The Aftermath: Remembering the Fallen

As our bridge lay in the field of death, we look upon a new day. The birds are singing a song of victory. Our legend has perished, but it was not in vain. Our young soldier of 18.1 grams managed to take in a total weight of 5393 grams. The efficiency of our fallen comrade was---> 5393 grams/ 18.1 grams = 297.96 . We created a legend, as the sun sets, the day ends. but the spirit of our soldier will live on for eternity. Good job soldier. You will be remembered. RIP Thursday, May 30, 2013 2:32:45 PM AP Physics B Classroom; Schaumburg High School

The War: That Was Textbook, Gentlemen

Our bridge is being prepared for battle! Coming in at a healthy 18.1 grams.

On the battlefield.... This is it.

The enemy sand is advancing in great numbers. Weight is being added to the already heavy 1012 gram bucket. But our bridge is holding strong. Mike slowly adds the sand to the bucket, the bridge is supporting the weight so far.

Near death. But it will not fall. The bridge must serve its country in times of need. The courage is unprecedented.

Alas! Our ally has fallen.Taking in a net damage of 5393 grams. Good work soldier.

Here the enemy is disposed of. Our bridge fought hard and well. Using it's superior truss construction, it held out long enough to halt enemy advancement.Total weight- 5393 grams.

The Construction Period Day 4: The Birth of a Legend

We cut out our connecting tubes, making them 10 cm long with 5 mm flaps at the end for attachment purposes. The way we made these was similar to the previous tubes we made. Once again, we made 4.

We begin to glue the flaps onto our trusses. The connecting tubes will serve to connect our two trusses together so that they can form a bridge.

Using wood glue once again, we connect the trusses together and allow them to dry.

Here is our finished bridge, ready to be tested against the most formidable opponents. We are ready. Prepare for war.

The Construction Period Day 3: Building A Warrior

We fold the tubes and cut them down to proper length so that they can be used to build our bridge.To do this we had to carve out a triangular shape on the top of each tube using the Xacto knife. Easier said than done.

We begin to cut out our gussets ( 8 triangles, 4 diamonds, 4 traps) and pin them to our foam board. The purpose of the pins was to ensure that the gussets stayed in place and that the trusses were all evenly built. We then begin to glue the pieces of our truss together. The slimmer bars are used on the bottom, the thicker ones are used in the middle. The tubes make up the outsides of the truss. Each of the pieces are glued together using wood glue to ensure the highest quality of strength.

Progress through the truss building stage. Various pieces are being glued on to build the truss.

Above is our first truss, completed and drying.

The second truss has been completed and is drying next to the first one. Looking sturdy.

The Construction Period Day 2: Preparing for War

We have finished cutting the 4 mm bars out of manila, as shown above. (Don't they just look like absolute heavenly perfection?) It took us a few tries and a couple of our strips ended up looking terrible. We had to discard these and restart.

Here Mike begins to measure out our tubes, which were 30 cm long, 10 mm per side, with 6 mm flaps. We made 4 of these tubes.

While Mike was doing an extravagant job creating our tube outlines, Usama finished cutting out the rest of the 2 mm tubes.

As Mike continued to draw the tubes, Usama began to cut and fold the tubes, as shown above. Working together, the two got the job done ASAP.

The Construction Period Day 1: Gathering Materials

Day 1:

We measure and cut our awesome and powerful bars for building our bridge. We cut out 5 bars that are 30 cm long and 2 mm wide

We also cut out 4 bars that are 30 cm long and 4 mm wide
We did experience slight problems cutting the strips out at first. Soon we mastered the Xacto knife and had an easier time cutting out our materials.

All of our materials were cut from manila using an Xacto knife for extreme precision and clean cuts.Our method involved making a light indentation with the knife and then lifting the page off the table and using the knife to slice through. Worked every time.