Group 2 Advanced Applied Mechanics

Project Finalisation

2009-04-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

Figure 9.1 : Final calculations are being made by Siew Wah and Teng Fu.

Figure 9.2 : How the apparatus was set up

Figure 9.3 : From a different angle

Figure 9.4 : The group members which have dedicated their time and effort to ensure the success of this project.

Result

	Symbol	Value
initial velocity of toy car	u	0ms^-1
mass of toy car	m	0.55kg
mass of weight	M	0.6kg
distance traveled by car	s	1m
average time recorded	t	0.99s
gravitational acceleration	g	9.81ms^-2
angle of the plane	θ	30^o

The formula

was applied to calculate the actual acceleration, a_a which was found to be 2.04ms^-2

The formula

was applied to calculate the theoretical acceleration, a_twhich was found to be 2.77ms^-2

Percentage of error, ε can be found by using the equation

and ε was found to be 26.35%

Discussion

The friction within the pulley and the car's axles cause the actual acceleration to deviate from the theoretical value.
Human error occurs while the time taken by car was measured because the time period is relatively short.

Project Review And Improvement

2009-04-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Figure 8.1 : Chan Fatt came with the new model car to replace the broken one.

Fgure 8.2 : Chung Vi remodeling and making adjustment to the car.

Figure 8.3 : The new car was modified and ready for testing. 2 cords were added to prevent the "kangaroo bar" from falling apart again.

Figure 8.4 : Chun Hui setting up the digital camera for the recording of the toy car.

Figure 8.5 : View of the camera screen when it has been set up.

Figure 8.6 : William, Siew Wah and Chan Fatt adding colored papers to the polystyrene strips so that they can be clearly seen in the video.

Figure 8.7 : Books were used as anchor for the ramp to hold it in position.

Figure 8.8 : Chan Fatt and Khai Loong observing as the polystyrene is added to the ramp.

Figure 8.9 : Yong Sing double-checking the distance between the two orange strip.

To improve the accuracy of the experiment, we've made a few adjustments to the ramp and the car model itself. After the second trial run, we've discovered that the video taken was too blurry due to the digital camera being used is not suitable for taking high speed shots.

In order to solve this problem, we've decided to change another method of getting the actual acceleration of the car by applying the formula :

instead of the original formula

Trial Run

2009-03-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we test our project. All of us met at 5pm after Mr. Chua Bih Lii's class to run the test. We've set up all the apparatus and ran our first trial run.

Figure 7.1 : Chan Fatt explaining the concept of our project to fellow coursemate, Elvin when he came to visit.

Figure 7.2 : 4 frames animation of our first trial run of the car to make sure it works.

Figure 7.3 : Showing the toy car smashed into pieces when it fell to the ground.

Upon the completion of the ramp, we've decided to run a trial run to ensure our experiment is working. However, there's a setback where the toy car was wrecked due to an accident. One of the causes is the instability of the "kangaroo bar" which we tied the cord onto the toy car. During our trial run, the "kangaroo bar" detached from the car causing it to fall onto the ground. The stone that we've installed into the car for the purpose of adding extra weight had crushed the car, breaking it into pieces.

We've decided to postpone the next phase of the project to the next day when we've bought another toy car.

Apparatus Assembly

2009-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

After Professor's Rao's class at SKTM, we've gathered yet again at No. 12, Jalan Raja Udang 18, Taman Kingfisher 2 to assemble our project at 3pm. Before starting the assembling process, we had a short briefing and everyone was given their own task to be carried out.

Everything went on as planned and we finish the 1st stage of assembling at about 7pm. Since all of us had been working for 4 hours continuously, we've decided to do the trial on the next day.

Figure 6.1 : Khai Loong reversed the car to allocate some space for the other members to saw the wood.

Figure 6.2 : Chun hui and Siew Wah measuring the wood for the required size.

Figure 6.3 : William sawing the wood while others helped by holding it down.

