Energy Storage Derby and Proposal
Example car design with cantilever potential energy storage.Copyright 2006 Vanderbilit University
Students design, build and test small-sized vehicle prototypes that transfer various types of potential energy into motion. To complete the Go Public phase of the legacy cycle, students demonstrate their understanding of how potential energy may be transferred into kinetic energy.
Alternative energy sources, particularly within the realm of transportation, have become a hot topic within the scientific and engineering communities. It seems that everyone would like to have available vehicles that provide safe, efficient and reliable methods of capturing a form of energy and transferring it to kinetic energy. Currently available methods are gas-electric hybrids, gas-hydraulic fluid hybrids, electric, and compressed gas. Throughout the unit, students apply the scientific concepts they learn to the real-world problem of designing and implementing energy sources for transportation.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Apply the law of conservation of energy physical problems in one dimension.
- Describe the engineering design process.