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So this weird assignment was given to our technology class in school. It's kinda dumb, but I'd like to share it for discussion, as a challenge for you guys, and for possible advice.
The task is to build the tallest possible structure using only 3 pieces of regular 8.5 x 11 paper and glue (I'm assuming it's either gluestick, or regular Elmer's glue). It also has to hold 1 ping pong ball ;;-_- (either 40 or 38 mm, like it makes a difference). Yes, a ping pong ball...
My partner and I were thinking of creating cylindrical columns by rolling up the paper and glueing them together. It might look something like this:
I I
I I
I I
I I
I I
This provides for a circular opening at the top for which the ping pong ball is placed.
Another idea that I had was to make a very short cyclinder of paper to hold the ping pong ball, while the rest of the structure is built to be as tall as possible; since the task does not restrict where the ping pong ball is placed.
So what do you think? Good or bad idea? Any suggestions?
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Make it into two towers and throw the ping pong ball into them and start laughing...
Actually that's probably the last thing you want to do...
Just remember to try to widen the base a bit for more stability and put more of a point near the top
something like
o
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As long as you dont need to support the ball att the top of the tower you kan easily just dip (or soak) the longest piece of paper you can cut in glue to make it stiffer and then add it to the top of the "regular" building.
Iff you dont manage to make it stiff enough fold a pice like a straw. Taking it further a "straw" plus single pice soaked in glue would make it really tall.
Rest of tower should be made pretty logical and sturdy.
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are you allowed to cut the paper?
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yea....if you can cut the paper, make a short circle supporting the ball...then make a thin circle real tall like an antenna out of several then long circles to add height.
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this is a popular project im sure you can find a winning design online, i think the best option is a series of concentric cylinders going from large to small, a pyramid if you will
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On October 27 2006 12:15 Norway wrote:
Make it into two towers and throw the ping pong ball into them and start laughing...
Actually that's probably the last thing you want to do...
Just remember to try to widen the base a bit for more stability and put more of a point near the top
something like
o
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hes got the right idea, just his art looks weird =p. think upside down ice cream cone.
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nah build it like a pyramid with one column in the middle to support it and 2-3 on the outside branching out to support it from falling over.
roll up the middle column extremely thin but keep it sturdy and dont bend it. otherwise gg.
or you could always try www.google.com
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a ping pong ball? that's ridiculous. when we did that at school it was like half a kilo.
just make tubes of ~2-3cm diameter. guess you'll get it to be like 2m high. if you build it carefully so that it isn't bent it will carry even a ping pong racket.
edit:
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when i was in school we had to jump on it, and it must fit 6 people
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At my school we were given a cotton ball and 3 toothpicks to winch a 430 cubic inch engine out of a Shelby GT500.
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When I was at school we used to hunt deers with the pointy ends.
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On October 27 2006 13:53 ReTr0[p.S] wrote:
When I was at school we used to hunt deers with the pointy ends.
...
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United States24615 Posts
All you've said is you want to support it as high as possible. In order to choose the best design you need to manage risk. How are you being assessed? If it's pretty much for completion then you can go pretty crazy with your design and try to break all records. If it's graded by how high you can get it to stay up where A+ > 10 feet, C < 1 foot etc, then you probably should take a slightly more conservative approach.
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We did this last year. If you CAN use unlimited elmers glue abuse it and make the base very strong. Just hold the ping pong ball with a small plastic cup. (My a circle, cut a line to the center and turn it in itself)
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If you can put the pingpong ball at the bottom, make a strong base with something to hold the ball. Maybe like 4 legs with thin loose paper connecting them in a cross shape (kind of like a net to hold the ball). Then use small strips of paper rolled into cylinders gradually getting smaller (kinda like old school antennas). You gota strengthen the base with glue so it holds.
Cant really explain it, but thats what I came up with lol...
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On October 27 2006 15:27 micronesia wrote:
All you've said is you want to support it as high as possible. In order to choose the best design you need to manage risk. How are you being assessed? If it's pretty much for completion then you can go pretty crazy with your design and try to break all records. If it's graded by how high you can get it to stay up where A+ > 10 feet, C < 1 foot etc, then you probably should take a slightly more conservative approach.
I believe that most of the project will be graded on other things, not the actual height. Stuff like research (we just bsed some stuff), brainstorming, design sketches, post-experiment questions, etc.
Making the structure as tall as possible is just a MacGuffin (although we do want to make it really tall so we can pwn everybody else's projects.) I'm pretty sure that as long as it looks like you tried to make it tall, and that the structure doesn't look retarded, you'll get full score for that part of the project.
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On October 27 2006 17:12 gameguard wrote:
If you can put the pingpong ball at the bottom, make a strong base with something to hold the ball. Maybe like 4 legs with thin loose paper connecting them in a cross shape (kind of like a net to hold the ball). Then use small strips of paper rolled into cylinders gradually getting smaller (kinda like old school antennas). You gota strengthen the base with glue so it holds.
Cant really explain it, but thats what I came up with lol...
Hahaha. Clever. Put the ball at the base :D
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.fsa.unsw.edu.au/events/images/2006camp05.JPG)
