Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist made famous for his “Inventions” comic strip. He grew up in San Francisco and graduated from the University of California Berkeley with an engineering degree. After working for a short time as an engineer for the city of San Francisco, he took a job working for a newspaper. He contributed cartoons until he was published and eventually moved to New York where he drew daily cartoons and gained fame as a both cartoonist and well-known radio and television personality.
Rube Goldberg’s “Inventions” were fictitious, complex machines that performed simple tasks in a very roundabout way. In common usage, the term “Rube Goldberg” has come to mean any over-complicated system that performs tasks in an inefficient manner. Rube Goldberg’s “Inventions” usually consisted of a series of simple steps arranged in a convoluted and improbable manner. A chain reaction would be set up by a simple action that would eventually result in the desired function.
These complex machines provide opportunity and examples to study simple machines. A simple machine is a device with few or no moving parts. They are used to make work easier. The generally recognized simple machines are the lever, pulley, inclined plane, screw, wedge, and wheel and axle. Sometimes gears are also included in the list of simple machines. Rube Goldberg’s fictional “Inventions” usually made use of simple machines by combining them to create complex compound machines.
Check out the example below of Rube Goldberg's Self Operating Napkin:
Below are some examples of Rube Goldberg devices. Try to pick out the simple machines as you watch these devices in action!
You are to design your very own Rube Goldberg device. Your machine must accomplish a very simple task in a very complex manner. In addition, you must utilize at least 5 simple machines (at least 3 different types) in your design.
Project Options:
1) Build the device at your house and record the device in action accomplishing the goal. (You can work with a group if you decide to build it...4 people max)
- Be sure to include the following in your video:
- Give the name of your device and describe your goal
- Give a step by step walkthrough explaining how your device works while identifying at least 5 simple machines (at least 3 different types) in your device
- Show your device in action accomplishing your goal
2) Design a Rube Goldberg Machine and draw the device on a poster. (No groups permitted)
- Be sure to include the following in your poster:
- The name of the device is labeled on the poster
- The actions of the device are labeled with numbers or letters showing the "flow" of the device.
- A complete illustration of the device is shown.
- A complete description of the device is shown describing the steps of the machine.
- The actions of the device make sense and are in a logical sequence.
- The poster is completely colored.
