Rude-Goldberg Project

Team Members: Britany Swann Michael Warden David Hudson

Materials Needed for Completion Plywood Fishing line Hooks Golf Ball Light Switch Flashlight Banner w/ rods Electrical Wiring Plexiglas PVC Pipe Assorted nails and screws

General Overview: The purpose of the “Summer takes the Spotlight” machine is to display one of the most important messeges to the class. Once the messege is displayed, a light also falls and shines upon the banner. The machine takes advantage of gravity and Potential Energy as it pushes the ball throughout the entire machine.

Step 1: Ball is dropped into the top pipe and rides it down to the first switch. The first switch activates the fall of the flashlight arm.

Step 2: The ball then falls into the next tube and travels down to where it activates the next switch. This switch makes the banner fall into place.

Step 3: After the second switch is activated, the ball falls into the third tube where it falls down and activates the last switch. This power switch activates the flashlight which is pointed towards the banner.

Problems: The main problem that we faced during construction is the utilization of the switches we used. We had to get enough force from the golf ball to activate all three switches throughout the machine.

Energy: Some of the energy equations we used were…. PE (mgh) KE (1/2mv^2) Work (m*v) / time

Conclusion: The project as a whole was quite fun. Taking ideas and making something crazy is alright by me. Also we would like to wish everyone a happy summer!!!