We have seen many examples of energy changes, from simple changes from one type into another, to chains of energy changes that may or may not be continuous. The project below will give you a chance to practice your knowledge of energy types, energy changes, and chains of energy changes.

Rube Goldberg was an award-winning cartoonist, who drew machines and contraptions of marvelous complexity and ingenuity to perform such basic tasks as scratching your back or killing a mosquito. Rube created these drawings for 55 years, from the period of World War I to his death in 1970.

Goldberg's drawings of absurdly connected machines that actually seemed to work became so widely known that Webster's Dictionary added "rube goldberg" to its listing, defining it as "accomplishing by extremely complex, roundabout means what seemingly could be done simply." His name has become associated with any screwball apparatus that performs a simple task.