Notecard Challenge

      The Note Card Challenge

 

In this project, we were given one notecard and four inches of tape.  Our only direction was to build a structure to hold weight.  At first, we only had to hold 100 pounds, and as our structures became more advanced, we tried to hold more weight. Our first structure failed by crushing, and our group came up with many solutions to this problem.  The solution that we chose was the best.  This solution was to create columns that were more rigid on the outside that wouldn't crush.  After we tested this theory, we were able to hold 194 pounds of weight.  After we tested, we improved our design by making the columns by wrapping them around a pen to make sure we had a very rigid outside.  After we redesigned and improved on our design, we were able to hold 245 pounds of weight!  With our same solution of rolling columns around a pen, we were able to receive the "Atkins A" because Mr. Atkins was able to stand on our structure for over 10 seconds.

 

Another problem we experienced in the notecard challenged was from our columns turning over.  We avoided crushing by making the outside very rigid, and we avoided buckling by placing tape on both sides of the columns.  However, overturning was a constant problem.  If we were given paper and more tape in this experiment, we could make an outer layer for our columns.  After we made this outer layer, we could spread out our columns, equal distant, around the edges of whatever was being put on top of them.  This would create and wide center of gravity, limiting the possibility of overturning.