1. What did you contribute to your team?
I was one of the engineers in our group. I helped to build the tower and I participated in those discussions.
2. What do you think engineers have to consider when they suggest which materials would be best for a certain structure?
I think they have to think about the strength first, to see if it can support the structure. Also they have to think about the geometric shapes, to find out if it can be placed at a certain place and if it can make the structure more stabilized.
I was one of the engineers in our group. I helped to build the tower and I participated in those discussions.
2. What do you think engineers have to consider when they suggest which materials would be best for a certain structure?
I think they have to think about the strength first, to see if it can support the structure. Also they have to think about the geometric shapes, to find out if it can be placed at a certain place and if it can make the structure more stabilized.
3. What forces cause the tower to tip over?
I think the gravity is the main cause for the tower to tip over because although the marshmallow has very light weight, it still has gravity due to the fact that it’s placed at the top of the tower. So if there’s a slightly imbalance in the tower, the small gravity of the marshmallow can tip over the tower.
4. What features of the design helped your tower to reach new heights?
The strong base. In our group’s design, we spent lots of time trying to build a strong base. I think making it a triangle really gives us a good start. And when we were building the first layer, we used two to three spaghetti instead of one to stabilize the structure. I think that’s the reason why we can maintain the height.
5. After testing what changes did you make to your tower?
At first, we were thinking about using only one piece of spaghetti to build the first layer. But then we found out it’s too weak and it wouldn’t last very long. So we made used two pieces of spaghetti to make it. It turned out to be right.
6. Engineers early ideas rarely work out perfectly, How does testing help improve your design?
After testing, you can see the weakness of the work. And you can start working on solutions to fix those weak spots. So testing really helps to improve a design.
7. What did you learn from watching others?
Because of the time limitation, we didn’t really go watch others’ works.
I think the gravity is the main cause for the tower to tip over because although the marshmallow has very light weight, it still has gravity due to the fact that it’s placed at the top of the tower. So if there’s a slightly imbalance in the tower, the small gravity of the marshmallow can tip over the tower.
4. What features of the design helped your tower to reach new heights?
The strong base. In our group’s design, we spent lots of time trying to build a strong base. I think making it a triangle really gives us a good start. And when we were building the first layer, we used two to three spaghetti instead of one to stabilize the structure. I think that’s the reason why we can maintain the height.
5. After testing what changes did you make to your tower?
At first, we were thinking about using only one piece of spaghetti to build the first layer. But then we found out it’s too weak and it wouldn’t last very long. So we made used two pieces of spaghetti to make it. It turned out to be right.
6. Engineers early ideas rarely work out perfectly, How does testing help improve your design?
After testing, you can see the weakness of the work. And you can start working on solutions to fix those weak spots. So testing really helps to improve a design.
7. What did you learn from watching others?
Because of the time limitation, we didn’t really go watch others’ works.