APSU Science ExpOlympics - 2006
Competition Event – SSC-1st Floor Atrium
Dr. S. Buckner (Physics Department)
The
object of this contest is to design and construct a container that will allow a
raw egg to survive a free fall from a height of twenty-three meters.
RULES:
1)
The egg is said to have "survived" the impact if it does not
have cracks visible to the judges. Contestants
whose eggs do not survive will be disqualified immediately.
2)
The container must not cost more than ten dollars.
An itemized list of materials must be given to the judges at the time of
the contest. Donated or salvaged
items must be assigned a "fair market value" by the contestants; the
judges will evaluate all cost estimates and their opinion will be final.
Contestants must only declare the cost of the materials actually used in
the construction of the container; e.g., if you use 3.3 m of tape from a 33.0 m
roll that costs $2.00 plus tax, you must only declare a cost of $0.22 on the
itemized list of materials. Bulk
purchase for the purpose of per unit cost savings is not allowed.
3)
The container must easily fit through an opening 66 cm by 100 cm.
4)
The container must not have a mass of more than 1.0 kg as measured by the
judges.
5)
Teams must consist of at least two persons:
a) one to give the loaded container to the judge who will drop it using one hand while using a manual stopwatch in the other hand to time the duration of free fall.
b) one to unload the egg within three minutes of impact in the presence of a second judge. The judge will be handed the egg for closer scrutiny only upon his request.
6) The container will be dropped from the top floor of the Sundquist Science Complex, a height of approximately 23 m above a horizontal concrete surface. The container must impact inside a 2.0 m x 2.0 m area marked off directly below the point of release.
7) A large raw chicken egg will be provided by the judges and loaded into the container in the presence of a judge. The container must be prepared for release within ten minutes after the contestants receive the egg.
8)
The length of the container shall be defined as its longest dimension
when
9)
The score shall be the product of the following three measured
quantities:
a)
m, the mass of the container
b)
l, the length of the container
c)
t, three times the time duration from release to impact
Score = mlt
10) The team with the smallest score wins.