Praxis: The weighty issue of strong paper cups
By Patty Rooks - Praxis on April 8, 2019.
praxis@praxismh.ca@PraxisMedHat Oh my has it ever been a busy few months, and do you know what it all comes down to this weekend – the Kiwanis Regional Science Fair is today at Medicine Hat College! We will have students from all over southeastern Alberta showcasing their months of hard work and research. I do not want to forget to mention that there will also be Medicine Hat College instructors showcasing some of the extremely interesting materials/projects they have in their classrooms. You will be amazed to see the learning that is going on in the classrooms here! If you have a few minutes to spare, come down to MHC to see and talk to these amazing scientists as they absolutely love to tell you about their passion. If you do not, take a minute to try this interesting experiment and perhaps it will inspire you to enter the Kiwanis Regional Science Fair next year. I hope to see you there. Let’s get started! *Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials – 75 paper Dixie cups – Exacto knife or scissors – ruler – marker or pencil – large sheets of cardboard – adult helper – science helper – flat work surface such as a tiled floor Procedure 1. Take the cardboard and use the ruler to measure a square 40 cm x 40 cm. Mark this out with your marker. Have an adult cut this out. 2. Repeat until you have three squares of cardboard. 3. Count out 25 Dixie cups and place these cups upside down on the flat work surface in a square of five cups by five cups. 4. Take one piece of cardboard that you cut out and carefully place this on top of the cups. 5. Make sure it is centred and sitting flatly. 6. Place 25 cups just as you did before on top of this piece of cardboard. 7. Take the second piece of cardboard and place it carefully on top of the cups. 8. Repeat with the final 25 cups and cardboard. 9. Have your science helper carefully step up on top of the cardboard. You may have to hold their hands to steady them as they step up. 10. What happens? What is going on? Amazingly enough, the paper cups will support your weight if you have laid them out correctly. This should not matter if you are an adult or a child. The shape of the cup is what makes this possible – it is a perfect cylinder. This cylinder is capable of supporting a great deal of weight even though it looks kind of wimpy. After all, they are just made out or paper. When you add the layer of cardboard over top of all 75 of these cups, it helps distribute the weight evenly across all of the cups below. In turn, this allows for your weight to be spread out over all of the surfaces in turn allowing the structure to support you. Pretty amazing right?! Patty Rooks is senior scientific consultant at PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. 27-26
