A Rube Goldberg machine is basically a chain reaction. While working on this project, I’ve felt so excited to see what my final product would be like.
The process of building a page turning Rube Goldberg was a little complicated. I wasn’t exactly sure how to make the page flip at first, but then worked out something. I used tape, cardboard, dominoes, string, and a couple other things. Simple machines I included were levers and ramps. The materials weren’t super easy to put together. While constructing the machine, my brother helped me set things up, and gave me suggestions on which things I should do. It was kind of a bit of teamwork with my brother that I managed to almost complete my Rube Goldberg.
During the testing of my machine, I realized that a simple domino chain wouldn’t be enough to move a small but heavy ball. Therefore, my brother and I attached a string to the last domino in the chain which was on cardboard, and then cut a hole right in front of the last domino. We also made a little sort of holder for the ball so it wouldn’t go rolling down the ramp it was supposed to roll down. The string that we attached to the domino went inside the hole, and then attached to the bottom of the ball ‘holder.’ That way, when the domino fell inside of the hole, the domino would make the bottom of the hole move downwards, and the ball would be able to move. It sounds confusing, but it’ll make sense in the video when we record it. I also removed a couple of the steps, because there wasn’t enough room in my bedroom to put all the parts together.
All in all, making this Rube Goldberg project has been a lot of fun. I’m excited to finally capture a successful attempt in the chain reaction!
The link to the video is here:
Excellent Blog Post. Very informative.