Rube Goldberg Machine Essay

Our Rube Goldberg machine used several physics concepts in order to complete its simple task, which was to turn on a Roomba. One of the most prominent physics concepts within our project was gravity and/or gravitational potential energy, which could be seen in places such as the inclined planes and the hammer swinging down. Gravity was the downward-pulling force that allowed the energy to be transferred from the top level, to the Roomba on the floor.
The toppling rule was another major concept in our project, as it was integral for the dominoes and the inclined planes. When work is put into the machine in step one, the toppling rule comes into effect because the first domino’s center of gravity is beyond the base of the domino, causing it …show more content…
This allows the ball to gain enough momentum to travel around a vertical loop without coming back down. While the ball rolls around the loop, it experiences a centripetal force, which is a force that pulls towards the center of the loop, making the ball travel in a curved path. After the inclined plane ends, the ball transfers its energy to a rock that falls off of the second level. At the second level, the rock contains gravitational potential energy, but as it is falling to the third level, the gravitational potential energy gradually converts into kinetic energy.
Once the rock falls, it hits another lever and the opposite side applies a torque, or a rotational force, to a cylinder, allowing it to roll down an inclined plane and strike another set of dominoes. The last domino hits a ball, which causes it to roll down to the next level and knock an object out of place.
This object holds a hammer at an elevated position and when the object is removed, the hammer swings down and hits another ball. The ball continues rolling and gains momentum when it encounters an inclined plane. Finally, the ball uses its momentum to knock an object down into a pipe, which turns the Roomba