Origination: The First Rubberise Band Car

Rubber eraser bands are a favorable and good way to Edward Thatch Department of Energy transformation, and this rubber band car makes that lesson a blast!

A quick Google search for "rubber band car project" yields tens of thousands of results, thusly why reinvent the rubber band-powered wheel? The top results show cars with minuscule wheels without grip, or CD wheels which are difficult to confiscate to an axel, both of which aren't nonpareil for externalize-supported encyclopaedism.

One of the keys to a successful rubber circle car are giant wheels with rubbery grip that don't slip on the axel. With this, you posterior conception the car to speedily dash a snub distance, or travel a long distance. Read happening after the final project step to learn how to alter the design of the car to achieve each type of goal, and to see the accompanying teaching materials.

This project is recommended for grades 4 and upward, however smaller groups of younger students may build this car with extra help oneself.

You can find the example plan, 1-varlet project sheet, and more project ideas at STEM-Inventions.com

Step 1: Tools and Materials

The Engineering Creation Kit has everything you need for this project and many more from Staunch Inventions.

Tools

  • Hot glue torpedo for kids and glue sticks
  • Scissors

Materials

  • (14) Guile sticks
  • (6) Craft cubes (Majority pack)
  • Titanic plastic wheel set (wheels, dowels, rubber bands)
  • (1) Plastic straw
  • Masking tape
  • (1) 4" cable tie
  • (1) 1/8x7" #117b natural rubber band
  • Optional: Small plastic wheels and 1/8" dowels
  • Optional: Heavy materials, the likes of metal-looking washers

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Step 2: Build the Frame

Create a frame that's 2 craft sticks long equally shown (picture 1).

Gum happening craft cubes as shown, then retroflex the same fles shape connected top (icon 2). This cube-and-stick anatomical structure prevents the frame from bending.

Grave: Notice how the cubes on the right side of picture 2 are not glued to the very end of the cunning sticks. There of necessity to be a gap betwixt the cube and the end of the sticks that's or so 1/2". This is a key part of the frame that volition beryllium inevitable for the next ill-use.

It's also important to annul gluing across that spread. Click on Picture 1 for a clarifying annotation.

Step 3: Make the Drive Wheels

The next step is to attach the pencil eraser bands to the wheels, which bequeath add traction. Without the rubber bands, the wheels will spin and waste energy before the car overcomes its inertia and begins moving.

Adding the rubber bands can be tricky. The best method is to hold a rubber band against the edge of the pedal with your finger, so carefully work IT onto the wheel around with your other hand (picture 1). Repeat with all 4 wheels. You may need to prep this step for students in grades 5 and under.

Fit a bicycle onto a dowel, then cut two pieces of straw that are about 0.5" long. Put the straw pieces onto the dowel, then fit another wheel on (picture 2).

Important: The wheels must fit snugly. If the dowels fit loosely, then wrap a level of masking tape roughly the finish of the dowel before inserting it into the roll (picture 3).

Step 4: Attach the Drive Wheels

Use a welfare-statist amount of hot glue to attach the straw pieces to the frame. Make sure to glue the straws to the spread that was created when making the frame (picture 1 &adenylic acid; 2). This placement ensures that the drive wheels are pulled against the edge of the soma when the car is wound up. If the effort wheels are glued or taped anywhere other happening the shape, the military force of the wound-up rubber band leave rip it off.

Step 5: Create the Idle Wheels

Create a set of wheels sportsmanlike like the last step, except this time use a 4.5" (11cm) piece of straw. These wheels can exist taped to the other side of the border since there'll exist no safety band pulling connected it (picture 1).

The purpose of these wheels is to reduce friction (versus the frame dragging on the primer) and add some weighting to increase momentum. These wheels can too better how straight the car rolls. Having 4 wheels with rubber bands in middleman with the ground helps prevent the car from veering to the side.

Probatory: The Little Jo wheels must be aligned. In other row, the dowels must personify parallel to each other. Otherwise the car will veer to the side.

Step 6: Attach the Rubber Band

Tie a rubber lo close to the frame using a hitch knot near the idle wheels (picture 1). Make sure to avoid tying information technology around the straw or else it bequeath top the idle wheel dowel and foreclose the wheels from turn.

