2019 Fluor Engineering Challenge - Post 1

I love Fluor Engineering Challenge.

Each year, Fluor comes up with fun and interesting project to challenge our students and this year is no exception. Actually, I think this year's project might be the most fun project (the school teams have participated in 2017 and 2018 challenges).

So, what is this year's challenge? Build a device to play volleyball!

Listed below are the approved materials list.

Your score is based on the amount of material your team used and a number of times the ball made it over the net without touching the ground in the allotted time.

Please, check out the website for more details.

One of the reasons why I love Fluor Engineering Challenge is the fact that this challenge has real life consequences for material choices. Things cost money, and how much or little most it cost to build your project affects the outcome of your project, too. Just like real life situations. 

Engineers can build incredibly strong and safe houses, or long-lasting batteries, or whatever it is we're looking to build. However, if these houses or batteries or whatever it is costs too much, it's out of reach for most of the people. And that's not a successful completion in real life. So, I really appreciate the cost consequences associated with every Fluor Engineering Challenge.

I am planning to do this project fairly soon. I'll keep you posted.

2019 Fluor Engineering Challenge Update Page

Have fun & have a great day!

Catapult Hack-a-thon!

This is a project I picked up from RAFT in San Jose. This would have been a good project on its own, but I wanted to challenge my 6th graders. So, for the first ten minutes, I have the students quickly put this kit together. Then we spent the rest of the class period hacking it for distance and accuracy.

This is what the students built in the beginning.

Supplies List:

• 1 binder side or a cardboard the size of a binder 
• 7 unsharpened pencils
• 2 binder clips
• 1 soft pompom ball
• 1 plastic spoon
• 1 rubber band
• 1 pencil top eraser
• 5 rubber tubes with a hole in the middle
• 1 rubber tube

Build Instructions:

As I said, I built the catapult then left as an example for the students to see and build. I also leave out the instruction pamphlet for them.

Once they build the catapult, they come up to the line and shoot it to see how it flies. Then the students are instructed to "hack" the catapult. The students are encouraged to do anything they want to it, except they can't cut the rubber tubes and break the pencils.

And these are what the students came up with (I didn't add all 4 classes of modifications).

The best of the best! (see below)

This design was so awesome that this design gave me goosebumps!

1st hack attempt. This didn't shoot as far as the team had hoped.

The final hack!

Closed. At rest position.

Fully armed.

Ready for a shot.

Fun group photos:

Alka Seltzer Blast-off 2

This project effectively demonstrates the Newton's Laws of Motion.

First Newton's Law of Motion states that an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity unless a force acts on it.

• The rocket is at rest, but when it's acted upon by the chemical reactions of water and the Alka-Seltzer tablets, it has a powerful lift-off. The force of the reaction blows off the film canister lid.

Second Newton's Law of Motion states that Force is equal to mass multiplied by acceleration.

• Force = mass x acceleration
• The force of that lift-off is equal to the mass of the film canister, the water, and the tablet inside multiplied by the acceleration provided by the chemical reaction.

Third Newton's Law of Motion states for every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action.

• As the film canister lifts off, the canister lid, water, gas, and slide experience the downward force of the push. The lid pops off. The water and the gas spread out, but because the slide is secured on the ground, we can't see it move.

The Chemistry behind the project:

1. Alka-Seltzer tablets contain sodium bicarbonate and citric acid.
2. When the Alka-Seltzer tablet piece comes in contact with the water inside the film canister, it begins to dissolve. 
3. This results in sodium citrate, water, and carbon dioxide gas.
4. The carbon dioxide gas builds the pressure inside the film canister.
5. Eventually, the pressure inside will pop the film canister lid off.

H₃C₆H₅O₇ + NaHCO₃  ==========>  NaC₆H₅O₇ + H₂O + CO₂ + Heat

Citric Acid + Sodium Bicarbonate ========> Sodium Citrate + Water + Carbon Dioxide + Heat

Because Heat is released during the process, this chemical reaction is called an 

exothermic reaction.

Second Newton's Laws of Motion states F = ma. So, different amount of water or Alka-Seltzer piece will affect the take-off time and altitude of our rocket.

Also, take-off time is affected by the surface area of Alka-Seltzer exposed to water. Crushing it will reduce the take-off time significantly.

Alka Seltzer Blast-off

I was going to do this project for a long time, but just never got around to it. It's simple. It's easy and tons of fun. 

This is what we're building today.

 Simple isn't it? But it's a lot of fun to build and watch it take off.

Supplies List:

• Film canister
• Alka Seltzer tablets (cut into 1/4 pieces)
• Water
• Construction or card stock paper
• Scissors
• Adhesive tape

Let's build our rockets!

Cut a width of 1 1/2 inch to 2" strip and roll it to make a cone. It doesn't have to be perfect. When you get a cone shape, tape it. Now, cut around the bottom to make the cone sit straight up.

Tape the cone on the top of the film canister, with the opening side down.

Now, let's add the fins. You can make them any shape you want, but I went with the traditional triangular shape. This is where you can experiment with different shapes and sizes.

Tape the fins to the sides. Don't worry too much about spacing. Try to make them equidistant and put them on the opposite side of the film canister.

Hold the rocket upside-down and fill it to less than 1/4 way up the canister. It can be as little as 1/8, but you can eye ball it. And as long as it's less than 1/4, it'll work just fine.

Take the rocket outside.

Put a 1/4 piece of the Alka Seltzer tablet into the film canister.

Put the top on it securely.

Put the rocket on a flat surface and wait. 

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Waiting felt like a long time. I didn't measure the time, but I think it could be up to 45 seconds or more. My daughter got tired of waiting and tried to check on the first rocket when it went off in her hands. It hurt a little, but no real damage. 

DO NOT HANDLE THE ROCKET UNTIL IT GOES OFF. 

And it will go off eventually.

The rocket is gone.

Although waiting isn't fun, it's much better than getting hurt.

When it goes off, it's powerful and quick. Hard to catch it with your eyes.

The rocket blasted off at 7.44 seconds and flew out of the video frame at 7.58 seconds. Isn't that amazing!

I hope you have a chance to make this one.

Have a great day!

Mysterious Movements - An Adventure in Magnetic Movements

As a mechanical engineer, I like projects that move, and I never really considered a project in magnetism until I came across this kit from a local resource store for teachers (RAFT). And to be honest, I never thought I'd sit here and play with magnets for an hour.

I was going to explain what magnets are, etc., but I found this great site that explains everything about magnetism. So, I decided to add a link to that here instead of trying to explain it myself.

All about Magnetism web page

This is the kit I bought.

Parts from the package

So, this is what we're doing today. An Adventure in Magnetic Movements.

Center core assembly.

Center core assembly completed.

2 pill magnets dancing video

Pill magnets move as if they are strung on a string. The pill magnet pairs will move to be evenly spaced around the ring magnet.

4 pill magnets dancing video

It's the same with 4 pill magnets. Pill magnets move as if they are strung on a string. The pill magnet pairs will move to be evenly spaced around the ring magnet.

6 pill magnets dancing video

It's the same with 6 pill magnets. Pill magnets move as if they are strung on a string. The pill magnet pairs will move to be evenly spaced around the ring magnet.

Equidistant Wiggle video 1

Equidistant Wiggle video 2

As more pill magnets are added, the pill magnets move equidistant apart. 

The pill magnet pairs will move to be evenly spaced around the ring magnet.

Mysterious Movements video

I used the magnets from the kit, but you can use any magnets you find. 

Small or big, it really doesn't matter.

Again, I didn't realize how much fun I could have with some simple magnets. 

I hope you do, too.

Have a great day.