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NC Science Olympiad

Towers

Division: B & C – Middle & High School

NC Essential Standards Alignment: Grade 6, 7, and 8: Goals 1 and 2; High School Physics 7.P.1, 7.P.2, Phy.1.1, Phy.1.2, Phy.1.3, PSc.1.1, PSc.1.2

Event Rules: See the National Rules Manual

National Event Page: Here

Description:

Teams will design and build a tower meeting requirements specified in the rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency.  

Materials:

Each team is allowed to enter only one structure, built prior to the competition.  All participants must properly wear eye protection.  Participants may not bring any equipment such as levels or squares.  The Event Leader will provide all test apparatus and tools/materials for measurement.  

Scoring:

High score wins. 

Common Mistakes:

The goal is not to build the strongest tower, it is to build the most efficient tower. Most winning towers will break before hitting 15kg

students will also have to estimate what their load supported will be this year. This number will be used only in tie breaker situations.

FAQs:

10/29/24: How long should the chain be if we are replicating the loading block and chain to test our tower? About 3.5 ft

Event Resources:

Breaker measurements – to “build your own”
How to build a PVC breaker video
Tower Breaker Photos

Our water coolers are mounted to two pieces of 3/4″ wood sitting on top of each other. The bottom one is roughly 10″ x 12″, and the upper one is roughly 10″ x 8″. The cooler mounts into a pvc fitting. On the bottom, the lever (which appears to have been waterjet out of acrylic) rotates around a bolt. The metal plate shown in the picture holds it in place and limits the rotation. 
 
The main tube is 4″ diameter PVC, approximately 21″ long. It mounts into a 45 degree elbow, which has the funnel on top. It looks like it’s just a normal funnel with the bottom cut off so that it doesn’t restrict sand flow too much. 


Boomilever, Bridge & Tower Test Stands
Balsa Engineering YouTube Channel

Media: