For this project, we had to build a car fueled by an alternative source that wasn't gasoliine or nuclear energy. We designed prototypes for these alternate engine cars. My group consisting of Carina Masters, Zack Griggy, and Andre Ng had to create a car that had to store potential energy and convert that energy into kinetic energy to go exactly five meters. We went through many ideas until finally creating a plan that wasn't time consuming and was extremely efficient. Our final idea was building a car powered by the energy from a rubber band. We built this car and finished the design of The SPS.
Concepts Elastic Potential Energy- Stored energy created by stretching or compressing a spring or an elastic material. It is calculated using the formula Potential Energy = 1/2 x Distance x Spring Constant^2
Spring Constant- The measure of the elasticity in a spring or elastic material. It is calculated using the formula Spring Constant x Distance = Force
Kinetic Energy- Energy that is a result of motion. It is calculated using the formula Kinetic Energy = 1/2 x Mass x Velocity^2
Thermal Energy- Energy that is a result of friction and heat. Under the Law of Conservation of Energy, Thermal Energy = Total Energy - Potential Energy - Kinetic Energy.
Law of Conservation of Energy- A law that states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Therefore, Total Energy = Kinetic Energy + Potential Energy + Thermal Energy
Velocity- Speed in a given direction. It is calculated using the formula Velocity = Change in Distance / Change in Time
Acceleration- The measure of the change in velocity in a given change of time. It is calculated with the formula Acceleration= Change in Velocity / Change in Time
Reflection During this project, I feel like my team bonded very well especially since I previously worked with two of my group members. We all got along well and had so much fun doing this project. We came up with so many different ideas and used our imaginations which made this project very fun. We were able to get our car to be one of the fastest in such a small amount of time. Some things we were good at were changing the downfalls of the car and turning them into good qualities of the car, especially during the presentation (linked below). We also got on task when we really needed to. We started off slow and messing around, but when it was time to get to work, we grinded and grinded until our project was finished, One downside we had was the ability to get off task which is never good for any case, but it happens to everyone. We were able to get on track and we won every drag race that we came across.