Bridge Project

The Bridge project was one of my favorite projects in Physics this year. It was all about trial and error. I especially liked this project because it was an opportunity to teach yourself and put your knowledge to the test. I was very excited for this project because this was the very first time that I made a Popsicle stick bridge. I also learned a lot about the mechanics of real bridges. With some of these bridges, I was really surprised with how much they held. One bridge had an efficiency of 991, which means that it held 991 times it's weight!

We were using efficiency, Strength / Mass, rather than using just the strength. The reason being is that it shows show good your bridge actually is. Anybody could make a strong bridge out of 200 Popsicle or so, but it wouldn't be efficient at all. It takes true craftsmanship to make a light weight bridge that can hold a lot of weight. Therefore, we used efficiency rather than strength.

One major thing that I learned during this project is that the shape of the bridge strongly effects the strength of the bridges. All of the arch bridges held more than all of the trussel bridges. So that means that the arch bridges are stronger, But why? It is because that it is a fact that circles are the strongest shapes in nature. And. . .

Therefore arch bridge is stronger than the trussel bridge.

I built a trussel bridge My bridge weighed 85.57 grams and held 66 pounds. Thus, my bridge had an efficiency of 353./ I think that the main problems with my bridge was that it wasn't an arch bridge and that I didn't connect the two sides together that well. When my bridge broke, the two sides were mostly in tack. That tells me that the sides were stronger than the 66 ponds pulling down on it. One side of the bridge was mildly damaged, but the other side wasn't damaged at all. Also I didn't choose to build the strongest bridge design possible. But overall, I was happy with my bridge. It's unbelievable that 86 popsicle sticks can hold 66 pounds, that's just amazing.