The Gator
A hybrid car is a car that uses alternative energy as its' fuel instead of gas. This project involved us making a hybrid car on our own. Our goal had three main parts: we needed to find an alternative resource, make a car powered by it, and get the car to go five meters.
Our hybrid car is called the Gator. It is a rubber band powered hybrid, so it gets its speed and movement from the tensions of rubber bands wrapping around the axle. It uses zero gas or fuel. We spent most of our work days figuring out how we were going to make our car move and go the correct distance.During the last days we created our presentation. It took some time and testing to figure out, but in the end we made a very reliable and sturdy vehicle.
Our hybrid car is called the Gator. It is a rubber band powered hybrid, so it gets its speed and movement from the tensions of rubber bands wrapping around the axle. It uses zero gas or fuel. We spent most of our work days figuring out how we were going to make our car move and go the correct distance.During the last days we created our presentation. It took some time and testing to figure out, but in the end we made a very reliable and sturdy vehicle.
Our Slideshow and Video of the Car
Concepts:
Spring Potential Energy(PE Spring): Energy stored by the compression or expansion of a spring. We used the equation PEspring=1/2Kx^2, or PEspring equals one half the spring constant times X( X is the distance moved by the spring) to the second power.The rubber bands stretching and releasing show spring potential energy.
Spring Constant (K): A measure of how easy a spring is compressed and expanded. We used the equation K=Fd to find the spring constant. For example, the tension of the rubber bands releasing has spring constant.
Thermal Energy: A type of energy that comes from heat. The friction of the wheels rolling of the floor gives the car thermal energy, which actual slows down the car.
Power (P): The rate of work or the amount of energy used per unit of time.The equation to find power is P=w/t, or power equals work divided by time. The car distributes power as it moves.
Velocity (V): The rate of distance covered in a certain direction. The equation we used to find the velocity is v=distance/time (v=d/t). The car has lots of velocity as it moved the five meters.
Spring Constant (K): A measure of how easy a spring is compressed and expanded. We used the equation K=Fd to find the spring constant. For example, the tension of the rubber bands releasing has spring constant.
Thermal Energy: A type of energy that comes from heat. The friction of the wheels rolling of the floor gives the car thermal energy, which actual slows down the car.
Power (P): The rate of work or the amount of energy used per unit of time.The equation to find power is P=w/t, or power equals work divided by time. The car distributes power as it moves.
Velocity (V): The rate of distance covered in a certain direction. The equation we used to find the velocity is v=distance/time (v=d/t). The car has lots of velocity as it moved the five meters.
Reflection
My team and I worked very well together. We all seemed to get a long nicely. However, my team and I had a lot of struggles when trying to create a car. We just started off with some bad ideas. Our first mistake was to make the car out of cardboard. We spent several days cutting the cardboard body and wheels. We found out very soon that cardboard was too weak of a material to handle the pulling of the rubber band. So, we made some adjustments. In the end, we had changed nearly everything. The body had been changed to wood, the wheels to CD's, and we added length to the car. After lots of trial and error, we got the car to go the right distance.
One thing that really challenged me in this project was time. My group and I ended up finishing the car in the last two days of working. We were supposed to be working on the presentation,but instead we had to keep working on the car. Another thing that challenged me was getting distracted. At the end of the period, I would get tired and get lazy. I need to work on staying focused, and motivated. However,I feel as if I did a lot of good things too. I helped make a lot of adjustments to the car. For example, I helped with the idea of changing the amount of rubber bands to move the car. Another thing I did was contribute a lot to putting together the slideshow, like I researched all the costs for the car. This project was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed working with my team
I learned a lot during this project. I never knew that much about refuelable energy, but now I do. I would never of guessed that rubber bands, or even springs could make a car move. I also learned new concepts like spring energy. Another thing I learned is that when something doesn't go right in the beginning, keep trying new ideas.
One thing that really challenged me in this project was time. My group and I ended up finishing the car in the last two days of working. We were supposed to be working on the presentation,but instead we had to keep working on the car. Another thing that challenged me was getting distracted. At the end of the period, I would get tired and get lazy. I need to work on staying focused, and motivated. However,I feel as if I did a lot of good things too. I helped make a lot of adjustments to the car. For example, I helped with the idea of changing the amount of rubber bands to move the car. Another thing I did was contribute a lot to putting together the slideshow, like I researched all the costs for the car. This project was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed working with my team
I learned a lot during this project. I never knew that much about refuelable energy, but now I do. I would never of guessed that rubber bands, or even springs could make a car move. I also learned new concepts like spring energy. Another thing I learned is that when something doesn't go right in the beginning, keep trying new ideas.