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A student of mine wants to program a Lego Spike Prime to slow down the marble in the track. The rules don't say anything explicitly about using a motorized object to slow it down but I'm quite certain it will not be allowed. What are your thoughts? Rule 3g and 3k probably prohibit this. I'm not fam...

I have a related question about the measurement of the falling mass. Do all the parts of the falling mass need to be removeable for weighing or can one or more parts remain attached to the assembly as long as they can be weighed as a combined unit with a spring balance to prove that they are within...

Hi All, The rules around templates listed in the wiki - https://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Optics#Templates are great, but I wanted clarification on this question - Do all the templates used by the participants need to be removed before the 4 minutes are over? Or is it ok to leave them in place unti...

One of the kids in my team's (division c) tower event wants to build a "hyperboloid structure" (see link) since the Tower wiki page says that "A bonus of 5000g is given to any tower that can span an opening in the shape of a 27x27cm circle." This is our first year competing with...

I am new to being a SO coach and trying to learn quickly. I am coaching wind power. The leaders at my school are also new and have no prior experience with wind power since it has not been done for a few years. I have searched all of the information that I can find but cannot find specifics of what...

Our students have been testing the device using 2L bottles as the air chamber. But are finding that they are crushing and breaking after just one hit. Any ideas on other air chambers that are at ambient air pressure and can return to the ambient air pressure quickly. We discussed using a kickball b...

[/quote] To add on (as someone who is going to be supervising CJAP this weekend!) I would also recommend practicing with household powders. Remember that according to the rules it has to be a pure substance so nothing like, uh, powdered laundry detergent or something. Some powders you might find in ...

The rules state, "markings from the construction process may be left on the wood." This is identical wording to previous years rules, and I think any ES (including myself) would consider that sort of labeling to be legal. The FAQ is very strange, but there isn't a related official rules cl...

I found it interesting how much the rules elaborate on the targets - the near target must be a square, far target "recommended" to be square, and they mention panels along with tape on the floor. My students don't set up a competition-like target for testing. At a competition, I'd think it...

The loop height is defined in 3.k.iii "The height of the Loop is defined as the vertical distance from the POI to the highest inside point of the Loop." My interpretation would be, you could have a "corkscrew" or some non-vertical loop, but you would only be awarded points based ...