Designing Harmonic Timing Devices: Ready, Set, Escape
Students design timing devicesCopyright Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Lux_Products_Long_Ring_Timer.jpg
Students are asked to design simple yet accurate timing devices using limited supplies. The challenge is to create a device that measures out a time period of exactly three minutes in order to enable a hypothetical prison escape. Student groups brainstorm ideas using the different materials provided. They observe and explain the effects of conservation of energy.
Engineers continually challenge themselves to make better and more accurate devices, tools, systems and processes, including timing devices. Typically, engineering projects also must consider design constraints, which are requirements and limitations unique to the challenge.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe the steps of the engineering design process.
- Explain the concept of conservation of energy in relationship to kinetic and potential energy.
- Describe simple harmonic motion.