Spaghetti Bridge Challenge Project Questions... Blog!

The following are the answers to questions having to do with the spaghetti bridge challenge project done in Physics class.

1.       I found the performance during the actual competition day the most rewarding part of this whole experience. It did quite well and held far more mass then we all thought it would. It was a sure sign that all the work and gluing we did was worth it.

2.       Our bridge design (while not the strongest possible design) came out second overall holding 32.2 grams per gram! It was quite strong. This was mostly due to the bunch clusters used for the skeleton of our bridge and the arches. They kept our bridge going respectably beyond minimum mass to be supported.

3.       The best bridge made was so good because it had a taller vertical support bridge (or something). It held the bridge up using a square frame which focused less on the strength beneath the wooden block itself and more on something akin to cables. We should have done something like that. Ours was more so just a horizontal platform and could have held up a lot more.   

4.       Try planning out what you are going to glue first and maybe do it all in one sitting because the glue takes a really long time to dry. One cannot assemble the pieces until they are dry so plan things out. Also bring wax paper so as not to get glue stuck everywhere.

Our Bridge (Jeff Bridges).

Spaghetti Bridge... Blog

The following are to do with the spaghetti bridge challenge project.

1.      Initially our bridge was to be something of a trapezoid shape but thanks to our largest support bunches curving as they dried we have modified this design (pretty much entirely) into an arch bridge. The strongest parts of the bridge will most likely be the bunches of spaghetti (each one being made up of ten strands coated in glue). The a fore mentioned large bunches (we will use for the arches) are quite think and strong and should hopefully support minimum mass.

2.      Things are going fairly well, everything seems to be coming together at adequate speed. However we spend a lot of time waiting for glue to dry, which is quite irritating.

3.      The following are fraudulent photos taken for the sake of this post:

Me pretending to glue.

Answers to Questions Having to do with Speed and Acceleration… Blog

The following are answers to various questions. Found here:  http://www.solonschools.org/SolonNet/FIS/Webquests/Process.aspx?ID=1602&WQID=1388

Part 1: Understanding Speed and Acceleration

1.       Instantaneous speed is the units of distance per units of time (speed) an object is going at a particular instant in time. Average speed is the measure of distance traveled in a given period of time. Average Speed=distance/time. A speedometer tells one the speed one is going at that exact moment so it is instantaneous.

2.       Constant speed is unchanging speed for a long period of time.30 seconds multiplied 10 meters/second is equal to 300 meters.

3.       Acceleration is a vector quantity that is defined as the rate at which an object changes its velocity. An object is accelerating if it is changing its velocity. The equation for acceleration is Acceleration=Delta velocity/Time. Three different units of acceleration are: Kilometers/hour/second, meters/second squared and centimeters/hour/second. The answer to the question the velocity of the car accelerating at 7 meters/second/second after four seconds is 28 meters/seconds.

Part 2: Understanding Graphs for Speed and Acceleration

1.       The slope of a position-time graph represents its speed. Velocity is the same thing as speed except that it has direction. If the slope increases the velocity does as well.

2.        One takes the position of an object and divides that by the time (Rise over run).

3.       The slope tells you acceleration. If the slope of the graph is positive the object is accelerating. If the slope is negative the slope is decelerating. B, C, D and H are true.

Part 3: Free Fall

1.       Free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance. All free-falling objects on earth accelerate downwards at a rate of 9.8 meters/seconds/seconds.

         2.    15 divided by 4 is 3.75 meter/second squared.

Yet Another Post having to do with MouseTrap Vehicles... Blog

Over all things went fairly well. We built a working vehicle that runs with a mousetrap. As previously expressed in other “blog” entries our vehicle (Sir Roger of Super Awesome Tyrannosaurus Rex… Shire) went forward initially about six meters and then with revisions an average of about eight meters. It ran every time and stayed together when it counted; falling apart only while we were working on it.

For our axel holders we used coat hangers* which worked very well and allowed the wheels to turn with ease. This worked allot more than our first idea of drilling holes through the wood itself would have. We glued the mousetrap with powerful glue to the chassis so it stayed there with no trouble. Other than these two things everything could have been done better as was evident when compared to our opponent’s performances.

The most important things about this sort of project are teamwork and a good use of time. Our vehicle would have been a lot better if we were working through every lunch etcetera. That is not something any of us would be willing to do and I still wouldn’t to be honest. People should involve themselves in the project and not depend on somebody else to figure it out and do all of the work. Anything more I write will just be repeating previous posts. The point is if you try your best everything should work out.

MouseTrap Vehicle Distance and Race... Blog.

Our vehicle performed quite consistently (unfortunately it was consistently inadequate). It traveled only an average of about 8 meters which is short of the 10 meters it was supposed to go. Also during the distance measurement it veered off to the right as was mentioned in a previous "blog". This was fine however because either way we wouldn't have made the ideal distance.
 Our vehicle was also quite slow and lost miserably in the drag-race competition to a much smaller vehicle that could barley go 4 meters, but as one could imagine made up for that in speed.  

Video of the the distance trial. (taken by Agnessa)

If we were to redesign our vehicle one thing to be done is fix the veering to the right problem. One of the front wheels was bigger than the other. We could have filed down that one or added on the the other or something. Also, to my surprise bigger vehicles seemed to go farther than smaller lighter ones like our own. Perhaps we should have made ours heavier and/or longer. In the end at least we can take solace in the fact that our car was consistent and it wasn't the worst one.

The team. Taken by Josh.