Specification Question

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ericmccutcheon
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Specification Question

Post by ericmccutcheon »

Hello all! I am very new to science olympiad and have chosen Towers as my event this year. I began recently designing my tower, however have come across several questions that I need explained. I am in division C, therefore after 15cm in height, the tower must be 8cm. In a picture the website it provided, it showed the tower must fit through an 8cm diameter circle, is this true? And does this require me making the 35cm smaller than 8cm? Also for the base, the picture says there must be a 20cm opening, however will the table opening be 20cm, meaning that the tower base must be larger to allow it to rest on the edges? Thanks for helping me out, I truly am stumped at this point.
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Re: Specification Question

Post by soccerkid812 »

everything above 15cm has to fit through an 8cm hole.
height is 50cm min
the opening of the table will be 20cm by 20cm, but your tower doesnt have to be that wide
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Re: Specification Question

Post by ericmccutcheon »

I see, so we can angle the tower so that it is only 16cm at 45 degrees? Thus eliminating extra mass? What should the towers measure be than over 15cm? Obviously 8 x 8 cm won't do. Any recommendations?
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Re: Specification Question

Post by soccerkid812 »

yes 16cm is allowed
the distance, if you place ur tower at a 45 degree angle, has to be at least 14.2cm (assuming you are using a 4 legged tower), but most people will give it about a cm on each side, making their tower span 16cm
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Re: Specification Question

Post by yousef213 »

I personally have my chimney at 4.5 x 4.5

Now, lets consider different options

If made smaller, you save wood, but the legs are at more of an angle, BUT if made larger there is less of an angle and you use more wood

Also, food for the thought
The diameter of a circle that would fit perfectly around your structure is equal to the diagonal of the square (use a^2 + b^2 = c^2) so 5.6 x 5.6 is theoretically the biggest it can be, HOWEVER remember that bracing takes up space, also even if I had no bracings, I wouldn't cut it that close

Now about the bases

There are 3 types of bases you can have (generally speaking)

1. 21x21 base (worst) where you use a lot of excess wood, also the angle of the legs is much less than 90*. The reason why this is key is the further the angle is from 90*, the more force is on your tower

As an example (mabey not perfectly corect mathmatically) if you put a 90N brick on a 90* piece of wood, It will only
have 90N of force from the brick

But if it is placed on a 45* the force may be 120N, and those extra N add up FAST

2. 16x16 very light weight, just turn 45*

3. 22x5
easiest to build, make 2 frames, attach by bracings, fairly lightweight, however, it will tip over if the bucket tilts too much, thus you need a partner with a very steady hand
Last edited by yousef213 on March 1st, 2011, 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ericmccutcheon
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Re: Specification Question

Post by ericmccutcheon »

Perfect... thanks so much.
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Re: Specification Question

Post by yousef213 »

ericmccutcheon wrote:Perfect... thanks so much.
I added more info

Also, remember, although some designs are good in practice, some are very difficult to build
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