Air Trajectory B/C

[RoboDraco9]

http://www.oksciolympiad.org/wp-content ... G_2469.jpg
This link is a picture on the Oklahoma Science Olympiad site. The picture shows a contraption for Air trajectory. I still can't quite figure out how it's supposed to work. Can someone explain how this works? Thanks.

[bernard]

http://www.oksciolympiad.org/wp-content ... G_2469.jpg
This link is a picture on the Oklahoma Science Olympiad site. The picture shows a contraption for Air trajectory. I still can't quite figure out how it's supposed to work. Can someone explain how this works? Thanks.

My guess is that your falling mass compresses the 2-Liter bottle, propelling your projectile. I personally have not tried this design because I'm not convinced it has enough power to fire 10-meters, though my assumptions could very well be wrong.

[retired1]

Several things are not shown and some is poor.
You have to have some sort of "tower" to hold the falling weight with a release mechanism that is actuated from at least 1m behind the designated launch area (cube)
10m was the draft rule. Current rules have an 8 m max.
What looks like all threaded rod can not penetrate the PVC tube or the projectile can not get out. There are some "cheats" that will allow this.
The crushed bottle works. Our MS team has little problem reaching 8m with either the ping pong ball or the practice golf ball. Granted, this took a good bit of experimenting and putting in changes that initially appeared to be dysfunctional.
We are using 1/2 PVC nipples and connecting them with a short piece of vinyl tubing. It is a bit of a trick to drill a proper sized hole in the cap for that nipple.
The tube is not rigidly mounted enough to be repeatable is my guess.

[ptaehoon]

Can I use rubber band? or do only i need to use 3.5 kg mass?

[retired1]

Read the rules. There is no room for doubt as to what must be used.

[slapyou512]

So the dimensions given for Class C... "75.0cm x 75.0cm x 1.00m..." can those be in what ever directions you wish or does it have to be respective L x W x H? It does not specify so I'm not sure because I want the 1 meter to be for length

[chalker]

So the dimensions given for Class C... "75.0cm x 75.0cm x 1.00m..." can those be in what ever directions you wish or does it have to be respective L x W x H? It does not specify so I'm not sure because I want the 1 meter to be for length

General rule #1 applies in situations like this: http://soinc.org/ethics_rules

[UQOnyx]

Has anyone tried using a piston-like device? I plan to use a vertical PVC pipe connected to the barrel of the projectile at 45 degrees. There is a gas ball valve at the elbow of the device, which serves as the trigger for now (We'll change it later iA to comply with the rules). Our weight falls down the vertical PVC pipe like a piston, pressurizing the air. To fire, the valve is turned, causing the air to be released as quickly as possible, pushing out the ping pong ball with full force. Is there anything wrong with my design so far? If anyone has any comments, they would be much appreciated.

[mluth100]

Hi everyone,
I am new to science olympiad and i have been assigned to air trajectory without any knowledge of the event. Can anyone explain the event to me and what we are supposed to do? Do we make a catapult, a bottle launcher, or use pistons? How do I trigger it? I am not trying to get rule clarifications, I am simply gathering knowledge for this event.

If you have any pictures that you can show me, please post them.

Thank you in advance for helping me!

[bernard]

Hi everyone,
I am new to science olympiad and i have been assigned to air trajectory without any knowledge of the event. Can anyone explain the event to me and what we are supposed to do? Do we make a catapult, a bottle launcher, or use pistons? How do I trigger it? I am not trying to get rule clarifications, I am simply gathering knowledge for this event.

If you have any pictures that you can show me, please post them.

Thank you in advance for helping me!

The North Carolina Science Olympiad website has a very detailed description of this event along with pictures from workshops. Click here to view the page on Air Trajectory.