My mobile (Figure 1) was created around the Compound Color theme of blue, green, and orange. I utilized small beads and small marbles to create the colorful hanging project.
The art rotation was where the majority of the work was done. After learning color theory I was able to pick my color scheme of blue, green, and orange. It's also in this rotation that I learned how to wire bend using hand tools, such as different types of pliers and wire cutters.
Specifically, I created circles by wrapping the wire around PVC piples, and completed the loops to hang pieces on by using multiple pliers at once. I then wrapped the circles with the smallest gauge write that I covered in tiny beads beforehand.
For the marbles I simply wrapped thhem in thick wire, looping upwards until the top, at which point I would bend the wire to a 90 degree angle relative to the top of the marble, and bend a small loop at the top (Figure 2).
Finally, the large hook that holds the whole structure together was created by wrapping wire around a PVC pipe, and the wire that holds the elements was simply cut to length according to my calculations done in the physics rotation.
The machine shop was used to make nodes (Figure 3), little metal cylinders that allowed the elements to attach to the base. Prior to creating the nodes in the Machine Shop, I made them using SolidWorks. This was one of my first exposures to using SolidWorks, and taught me hwot to create sketches, extrusions, chamfers, and holes. To create the nodes I cut a long piece of cylindrical metal into smaller cylinders of the same length on the lathe. I then sahved down the extra thickness on the lathe. Finally, I created a hole through the length of the node, and a small hole on one side at the halfway point of the node's width. I created a small hole in the remaining half that was small enough that only fishing wire could pass, and the knot tied on the end would stop the element from falling out since it'd be blocked by the tiny hole.
The main physics at work in the project is torque, which to put simply, is the force that acts on an object around a pivotal point, such as someone pushing on a door that rotates around a hinge, or a child playing on a seesaw. The elements had to be balanced evenly on the main bases, as to not have one side overpower the other and tip the mobile. I used a spreadsheet (Figure 4) to help me determine how long the bases should be cut, and at which points along the base the elements should be hung in order to achieve perfect equilibrium.