Figure 6.4 : Siew Wah's turn to saw the wood.

Figure 6.5 : Chan Fatt measuring the angle for the appropriate height.

Figure 6.6 : Khai Loong and Teng Fu measuring the position for the hinge.

Figure 6.7 : Chung Vi hammering the hinge.

Figure 6.8 : Khai Loong hammering the hinge.

Figure 6.9 : Siew Wah took his turn to fix the hinge.

Figure 6.10 : Yong Sing positioning the hinge for mounting.

Figure 6.11 : Everybody watches the hammering process while waiting for their turn.

Figure 6.12 : Everybody is discussing about the ideal position for the ramp.

Figure 6.13 : Yong Sing and Chan Fatt Measuring the ideal position for the pulley.

Figure 6.14 : Chung Vi and Teng Fu modifying the car to meet the specification for the project

Gathering Material

2009-03-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

We had a meeting at SKTM's foyer this afternoon after Prof. Rao's Test. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss about the purchasing of apparatus/materials that we're going to use in our project. We've assigned every member to buy 1 item and the list is as shown below.

No.	Name	Item	Cost(RM)
1.	Ang Chung Vi	Toy Car & Tripod	4.50
2.	Chong Yong Sing	Hinge & Nails	3.80
3.	Ho Teng Fu	Digital Camera	0.00
4.	Leong Chun Hui	Cord	4.50
5.	Liew Chan Fatt	Pulley & Toy Car Replacement	6.00
6.	Mah Khai Loong	Weight	0.00
7.	William Leong Boon Peng	Protractor	0.00
8.	Yip Siew Wah	Wood Piece	25.00
		Total Cost	43.80

Figure 5.1 : William, Siew Wah and Chun Hui measuring the wood that has just arrived.

Figure 5.2 : Siew Wah and Khai Loong filling up the bottle which would be used as the weight.

Figure 5.3 : Chung Vi handling the toy car.

Figure 5.4 : William printing out the protractor.

Presentation

2009-03-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Our representative, Yip Siew Wah presented our slides at BT 6&7 in SKTM as planned by Mr. Chua Bih Lii. All the members were present on that day and after the presentation, there's a Q & A session where group members took turns to answer the question directed to our group.

A copy of the slides can be downloaded here.

Presentation Discussion

2009-03-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Figure 3.1 : Yong Sing preparing the presentation slide along with other members.

Figure 3.2 : Siew Wah rehearsing his presentation with the rest observing and giving opinions

For the presentation, one of the most important element is to prepare the power point slide which everyone contributed to complete it. Some of the pictures are collected and also drawn by Chung Vi using his expertise on the gimp. Part of the slide is done by Yong Sing who type the points in the slide. Everybody discussed on how the slide should be and the coordination of the points which would be presented.

Upon completion of the slide, Siew Wah who was chosen to represent us for the presentation practiced on his presentation skills. All the other members listened his presentation and also discussed on how the presentation could be improved.

The pictures drawn and edited by Chung Vi are displayed below:

Figure 3.3 : Sketched diagram of the apparatus set-up.

Figure 3.4 : Free body diagram of the load.

Figure 3.5 : Free body diagram of the trolley.

Proposal Discussion

2009-02-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Figure 2.1 : Second meeting to discuss the details of the proposal.

Upon deciding on which experiment to carry out for our project, we've discussed all the advantages and disadvantages of our project as well as its shortcoming. We've discussed about the theories which we've learned and accumulated from previous lesson that will be suitable to be applied in our project.

Brainstorming

2009-02-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

Figure 1.1 : All members during brainstorming session.

At 1pm, all the group members are fully gathered at No. 12, Lorong Raja Udang 18, Taman Kingfisher 2, to discuss about the general idea on what kind of project to accomplish for our Advanced Applied Mechanics project. Using sources from the internet and from books, we've spent about 1 hour to decide on which simple experiment to conduct for out project.