VANDEBILT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

PHYSICS - Mr. W. Dupre<

2^nd Quarter Project

EVENT: SCRAMBLED OR SUNNY-SIDE UP?

DATE & TIME: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12th DURING CLASS

LOCATION: TBA (THE SIDEWALK TO THE BROTHER'S HOUSE AT VANDEBILT OR FOOTBALL STADIUM)

TEAM MEMBERS: ONE OR TWO (2); OF YOUR OWN CHOOSING

PURPOSE: Design and construct a containment structure that will preserve an uncooked grade A medium egg’s unbroken state during and after being dropped from some height onto a cement surface at ground level.

CONCEPTS COVERED: FORCES, VECTORS, NEWTON’s LAWS OF MOTION, ACCELERATION DUE TO

GRAVITY, TERMINAL VELOCITY, PROBLEM SOLVING, ENGINEERING

DISCUSSION: Think of the force that your egg will hit the sidewalk with a large resultant force acting straight up on your

structure. The idea is to construct a structure that will "absorbed" or deflect most of the force instead of imparting it to the egg. Also remember Newton's Second Law, F = ma, which tells you that the greater the mass of your structure the greater the force will be that is imparted to it.

PROCEDURE:

1. Egg containment structures must be completed by the end of the day Thursday, December 11, 2003.

2. You are responsible for being present to personally drop your device on the day of the event.

3. Criteria for building structure:

a) A maximum mass of 200 g (without the egg)

b) Constructed entirely of standard copy paper that may be bond together by standard masking tape. Note the tape is NOT

to be a structural element. It may only be used to adhere pieces of copy paper to each other.

c) Paper & tape may not be altered chemically.

d) The egg may not be coated are altered in any manner (i.e. cannot wrap it in tape).

e) The entire structure must fit (when fully expanded) inside a standard copy paper box.

f) The structure is to be one continuous structure, not 2 or more separate structures loosely attached to each other (i.e.

There can be no parachutes type devices or other similar type devices).

g) Teams may use tools, such as scissors and rulers to help construct the device.

*NOTE: ANY DEVICE WITH ANY ADDITIONAL MATERIALS OR ANY EGG THAT HAS BEEN ALTERED IN ANY WAY WILL BE DISQUALIFIED (GRADE = 0).

4. Members can only construct the device in the Physics Lab at VCHS.

*NOTE: ANY DEVICE DEEMED TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED IN WHOLE OR PART

OUTSIDE OF THE PHYSICS LAB WILL BE DISQUALIFIED (GRADE = 0).

5. Team members will be allowed a maximum of 3 class periods to work on their device, tentatively scheduled for Friday, December 5, Wednesday, December 10, and Thursday, December 11. In addition I will be in the lab before school, at recess, at lunch, at 8^th period, and after school beginning Monday, December 1 through Thursday, December 12 to allow you additional time for construction. There will be no excuse for not completing the project.

6. The mass of the structure must be determined before your group will be supplied an egg. Teams may have the mass of their structure measured beginning at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, December 10. After the structure has been measured your device may not be altered except to load the egg. NO ADDITIONAL MASS is to be added to your structure.

Event Day: On Friday each team will drop their egg structures from the designated site. All structures surviving the initial drop will continue to be dropped until it can no longer protect the egg.

The egg must remain within the device until the device makes contact with the cement. If the egg is ejected from the device prior to contact with the ground, no points will be earned even if the egg does not break. If the egg falls out of the device after contact is made with the cement and survives, the team will be given credit for safe landing, but will not be allowed to drop their device again.

If the device has to be damaged to determine if the egg survived it will not be dropped again.

GRADING: (70 points total)

1) 5 points - Awarded on the three class days for diligent work and effort on structure during class. Points will be deducted if you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing. (15 points total)

2) 20 points - For a completed egg structure

3) 35 points – From the egg drop.

The structure that survives the greatest number of falls will be awarded the maximum total of 35 points.

Other structure will be awarded a proportional number of points based on the number of successful attempts completed.

If the structure does not protect the egg on the initial drop points will be determined by the severity of the damage to the egg. The eggs will be placed in one of three categories; cracked, oozing, splat. The instructors decision is final.

**Note the instructor may take into consideration those who put in extra time on this project

when determining the final point totals.

If your egg is unsuccessful on either drop there will be an additional assignment that you may complete, if you so choose, in order to give you a chance to recoup up to 25 of the points that you have otherwise lost on this project.

Assignment - You are to report on this project in a two page (not including the title page), typed (12 font), double-spaced report. You are to discuss your team’s strategy for your structure’s design in terms of the concepts covered in this project. You are also to discuss why you believe your structure was not successful, again, in terms of the concepts covered in this project. In addition you are to research what steps industry takes in order to keep eggs safe during transport, paying particular attention to the physics concept that underlie these methods. Include a discussion of your findings in the report.

This additional assignment must be complete before the instructor must export 2^nd Quarter grades to the front office.