We recently (and I mean last week) did a project in which our whole class had to make a Rube Goldberg machine that could make a balloon pop. Well, let’s just say that not everything was successful, but at least it was fun watching everyone’s contraptions come together to do something. The failures that we had were kind of frustrating, but at the same time we tried to improve it over and over again. At one point, I just felt like giving up on it, but by the end, I felt kind of guilty by thinking that. Everything we’ve done to perfect that part was not successful, no matter how many times we adjusted it. I may have been able to participate more if I had not given up on it.
Now, about energy. I feel that understanding what energy is present and how that energy occurs is simplified in a “dummy’s understanding” way to me. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I’ve simplified everything to this; gravitational energy is affected when the object is closer or farther away from the Earth, kinetic energy is when something is moving, elastic energy is when something is stretched from its original form, and internal is other types of energy not easily transferred. I have yet to come to a sound definition on what gravitational energy actually is, but I’m still getting there.
I feel more confident in my understanding of energy and I really loved the Rube Goldberg activity. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch about five or ten of these on YouTube.
CreatisticlyReal Physics 