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How to Make a Machine With a Chain Reaction Game

Cartoonist Rube Goldberg made chain reaction machines famous, creating cartoons that depicted simple tasks solved by incredibly complicated machines. While Goldberg̵7;s chain reaction machines focused on social satire, pointing the finger at the complication of the world, they became games and challenges for students of physics all around the world. Currently, organizations such as Purdue University̵7;s Theta Tau hold yearly Rube Goldberg competitions.

Things You'll Need

Objects from around the house

Instructions

- 1
  Sketch out possible steps, using the objects found around the house. Typical Rube Goldberg machines use available objects, creating a hodge-podge of different physical mechanisms. When sketching out possible steps, choose three or four objects that work in tandem. For example, if your objects include a cue ball, a PVC pipe and some books, you might sketch a step that depicts a cue ball rolling through a PVC pipe that tilts on top of the books.
- 2
  Sketch the finishing step, which serves the purpose of the mechanism. Continuing with the cue ball example, you might create a finishing step which drops the cue ball onto an open tube of toothpaste, pushing out the toothpaste onto a toothbrush.
- 3
  Order the steps logically. Logical ordering of steps in a Rube Goldberg machine requires considering which steps naturally lead to the next. You don̵7;t want to put a step that requires a ball rolling from a height at the end of the chain reaction (because you̵7;ll need to work against gravity to get a ball to roll back up to a height it has already dropped below).
- 4
  Build your chain-reaction game from last to first step. By building the machine backward, you give yourself the opportunity to make sure the machine continues to work as you add each step.

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