Mission to Mars
Tait Carrillo and Benjamin Garrett
11/17/14-12/12/14
The Robson
Lab Procedure Part 1
The objective of the lab was to design and build an egg drop. The egg drop had to land upright, the egg inside can’t break and it has to land on a square. We had to design the lander to meet these requirements from 8 feet and 18 feet. During the lab we learned about gravity and how to protect an egg from gravity’s effect.
The testing phase of this lab was very important. Our original design was a pod with a parachute on top and landing gear on the bottom. The pod was filled with pillow fluff. We had to make sure the egg didn’t crack and the lander fell slowly. Originally we dropped the lander without an egg. It fell slowly and softly, we were confident that with the egg inside the egg wouldn’t crack. We tested the lander with the egg and had the same results as before. The landing wasn’t as soft as it could be so we changed our design. We added wings on either side so it would spin around in circles reducing air resistance. The design worked very well and the egg still didn’t crack. We tested so many times because we wanted to make sure the lander would always work properly. Its important to test because of this reason. If we tested twice and then on launch day there was a flaw there would be nothing I could do.
The Materials We Used
Lab Procedure Part 2
During this lab we learned about air resistance, aerodynamics, and velocity. Air resistance is the amount of drag something has through the air. Take a bottle rocket for example, you want you're rocket to cut through the air with the least amount of drag possible. The least amount of drag is the most air resistant. Aerodynamics is the amount of air resistance something has, the amount of air going around something. Going back to the rocket, you want your rocket to be very aerodynamic which means the least amount of drag or the most amount of air resistance. Velocity is the difference between the starting point and the stopping point of an object. If you roll a rock down a hill say its velocity from its starting point to ending point would be 10 mph.
To test aerodynamics and air resistance we timed our egg drop while it was falling. The slower the time the less air resistance which means not very aerodynamic (which is what we’re going for). To find the velocity I used distance/time=velocity. The distance was 8ft and the time was 2.30sec, which makes the velocity about 3.47 ft/sec.
Distance=Rate x Time is a measurement for how far or fast something goes. Distance it the distance between point a and point b, rate is the speed, and time is the time it takes going from point a to b. Unit Cancelling is converting two measurements for example meters to centimeters or quarts to gallons.
Elasticity is when something is stretched out and then returns to its normal state a lot like a rubber band. For example we has elasticity in the parachute on our egg drop. When it deploys it stretches out but when it hits the ground it goes back to normal. Weight is the quantity of matter in an object. The heavier the egg drop the faster it will fall even if its very air resistant. Buoyancy is how an object floats on a liquid substance.
Lab Procedure Part 3
The first thing you should do when creating an egg drop is to find some sort of body or base. We used a piece of cardboard and rolled it to make a rectangular shape. Then attach some sort of parachute. Parachutes are very helpful to reduce air resistance and aerodynamics. We used a plastic target bag. After that construct some sort of landing gear so it will land upright. We used thin wooden sticks. Fill your body with some sort of shock absorber and you should be good to go. We also added wings on either side to help with air resistance but you don’t really need wings. We just duct taped everything together that’s definitely the best way to keep everything together. We used memory foam to cover the sides but anything works.
Lab Procedure 4
I think the project went great. The first lander we made survived with and without the egg in it. We recorded all the test we needed to and finished early which gave us a lot of time to do other assignments that were due.
(our egg survived, landed just outside off the square and took 2.75 seconds for it to land)
Lab Procedure 5
The results of the mini project was that Taits and my lander successfully landed from 18 feet and the egg inside survived. What worked in our egg project was our entire lander. The wings on the outside made out of paper did something amazing that we weren't planning to do. it made the lander lander spin in circles which slide it down while staying in place going completely vertical. What didn't turn out so well was the parachute. It was made out of a simple grocery bag. The bag wouldn't really open so we had to put little wooden stick inside to keep the bag open and at points it ripped. What we would have changed was the parachute. At the time all we had to use was a grocery bag and we just keeped it through the hole project. It didn't work that well because it wouldn't open at times and it got ripped a little bit. What I would've used probably is garbage bag because it wouldn't rip easy and is a lot bigger. My favorite lander other than ours was The BenG’s for me. One the name of it is amazing and two it is so simple and it works so well. It was a big cardboard box that had the top opened and a plastic bag taped to one side of the top across the the other side so theres a bad going across the top of the box. In the plastic bag thats were the put the egg and the spin the bag so the egg would stay inside the bag. It was the fastest lander and it was really effective. In my opinion there wasn't really a most successful devices. I think every device that landed in the square, upright, and the egg inside the device survived is just successful as the other. Our biggest source of error was our parachute. It wasn't really effective at all and ripped at times so it could've been a lot better. We chose the materials we chose because thats what was given to us and all we could find on the first day of building. After testing with those materials we found that they were successful so we decided to keep them. What I learned while testing was trial and error. I learned this not from testing our own lander but from watching other test. Our lander did everything it needed to do its first test so there wasn't really any error. While testing our lander we watched other test seeing them fail and not being successful. At the final test I watched the same landers that failed get 100%
Tait Carrillo and Benjamin Garrett
11/17/14-12/12/14
The Robson
Lab Procedure Part 1
The objective of the lab was to design and build an egg drop. The egg drop had to land upright, the egg inside can’t break and it has to land on a square. We had to design the lander to meet these requirements from 8 feet and 18 feet. During the lab we learned about gravity and how to protect an egg from gravity’s effect.
