Main Objective: Design a Rube Goldberg Machine that extinguishes a burning candle.
Requirements: The Rube Goldberg Machine must meet these minimum requirements:
1. The Design and construction must be original (no prefabricated kits).
2. The apparatus must be made out of commonly available materials.
3. Materials may be used from the classroom provided they are not needed as teaching devices during the 8 day project period (not much is needed).
4. Devices may be left set up, but the instructor is not responsible for damage which occurs outside of class periods.
5. Devices left set up may not interfere with any instruction.
6. Materials may be brought from home provided the student did not purchase them for more than $1.00. Materials costing more than $1.00 must be approved by the instructor before they may be used.
7. The instructor will provide a set of materials to each group based on what he can find laying around his garage from previous class projects. Materials will be available and will be selected one at a time by the participants.
8. The device must begin with the marble provided.
9. Each device must perform a task or tasks which represents the each of the following physics principles learned in class this year:
a. Free-fall / Projectile motion, Sound, Optics, Momentum, Energy.
b. Sound and Optics do not have to be “tasks” of the machine.
10. At least 10 tasks must be performed before the candle is extinguished.
a. Task - an action that directly contributes to the outcome of the device
11. At least 30 seconds must pass from when the marble is released and the candle is extinguished.
12. There are no dimensional restrictions, however, don’t forget rule 5.
13. No combustible fluids, explosives, open flames (other than the candle), or hazardous materials are allowed.
14. Each team is responsible for the security of its own machine, but intentional destructive action against other machines is cause for disqualification (and Fail).
15. All decisions of the judges and instructor are final.
Grading/Scoring: Points will be accumulated throughout the devices period of activity.
o Machine Success (0 to 20 points)
o Rube Goldberg Spirit (0 to 20 points)
o Machine Function (0 to 20 points)
o Team Chemistry (0 to 20 points)
o Submitted Machine Description (0 or 20 points)
Points may also be deducted throughout the devices period of activity.
o Human Interference – 5 points each
o Extraneous Energy Descriptions – 10 points
o Does not perform a required task – 10 points each
o Takes less than 30 seconds to complete the task – 1 point for each second under
o Cheating or stealing ideas from another group – 10 points
The physics principles used in the device do not count if they are side events (meaning they can fail and the machine still works) with the exception of the sound and optics. There are 5 categories of point accumulation during the project. At the conclusion of each class period spent on the Rube Goldberg Machine, students will be asked to rate the participation of their group members. The instructor will also rate the participation of the group members. Each student’s final grade in the project will depend on the overall participation of that student within the group.
Procedures: Official Trial Day will be Thursday, May 15.
On trial day, class will meet as normally scheduled in classroom 200. The group must hand in a paper outlining each energy transfer, the function of the simple machine, and overall plan of the device. Groups will then have 30 minutes in which to ready their Rube Goldberg devices. At that point, a candle will be placed at the position of the group’s choosing and lit. Each group has 3 for their machine to demonstrate how it functions. A maximum intermission time of 10 minutes is allowed between runs for adjustments.