The Battle of the Beam
By: Team Silver (Jeff Shin and Tobi Owoeye-Wise)
Design Process Overview
1. First we read the objective, and thought over the problem.
2. We brainstorm of what material we were going to use (spaghetti noodles, rice, or nerds).
3. We read the instructions carefully from the, “The Battle of the Beam Worksheet.”
4. We research (not much) on the spaghetti noodles.
5. We made plans of the order of how to make our beam the strongest.
6. Tested the procedure from the worksheet.
7. Review our results and record our mistakes and changes.
8. Remake the beam again and again until success outcome (future).
Team Roles and Our motto (Team Silver)
1. Teamwork (to be fast, efficient and work together).
2. Responsibility (to do our required assignment on time).
3. Effort (to do our best, not make too many mistakes, and never give up).
Tobi: Made the solutions of the resin, and poured it on our beam.
Jeff: Got materials, took notes, and put water on the pan.
Materials Used and Rational Used
1. Spaghetti Noodles
2. 4 part-sized laffy taffy candies (2 reds, 1 green, & 1 yellow)
3. 15 mL of tap water
4. 1 hot plate
5. 2 beakers
6. 1 graduated cylinder
7. 1 thermometer
8. 1 oven mitt
9. 1 aluminum foil mold (0.5 X 0.5 X 5 inches)
10. Aluminum pan
11. Tap water from the sink
Predictions and Results Comparison
We predicted for out beam to hold about 18-20 ounces, but it didn't hold anything due to our one mistake of putting too much water into our pan and leaving it overnight to soak... ( it's like soaking a jolly rancher in your saliva...or putting it in your mouth...until it is disolved. Everyone in the class did the same thing, so none of us could test our bridges. Even though, the way it was put together, it would've held a little below 13 ounces because of poor assembly.
Final Factural Stress and Comparison to Class
Final Stress: N/A
Comparison to class: Our beam had some reinforcement phase sticking out of the taffy solution, unlike others, but it would've still done well, because we cooked our taffy to a high and reasonable temperature, and it became and looked a lot harder than others but cooled a lot quicker, which was one of our goals.
Changes to Make
Number one, we would try to have put the reinforcement phase in before the taffy was set in. Number two would be trying to add some more taffy into the mixture; it dried faster than we could pour it in! We would also have researched more about the 3 types of reinforcements, but I think we still did a pretty good job there, its just the assembly that got skewered.