Where to submit an engineering challenge, for biggest returns?
April 22, 2018 1:04 PM Subscribe
I have been agonizing over an simple engineering dilemma for several years now, and I think I would like to submit it to maybe a junior-high-level or better engineering class to see if they can figure out something. What or how is the best way to go about this?
The challenge is this: Using only 'scotch' tape and a single 3x5 notecard, construct a shelf that will hold the weight of four US quarter coins for at least a week without failing. The shelf will be pinned to wall by only a single standard push-pin.
Is there a good place to submit this challenge to, that accepts these kinds of challenges, or to possibly maximize participants? I consider it akin to a pinewood derby kind of challenge, or a toothpicks-and-marshmallows structure/bridge kind of challenge.
The challenge is this: Using only 'scotch' tape and a single 3x5 notecard, construct a shelf that will hold the weight of four US quarter coins for at least a week without failing. The shelf will be pinned to wall by only a single standard push-pin.
Is there a good place to submit this challenge to, that accepts these kinds of challenges, or to possibly maximize participants? I consider it akin to a pinewood derby kind of challenge, or a toothpicks-and-marshmallows structure/bridge kind of challenge.
Maybe the pin will tear through the scotch tape in a week, even if reinforced as you propose? But you could cut off part of the note card and use that to reinforce the tape.
You could also fold the card into a small "ladle" shape and pin the handle to the wall. The bowl of the ladle would be large enough to hold four quarters. That uses less scotch tape. (Actually, I think you can fold the card in such a way that the weight of the quarters holds it together. So you'd only need the card and the pin.)
posted by spacewrench at 2:45 PM on April 22, 2018
You could also fold the card into a small "ladle" shape and pin the handle to the wall. The bowl of the ladle would be large enough to hold four quarters. That uses less scotch tape. (Actually, I think you can fold the card in such a way that the weight of the quarters holds it together. So you'd only need the card and the pin.)
posted by spacewrench at 2:45 PM on April 22, 2018
I'm not sure this is that great a challenge, as described.
The biggest problem is that it's a slow process; it takes a whole week - in a classroom you could be open to someone accidentally bumping some of the shelves on day 3, etc. It's also basically impossible to do the rapid cycling/prototyping that's part of the learning process with many of these challenges. In reality, most shelves would either fail immediately or not for a long time - a 1 minute test would produce basically the same results.
It's also a pass/fail test, either it works or doesn't. With other things like miniature bridges, wood cars, etc, there's potentially a ranking - the fastest car, the strongest bridge. The only thing I can think of that's pass/fail that's appealing is the egg drop, which has several advantages your challenge doesn't - the testing and the pass/fail is more spectacular, it sounds difficult. I can see 20 kids trying it, they all succeed, and *shrug*.
There is also some room for wiggling in the test itself - for one, I could see people using an unlimited amount of tape to produce something that really has nothing to do with the note card. For another, one of the most likely failure points is that the pushpin pulls out of the wall - the difficulty of the test is largely determined by the wall material - cork board vs drywall vs wood vs whatever.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:28 PM on April 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
The biggest problem is that it's a slow process; it takes a whole week - in a classroom you could be open to someone accidentally bumping some of the shelves on day 3, etc. It's also basically impossible to do the rapid cycling/prototyping that's part of the learning process with many of these challenges. In reality, most shelves would either fail immediately or not for a long time - a 1 minute test would produce basically the same results.
It's also a pass/fail test, either it works or doesn't. With other things like miniature bridges, wood cars, etc, there's potentially a ranking - the fastest car, the strongest bridge. The only thing I can think of that's pass/fail that's appealing is the egg drop, which has several advantages your challenge doesn't - the testing and the pass/fail is more spectacular, it sounds difficult. I can see 20 kids trying it, they all succeed, and *shrug*.
There is also some room for wiggling in the test itself - for one, I could see people using an unlimited amount of tape to produce something that really has nothing to do with the note card. For another, one of the most likely failure points is that the pushpin pulls out of the wall - the difficulty of the test is largely determined by the wall material - cork board vs drywall vs wood vs whatever.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:28 PM on April 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Junior high or high school level? Are they going to leave this in a classroom for a week? Those quarters will all be gone by tomorrow and spent on flaming hot Cheetos.
posted by beandip at 3:41 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by beandip at 3:41 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Er, yeah, I don't think this is a very effective "challenge" as written, for the reasons Homeboy Trouble very succinctly outlines. You might be able to turn it into more of a challenge/competition by making it into "how many quarters can your structure hold" or "whoever uses the least amount of tape wins" or something.
posted by btfreek at 5:28 PM on April 22, 2018
posted by btfreek at 5:28 PM on April 22, 2018
Anyway, here's another solution (had to quickly edit as I initially misread your requirements, sorry mods):
1. Fold a ~1/2" flap over the long side of the card.
2. Roll or fold card from the short edge to create a 2.5" long tube of slightly smaller diameter than your quarters with one reinforced end. Tape securely.
2. Pin the tube vertically onto the wall, reinforced side up, with the pointy bit going through the reinforced wall.
3. Stack quarters vertically onto "shelf".
Et voilà. (demonstrated with printer paper and Canadian quarters, please forgive the blurry photo)
posted by btfreek at 5:40 PM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
1. Fold a ~1/2" flap over the long side of the card.
2. Roll or fold card from the short edge to create a 2.5" long tube of slightly smaller diameter than your quarters with one reinforced end. Tape securely.
2. Pin the tube vertically onto the wall, reinforced side up, with the pointy bit going through the reinforced wall.
3. Stack quarters vertically onto "shelf".
Et voilà. (demonstrated with printer paper and Canadian quarters, please forgive the blurry photo)
posted by btfreek at 5:40 PM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sooo, I did a similar thing today (and failed). Philadelphia science week:science bar crawl had an exhibit where you tried to protect a grape from a sledge hammer using 2 toothpicks and 2 post its. Seems like a challenge to bring to an event introducing the public to science / engineering.
posted by TheAdamist at 6:09 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by TheAdamist at 6:09 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Note: The OP has clarified they are not looking for solutions to the problem, but where to submit as a teaching tool for junior high level or similar, wherein, for example, it can be used as a diagnostic tool for the teacher to discover how each student's or team's unique engineering process works.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:15 AM on April 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:15 AM on April 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Fold the card into a 5x1x1 beam with an inverted square U cross section. Stick the centre of a 15" length of scotch tape to the underside of the top surface of the beam, leaving 5" projecting from each end. Stick the ends of the tape together making a joint of about 1" that completes a large loop. Add another 2" length of scotch tape over the joint to reinforce it. Pin the centre of the tape joint to the wall with the pushpin, sticky side to the wall, so that the beam now hangs horizontally and symmetrically below the pin point like the top of a picture frame. Lay out your four coins in a line along the top of the beam.
No way is scotch tape adhesive going to deteriorate significantly in a week, especially with a push pin helping hold it together.
posted by flabdablet at 1:19 PM on April 22, 2018 [5 favorites]