Comments on: Can You Make Paper Hold Up Books? Engineering STEM Challenge

By: No name

No name — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 03:36:33 +0000

The act of balancing books with paper is simple, but it requires no knowledge to do so. The average weight of a standard, flimsy, white piece of printer paper is less than 1 gram, right around .7 grams. It would make sense that something that light isn’t able to hold the weight of a text book. But, the act of putting the paper into a cylinder will work. The secret to the paper’s new found strength is the geometrical shape known as a cylinder. Cylinders are one of the most structurally sound, and strongest, geometrical shapes. Cylinders are able to be incredibly strong, regardless of the material they’re made out of, because they disperse stress throughout their entire shape. Any paper can work, and even tiny notecards can too. My Odyssey of the Mind group figured all this out the second we were given a problem like this. It’s simple. Triangles can also work, but they are not as strong, which is also dependent on the type of material. Through my research, the physics of paper and balance is very simple, even simple enough for a seventh grader, like me, to figure out. 🙂

By: Karyn Tripp

Karyn Tripp — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:40:01 +0000

In reply to katelynshockey. I haven't tried it, but I think it would.

By: katelynshockey

katelynshockey — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:34:44 +0000

does newspaper work?

By: Karyn Tripp

Karyn Tripp — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 20:08:43 +0000

In reply to Olivia Robinette. Yup! That's what we used.

By: Olivia Robinette

Olivia Robinette — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 15:11:35 +0000

Does computer paper work to build the tower

By: no bueno

no bueno — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 18:38:21 +0000

would newspapers work?

By: Karyn Tripp

Karyn Tripp — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 01:59:02 +0000

In reply to rebecca. I think so! Give it a try. Doesn't hurt. :)

By: rebecca

rebecca — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 22:25:33 +0000

would lined paper work???