How Does Temperature Affect The Mass Of Popcorn And Straws
My final device was simple, yet effective. It consisted of a straw pyramid in a bag of popcorn. Two of the main restrictions for this project were mass and size. The bag that i put my materials in was within the size limit. The mass of popcorn and straws is very little. Popcorn can also absorb a lot of shock, stress, and kinetic energy. Straws absorb energy as well. So I decided to use those two materials. First, I put the egg directly into a pyramid of straws. Putting the egg in the pyramid instead of just the bag of popcorn ensured that there would be extra protection without any extra potential of problems. I then put the pyramid inside a bag of popcorn to absorb more of the kinetic energy. The first two tests i did were at 4.88 meters.
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The first test was simply the egg in a bag of popcorn. Even though the egg didn't crack, i decided to put in more protection. So my second test was still at 4.88 meters but also had the straw pyramid. Potential energy is the weight time’s height. 162 grams (weight of my device) times 4.88 meters (height of test drop) is 790.56 Newtons. So, my potential energy for the second test was 790.56 Newtons. For my third test, I tested a greater distance from the ground. This distance was 8.53 meters. My egg still survived.
My test was a success.
What happened was my device was thrown off the roof. It was a free fall, meaning that there was no specific way that it was thrown and there was no additional forces or resistance against or towards the device. There were only two forces put upon my device. The first was gravity pushing/pulling it down to earth. My object fell rather quickly due to its weight. Weight is the effect gravity has on the mass of an object. I had a relatively big mass, meaning a relatively big weight. The more weight, the quicker the drop. The second force was air resistance ever so slightly resisting the force of gravity. Air resistance is the action of moving air out of the way, or displacing it. More air resistance equals a slower fall. There are two ways to make a greater air resistance; a parachute or a bigger device. I didn't have a part of my device that purposely created air resistance. My device was rather big but that was only to ensure that the egg survived. The potential energy was greater than my tests. I know this because the height was greater, even though the mass was the same. Potential energy transfers into kinetic energy during the fall. As i expected, when my device fell, the popcorn and straws absorbed and redirected the kinetic energy away from the egg. The shape of the pyramid ensures that no ends of the straws were directly facing the egg. This was so when stress was applied to the straws, stress shot up/down the straw. Since no ends were facing the egg, the stress sent another shockwave through the popcorn. This cycle of shock waves redirects kinetic energy from the fall away from the egg and ensures its
safety.
If I were to do this again, I would take the opportunity to challenge myself. I would completely redesign my device. I would like to see if I could make a device completely out of straws. This would give me a big challenge. Especially considering the fact that, out of what I observed, most of the devices that broke were made out of straws. I would take the opportunity to challenge myself.
The first test was simply the egg in a bag of popcorn. Even though the egg didn't crack, i decided to put in more protection. So my second test was still at 4.88 meters but also had the straw pyramid. Potential energy is the weight time’s height. 162 grams (weight of my device) times 4.88 meters (height of test drop) is 790.56 Newtons. So, my potential energy for the second test was 790.56 Newtons. For my third test, I tested a greater distance from the ground. This distance was 8.53 meters. My egg still survived.
My test was a success.
What happened was my device was thrown off the roof. It was a free fall, meaning that there was no specific way that it was thrown and there was no additional forces or resistance against or towards the device. There were only two forces put upon my device. The first was gravity pushing/pulling it down to earth. My object fell rather quickly due to its weight. Weight is the effect gravity has on the mass of an object. I had a relatively big mass, meaning a relatively big weight. The more weight, the quicker the drop. The second force was air resistance ever so slightly resisting the force of gravity. Air resistance is the action of moving air out of the way, or displacing it. More air resistance equals a slower fall. There are two ways to make a greater air resistance; a parachute or a bigger device. I didn't have a part of my device that purposely created air resistance. My device was rather big but that was only to ensure that the egg survived. The potential energy was greater than my tests. I know this because the height was greater, even though the mass was the same. Potential energy transfers into kinetic energy during the fall. As i expected, when my device fell, the popcorn and straws absorbed and redirected the kinetic energy away from the egg. The shape of the pyramid ensures that no ends of the straws were directly facing the egg. This was so when stress was applied to the straws, stress shot up/down the straw. Since no ends were facing the egg, the stress sent another shockwave through the popcorn. This cycle of shock waves redirects kinetic energy from the fall away from the egg and ensures its
safety.
If I were to do this again, I would take the opportunity to challenge myself. I would completely redesign my device. I would like to see if I could make a device completely out of straws. This would give me a big challenge. Especially considering the fact that, out of what I observed, most of the devices that broke were made out of straws. I would take the opportunity to challenge myself.