Jillian Wadland

We started today with two cars, deciding to test them both to see which performed better. The first was a more traditional car, with three wheels, like a tricycle, and an angled frame. The car was large, and meant to go faster because of the increased mass. If the first car was traditional, the second car was anything but. it was quite simple,and we hoped that would make all the difference. It was an axle with one wheel on each end, held in place by clips. At the beginning of the class, we sent them both down the ramp, timing and watching for distance. To our surprise, the second car was not only faster by several tenths of a second, but also went quite a bit father. In fact, it was still moving steadily when it hit the far library wall. So, we decided to use the second, simpler car. First, we stripped our failed prototype of its parts, and set them out. We then tried putting two large wheels on each side of the axle, as opposed to one. It was quickly outperformed by the original,probably because of the increased surface area of the wheels, thus increasing the friction by a lot. After taking the extra wheels off of the car, we decided to try a shorter axle. It worked, and we now had a rod with two wheels, as opposed to multiple small connected pieces. Our next modification was putting two clips in between the wheels instead of one, hoping it would keep the wheels forma moving along the axle as much. it did,but it both slowed the car and decreased its distance. So we went back to one clip, and the car continued working very well. We were now trying to figure out a way to increase its speed even more, as other groups had seen our successful car and started to make modifications almost identical to our own. With about 10 minutes left, we tried taking out the clips all together in the middle, leaving only two on the outside to keep the wheels from sliding off. It was risky, because it destabilized our already shaky car, but it might give us that extra burst of speed we needed. We tried it, and it worked! Our only challenge tomorrow will be sending it dowm straight, which is difficult with such and unwieldy car, but we'll do our best.

I think it is funny that your car worked so well, that other groups started to copy you, that really shows your abilities! (Along with your paragraph ) I wish your group the best of luck with the risk you took for your car

I like how you tested both of the cars and found out which was better. While I reading your paragraph, I actually thought the first car was going to go faster. And... good luck tomorrow.

Wow! I love how much detail you put into this. I also liked how it took many tries to perfect your car. Good luck tomorrow!!