The testing phase of this lab was very important. Our original design was a pod with a parachute on top and landing gear on the bottom. The pod was filled with pillow fluff. We had to make sure the egg didn’t crack and the lander fell slowly. Originally we dropped the lander without an egg. It fell slowly and softly, we were confident that with the egg inside the egg wouldn’t crack. We tested the lander with the egg and had the same results as before. The landing wasn’t as soft as it could be so we changed our design. We added wings on either side so it would spin around in circles reducing air resistance. The design worked very well and the egg still didn’t crack. We tested so many times because we wanted to make sure the lander would always work properly. Its important to test because of this reason. If we tested twice and then on launch day there was a flaw there would be nothing I could do.
The Materials We Used
- Cardboard-Body
- Plastic Bag-Parachute
- Wooden Sticks-Landing gear and frame
- Duct Tape-Binding
- Pillow Fluff-Shock Absorber
- Cotton Balls-Shock Absorber
- Memory Foam-Side Covers
Lab Procedure Part 2
During this lab we learned about air resistance, aerodynamics, and velocity. Air resistance is the amount of drag something has through the air. Take a bottle rocket for example, you want you're rocket to cut through the air with the least amount of drag possible. The least amount of drag is the most air resistant. Aerodynamics is the amount of air resistance something has, the amount of air going around something. Going back to the rocket, you want your rocket to be very aerodynamic which means the least amount of drag or the most amount of air resistance. Velocity is the difference between the starting point and the stopping point of an object. If you roll a rock down a hill say its velocity from its starting point to ending point would be 10 mph.
To test aerodynamics and air resistance we timed our egg drop while it was falling. The slower the time the less air resistance which means not very aerodynamic (which is what we’re going for). To find the velocity I used distance/time=velocity. The distance was 8ft and the time was 2.30sec, which makes the velocity about 3.47 ft/sec.
Distance=Rate x Time is a measurement for how far or fast something goes. Distance it the distance between point a and point b, rate is the speed, and time is the time it takes going from point a to b. Unit Cancelling is converting two measurements for example meters to centimeters or quarts to gallons.
Elasticity is when something is stretched out and then returns to its normal state a lot like a rubber band. For example we has elasticity in the parachute on our egg drop. When it deploys it stretches out but when it hits the ground it goes back to normal. Weight is the quantity of matter in an object. The heavier the egg drop the faster it will fall even if its very air resistant. Buoyancy is how an object floats on a liquid substance.
Lab Procedure Part 3
The first thing you should do when creating an egg drop is to find some sort of body or base. We used a piece of cardboard and rolled it to make a rectangular shape. Then attach some sort of parachute. Parachutes are very helpful to reduce air resistance and aerodynamics. We used a plastic target bag. After that construct some sort of landing gear so it will land upright. We used thin wooden sticks. Fill your body with some sort of shock absorber and you should be good to go. We also added wings on either side to help with air resistance but you don’t really need wings. We just duct taped everything together that’s definitely the best way to keep everything together. We used memory foam to cover the sides but anything works.
- Find a base or body of some sort
- Tape a parachute to the top of your body
- Tape landing gear on the bottom of the body
- Fill it with fluff of cotton or whatever you have available
- Cover both sides
Lab Procedure 4
I think the project went great. The first lander we made survived with and without the egg in it. We recorded all the test we needed to and finished early which gave us a lot of time to do other assignments that were due.
(our egg survived, landed just outside off the square and took 2.75 seconds for it to land)
- Feet/sec- 11.010ft
- Meter/sec- 3.35m
- Miles/hour
- Kilometers/sec
Lab Procedure 5
The results of the mini project was that Taits and my lander successfully landed from 18 feet and the egg inside survived. What worked in our egg project was our entire lander. The wings on the outside made out of paper did something amazing that we weren't planning to do. it made the lander lander spin in circles which slide it down while staying in place going completely vertical. What didn't turn out so well was the parachute. It was made out of a simple grocery bag. The bag wouldn't really open so we had to put little wooden stick inside to keep the bag open and at points it ripped. What we would have changed was the parachute. At the time all we had to use was a grocery bag and we just keeped it through the hole project. It didn't work that well because it wouldn't open at times and it got ripped a little bit. What I would've used probably is garbage bag because it wouldn't rip easy and is a lot bigger. My favorite lander other than ours was The BenG’s for me. One the name of it is amazing and two it is so simple and it works so well. It was a big cardboard box that had the top opened and a plastic bag taped to one side of the top across the the other side so theres a bad going across the top of the box. In the plastic bag thats were the put the egg and the spin the bag so the egg would stay inside the bag. It was the fastest lander and it was really effective. In my opinion there wasn't really a most successful devices. I think every device that landed in the square, upright, and the egg inside the device survived is just successful as the other. Our biggest source of error was our parachute. It wasn't really effective at all and ripped at times so it could've been a lot better. We chose the materials we chose because thats what was given to us and all we could find on the first day of building. After testing with those materials we found that they were successful so we decided to keep them. What I learned while testing was trial and error. I learned this not from testing our own lander but from watching other test. Our lander did everything it needed to do its first test so there wasn't really any error. While testing our lander we watched other test seeing them fail and not being successful. At the final test I watched the same landers that failed get 100%