Regina Vermina Radical Velocity Rolling Vehicle for Recreating Vermin
also known as the "Kellogg Kart"
For this project we were given the special task of creating a vehicle for a family of gummy worms that could transport the family quickly and safely. This would tie in the concepts of inertia and forces explored in the previous project, while introducing energy transfer.
Introduction:
With some guidance from the teacher, students will design and build and car that will hold four gummy worms without them falling out. The teacher can provide some baselines such as how to construct the wheels and axles.​​
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Students should glue the bearings to the box so the holes are above the edge of the box. The axles will be placed in the bearings.
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Students should attach a wheel the end of each skewer, making sure to measure how long the skewer should be and how much distance there should be between the end of the Skewer and the CD.​
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Glue down the adaptors to the CD. This will stabilize the wheel on the axle.
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Put the skewers with their one wheel through the bearings.
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Attach the rest of the wheels on the skewers.
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Design some safety mechanism (i.e. seat belts) for the worms
How it was Constructed:
Let's get some constants up in this experiment...
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The wheels placed at the edge of the board when starting the trial run
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We decided the car should be let go and not pushed down the ramp.
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We decided to measure the distance traveled from the edge of the board to the front of the car
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Math and Science Standards:
Kellogg Kart in Action...
We tested the Kellogg Kart various times to see which height the ramp could be that would yield the greatest distance traveled. The only variable we changed was the height of the ramp.
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We ran the Kart three times for each height and averaged the distances traveled. Watch the Kart in action below.
The Results...
As can be seen from the table, the most efficient height of the ramp for our Kellogg Kart was at 80 cm with an average distance of 17.3 m traveled. Our average would probably have been higher at this height, but we had a wheel fall off on the third trial run of the ramp.
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The graph shows that the largest decrease in the average distance traveled was when the ramp was at 100 cm. Even though this was the greatest height, it had the lowest average.
SCIENCE STANDARDS:
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1.P.1 Understand how forces (pushes or pulls) affect the motion of an object.
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3.P.1 Understand motion and factors that affect motion
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3.P.3 Recognize how energy can be transferred from one object to another.
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5.P.1 Understand force, motion and the relationship between them.
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MATH STANDARDS:
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Average-having to find the mean
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Graphing-having to create a line graph and scale it
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Measurements with metric system
Materials:
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Cereal box (or any cardboard box) for the chasis
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Wooden skewers for the axles
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CD's (4 for the wheels)
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Cardboard squares for the bearings (4)
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Cardboard/plywood for the wheel adaptors (4)
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Hot glue
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Ruler
The Science...
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The seat belts we designed were in tandem with Newton's laws. When the Kart hits an object it will act as an unbalanced force for the car. This will make it change directions or stop completely. Because the Kart is moving in one direction with the worms, there needs to be some unbalanced force to prevent the worms from flying out of the Kart when it changes direction or stops. This is because the inertia will keep the worms moving forward. Inertia says that things tend to stay in motion until either friction stops them or an unbalanced force does. By cutting holes in the box and stuffing the worm family in the holes, there is no space for the worms to move in the event of a crash. The force of the box is strong enough to keep the worms from flying out!
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There is a reason the car stops moving. There is a transfer of energy. See the sequence below.​
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Since energy is never created or destroyed, only transferred, the energy from this Kart is converted to heat from friction and sound. You can hear the car hit the ground and moving. This is why the car at 100 cm does not go as far as other heights. A lot of the kinetic energy is converted into the crash. The sound is loud, showing the energy is being converted. In the end, that sound is being converted to heat.
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Heat is the end product!!
THE SUN
1. The sun provides energy and is given to the plants I ate in my soup.
The soup gave me energy to pick up the Kellogg Kart and hold it at the top of the ramp. This gave the car Gravitational Potential Energy. This means gravity has the potential to move this car and give it energy.
Gravitational Potential Energy
As the Kart moves down the ramp it shows Kinetic Energy. This means it is moving.
The last step is the Kellogg Kart will stop due to converting it's kinetic energy into heat from the friction and into making noise. The sound will turn into heat as well.