Energy Transformation Project—Create and Improve

During the creating process of our project, we ran into many problems both with the original design and the actual carrying-out of the design. They are summarized below, simultaneously illustrating our creating and improve process.

1. Size of bottles.

We originally planned to use an entire plastic bottle for part 3 in the design (see below). However, upon testing it during class, we found that the length of the bottle was much too long, and would lead to the sagging of the straw after part 4. As a result, we cut out part of the bottle and stuck the bottom part back onto the top part (see below).

2. Unstable structure.

There were many aspects of the prototype that made it a bit wobbly at first. The skewers, for one, were originally bent, so we needed to add another aspect to the design that stabilized it and straightened it out a bit. The heights of the bottles needed to be adjusted, so we put pieces of foam and cardboard underneath.

3. Leakage.

Leakage is something that we spent a lot of time fixing, but in the end still couldn’t completely get rid of. There were many points of connection in our product that allowed for the leaking of water/air, such as the hot-glued area at part 3, the straws, and the top of part 4. It would obviously be a problem if water were to leak at any point, but if air were to leak, the experiment wouldn’t work. There would be a lack in air pressure, and the water in part 4 would not flow. To prevent leaking, we used hot glue to mend holes in the plastic bottles; we also wanted to make sure that the sealing on top of part 4 fit snuggly, so we used clay (which is moldable, which helps it fill gaps that might leak air) and a round bottle cap.

4. Straws

The straws are essential parts of the design. To makes sure they fit into the bottles, we picked drills that resembles/were slightly wider than the straws we used. we used hot glue on both sides of the surface the straws poke through the stabilize. After testing our prototype many times, the paper straws began to unravel slightly. In response, we used water-proof tape and glue to seal the crevices.

5. Water level

At first, we added water to part 4 until it reached the very bottom of the lower straw. When that didn’t work, we adjusted the water level to the top of the straw. However, neither solutions worked well.

Feedback from classmates

! The prototype is visually pleasing/successful.

! “Cool idea. Very different from other projects.”

? “The tape sealing the top could be too inconvenient for the user.”

? If there was no leakage, why didn’t it work?

Final product