Tie a cable marry to the drive wheel dowel. Get out it arsenic tight as possible, then break up the excess (render 2). This is where the safe band will be loving to the take wheels. If the cable splice slips in the future footstep, then apply a small amount of tasty glue to it.

Step 7: Scent It Up!

Hitch the rubber band onto the drive wheel dowel (picture 1).

Wind instrument up the elastic around the joggle (picture 2). I recommend using your index to quickly spin the beat back wheels in circles until the rubber band is coiled around the drive axel many times (picture 3).

Tread 8: Go for Speed or Distance?

The first car design works well and it rump distillery teach students around momentum, Department of Energy transformation, and inertia. However, if you want to specialize the car for either rush along Beaver State outstrip, then read on:

Designing for Speed

  • The car takes time to reach maximum speed because of inactiveness. Inertia is the tendency for an object to defy deepen in motion. In different words, it's how more energy is required to move an object.
  • Heavier, more massive objects possess more inertia and require more energy to start moving. In this causa, any supernumerary weight requires extra energy to travel before the car can reach crowning speed.
  • Therefore, to pretend a speedy auto, IT must cost as light equally executable.
  • To that end, you can change out the idle wheels with small wheels (picture 1), or experimentation with reduction some of the materials used in the frame. The drive wheels mustiness remain large; small wheels have too little inertia, and will spin in situ when the car is released alternatively of gripping the floor and propelling the automobile forward.
  • Furthermore, you can experiment with using more than 1 elastic. More than rubber bands will increase the overall amount of Energy Department that can live stored and converted to energising cause, and it will increase the amount of energy released in the same period of sentence as reasonable 1 elastic. In other words, 2+ rubber bands can speed the car quicker, however if there are too some, the torque (rotating force) will be so great that it volition cause the wheels to spin in place before they can make headway traction, or you may even demolish the frame.

Designing for Distance

  • The reason the car doesn't go connected forever is because of friction. Clash is when ii objects rub against apiece other and slow down, usually by converting kinetic Department of Energy to stir up.
  • The car generates rubbing mainly in the configuration of the spinning dowel friction the inside of the straws.
  • Presumptuous there's no excessive clash, like a little of hot gum cragfast inside the straw, so to get the car to hold out further it needs to use the stored energy more effectively. Adding more mass testament do this.
  • Why? Adding more mass leave generate Thomas More impulse, which is the tendency for an object to keep going in its current trajectory. For good example, adding washers to the drive wheels increases its overall mass, and its potential difference to generate impulse (picture 2).
  • The additional impulse is harder to slow down and stop, so the small sum of ineluctable rubbing does not slow down the car as much arsenic before. Therefore, the extra impulse "carries" the car a further outdistance.
  • However, if it's heavier, it'll take thirster to accelerate, and because momentum = velocity x deal, the railroad car must reach a top speed to give that extra momentum.
  • To achieve greater speed, you can use more than 1 rubber stria (picture 2). Because the drive wheels are heavier, it volition generate more traction and will be less likely to slip due to the extra torque.
  • Importantly, the additional mass must be added to the wheels. If information technology's added to the frame, then the rubbing betwixt the dowels and the interior of the straws will addition. This is because the weight of the frame is resting on the dowels, so by adding mass to the physique, it will weigh heavier on the dowels and increase the friction. This will in reality induce the car to perform worsened than without whatsoever extra weight.

In either case, if you're facilitating this project with students, encourage experimentation and observational learning. Eve if their initial ideas don't work As well arsenic the underlying example, those failures will create opportunities to learn some the physics principles at hand.

Step 9: Lesson Plan &adenylic acid; Project Sheet

If you're planning on teaching this contrive to a group of kids, then download the attached lesson programme and project sheet. Ilk all of my moral plans, information technology contains the project goal, prep, troubleshooting, and a suggested lesson plan. The lesson plan is an precis, and IT's provided as an editable .docx file, designed to be detailed upon to suite your hearing.

To download the Project Sheet, fall into place along the image and then click on the download button in the lower left corner. Beaver State, right detent and open the image in a new tab, then right chink and save the image.

The project sheet can be exploited as a teaching auxiliary for students in grades 5 and up. For grades 4 and under, I recommend exhibit how to build the car step-by-step, and so use the project sheet equally a reminder of the steps. Print knocked out one project sheet for all 2 students.

Thanks for reading this FAR! If you'd wish more skill and engineering projects wish this, then check out Ready-made for STEAM.

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