Physics Help

[kepdawg]

I have to make a free standing paper tower out of one sheet of printing paper and 30 cm of tape. Thats all i can use, besides scissors, and i need to make it as tall as possible.

Any thoughts?

[carter08]

Originally posted by kepdawg
I have to make a free standing paper tower out of one sheet of printing paper and 30 cm of tape. Thats all i can use, besides scissors, and i need to make it as tall as possible.

Any thoughts?

no idea. but i can drop an egg 20 feet without it breaking

[bobcat1]

A cone.

[lostaussie]

Originally posted by bobcat1
A cone. i think you are on to something!!!!

[Odis]

A cone is right and you won't need that much tape. Course, I'm jis an ol country boy, so whada i know?

[Butkus]

Originally posted by Odis
so whada i know? A truer statment has never been spoken.:D

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by kepdawg
I have to make a free standing paper tower out of one sheet of printing paper and 30 cm of tape. Thats all i can use, besides scissors, and i need to make it as tall as possible.

Any thoughts?

I love these, and I'm thinking about it. I'll get back with you later on it, if I come up with something. At the moment, I'm thinking you have to start in the middle and start cutting in a spiral towards the outside. The more spirals you have, the taller you can make it, but I'm stuck on the freestanding part at the moment. Maybe you can invert the spirals once they are cut, and stiffen them with the tape and do some good, but I'm not sure yet. Still thinking though.
I can cut a hole in 1 piece of paper (8.5 x 11) that a normal size man can walk through, if you ever need that one.

[DU_stud04]

ive seen this in a civil engineering class once. the best results were from people who used triangular based towers. there was this one guy who im guessiong made a crap load of different sized cylinders that somehow fitted into eacht other and made a quad based tower. he used the least amount of tape and still had the tallest tower(forgot how tall it was) jsut think eiffel tower(spelling?? haha) also, cut your tape in half, it doubles your tape length, even can cut it in thirds when you rolling your paper it doesnt take much to hold the paper together.

good luck with this one, get creative....id love to do this one but.....well, im in a lazy mood right now hahahaha, i blame it on the weather outside :D

[DU_stud04]

Originally posted by bobcat1
A cone.

and yes, cone would be the best way, but not necessarily a "cone", but the form, wide base to narrow top

[DU_stud04]

also, can you tape to the foundation?

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by DU_stud04
also, can you tape to the foundation?

No.

[DU_stud04]

Originally posted by kepdawg
No.

id go for the quad base then.....give it a try and maybe you can get soemthing working with it

[kepdawg]

Thanks for all your help!

Any other ideas?

[Cameron Crazy]

Google search it.

[garageoffice]

What are the dimensions of the paper? Can you make a cone for the base and then fit a tall thin cylinder over the point? That would be a fairly stable design.

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by garageoffice
What are the dimensions of the paper? Can you make a cone for the base and then fit a tall thin cylinder over the point? That would be a fairly stable design.

A standard piece of computer paper.

[garageoffice]

Try this and see how it works. Use a compass to scribe a semi-circle with a base that consists of one full long side of the paper. Cut it out and make a cone. Cut a single strip around 1-1.5" from the other long side and roll it into a cylinder. If there's enough paper remaining, you might be able to make a second, narrower cone to fit on top of the first. Fit the cylinder on the top of the cone. That should get you a tower somewhere around 15 inches (more if you can fit two or more cones on each other) and it should be fairly stable.

NOTE: I haven't tried this, I'm just working off the top of my head. No guarantee provided. :D

[Hupernikomen]

Originally posted by kepdawg
I have to make a free standing paper tower out of one sheet of printing paper and 30 cm of tape. Thats all i can use, besides scissors, and i need to make it as tall as possible.

Any thoughts?

I gave this same assignment every year I taught Physics. I feel like I am helping you cheat, but I guess you are doing DD. There is a definite way that works better than all the other ways. I have seen them as tall as about 140 cms. 100 cms was a 100 in my class. Probably that was too easy.

1. Anyways you need to cut your paper long ways 5 times proporationally smaller each time. Can't tell you the exact dimensions but you can do the math.

2. Just simple fold the sections in half longways and they will stand already. It makes a V shape.

3. Fatter piece on bottom and work your way up. Use very little tape on each side to tape the pieces together.

4. Make a spire when you can't go any higher to garner those extra few centimeters.

Good Luck and hope this helps.

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by Hupernikomen
I gave this same assignment every year I taught Physics. I feel like I am helping you cheat, but I guess you are doing DD. There is a definite way that works better than all the other ways. I have seen them as tall as about 140 cms. 100 cms was a 100 in my class. Probably that was too easy.

1. Anyways you need to cut your paper long ways 5 times proporationally smaller each time. Can't tell you the exact dimensions but you can do the math.

2. Just simple fold the sections in half longways and they will stand already. It makes a V shape.

3. Fatter piece on bottom and work your way up. Use very little tape on each side to tape the pieces together.

4. Make a spire when you can't go any higher to garner those extra few centimeters.

Good Luck and hope this helps.

Thanks for the help. FYI this was not for me. I was helping a friend out. I'm glad I never had to take physics!

[RMAC]

I had this exact same project, specifications and all. What I did was just a series of very small cylinders. We got ours to like 110 cm or so. The tallest was like 150 or so. The key to it working is a good base though, use a 4 or 5 post brace system at the bottom. The other thing that is paramount is that each cylinder be as flawless as possible; I say this b/c if you have even the slightest deviations in your cylinders, should you choose this design, then you'll have a leaning tower, and any form or moving air will knock it over. Good luck.