it the full length. It honestly made no sense at all. We tried reducing the friction on the wheels, adding weight, and finally came up with the solution of extending the lever arm. This allowed the string ,which was making the axel spin, to be pulled over a longer period of time. After adjusting the length of the string we had finally made the car run pretty consistently.
Next came aesthetics and creating the performance graphs. We took measurement of the car. While Natalie and Daria worked on creating the graphs, Rachel and I worked on aesthetics and making the car run as perfectly as possible. Finally we went over our presentation many times to make it convincing and crisp. We were then ready to present.
Sadly that wasn't the only difficulty we ran into. We could not get the car to go exactly five meters. First it would go past, then we tried again without changing anything, and it didn't even make it the full length. It honestly made no sense at all. We tried reducing the friction on the wheels, adding weight, and finally came up with the solution of extending the lever arm. This allowed the string ,which was making the axel spin, to be pulled over a longer period of time. After adjusting the length of the string we had finally made the car run pretty consistently.
Next came aesthetics and creating the performance graphs. We took measurement of the car. While Natalie and Daria worked on creating the graphs, Rachel and I worked on aesthetics and making the car run as perfectly as possible. Finally we went over our presentation many times to make it convincing and crisp. We were then ready to present.
Concepts
Potential Energy- Energy of position, usually related to the relative position of two things. In a perfect friction free world all potential energy will then be turned into kinetic energy. Potential energy is calculated by multiplying mass by acceleration due to gravity by the height.
Kinetic Energy- Energy of motion. Kinetic energy is calculated by multiplying one half by mass by the velocity squared.
Heat Energy- As potential energy and kinetic energy are both decreasing, heat energy is increasing. This is due to friction which creates the heat.
Simplicity- We also learned that sometimes simplicity is key. Although these designs were not realistic for actual cars we learned that you can use something as simple as a spring to make an object move.
Efficiency- Batteries in actual cars are not the most efficient. We saw that some of the most effective power was coming from the springs, and not the batteries.
Kinetic Energy- Energy of motion. Kinetic energy is calculated by multiplying one half by mass by the velocity squared.
Heat Energy- As potential energy and kinetic energy are both decreasing, heat energy is increasing. This is due to friction which creates the heat.
Simplicity- We also learned that sometimes simplicity is key. Although these designs were not realistic for actual cars we learned that you can use something as simple as a spring to make an object move.
Efficiency- Batteries in actual cars are not the most efficient. We saw that some of the most effective power was coming from the springs, and not the batteries.
Reflection
This project, by far, had to be my favorite! We yelled with excitement the first time the car stopped at five meters exactly. I also got more frustrated than I have ever been when nothing would go right. One thing I learned from doing this project was to never give up on anything. There is always a way to make it work. One thing our group did extremely well was communicating. This really helped us get along and split the work evenly. We also had an amazing presentation in my opinion. It ran very smoothly. I honestly don't know what our group could have done better. We could have made our car look a little more clean and pleasing to the eye. Other than that I think this was my best project this year. We had so much fun and had to work hard at the same time.