interesting day to build towers

9/11 :(

you can make a pretty sturdy structure if you use a truss system similar to this. not sure how high you can go with the amount of material you have though.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2198/3536120108_f3f6c154e1.jpg

you gotta cone/taper tube that shit

How far "outside the box" can you go? Because I'd find some place 9-10 feet up, tape it one small section, then tape 9 thin sections of the paper together until it reaches the ground.

If you can't do that, then a cone/cylinder is probably the best way to go. So long as there's not much wind you can get the tower pretty high and stable, though there is the risk of the bottom getting crushed.

Can you use other objects? If yes then make tiny lines of paper. Tape them to make a line then tape a rock at the bottom to hold it down and a balloon at the top to pull it up.

If you could use other objects, you might as well get something tall and tape it along it. It's a question of how much of the environment you can use (obviously the ground/table/floor), which is why I suggested taping it to the wall.

I can use any other objects to do whatever i want to the paper/tape, but the actual tower can only be tape and paper

EDIT: and freestanding

cone/taper that shit with popsicle sticks yo
heck even toothpicks would do

no i think he's saying you could make like paper mache but the tower itself couldn't have popsicle sticks all over it. otherwise i'd tape the paper to a 9 foot tall microphone stand.

Wait, you're aiming for 8-9 feet off a single sheet of A4 paper? I'm assuming you're gonna try to cut the paper lengthwise?

Are you allowed the paste that would be required in paper mache?

You guys should probably read his posts. The tower can only be paper and tape, and it has to be free standing (so none of my tape to something else stuff).

Cones/cylinders are the way to go. I hope this is done indoors so that you don't have to deal with trying to stand it in the wind.

Also, I still think 8-9 feet is ridiculous for an assignment. Here's a 5-6 feet one I found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30pGTeFBBYI

I'd honestly try building three 1-3 feet towers, then having a final piece extend even higher than the rest. Having 3 points to stand up the tower is the most important part, then making something go up without bending/falling over is the final part.

I was just trying to make sure I heard right because 8-9 seemed really tall for a single sheet of paper. Considering you'd need a minimum width per strip if you cut it lengthwise, and each strip could be 11 inches at most.

5-6 seemed more realistic.

If you can do whatever you want to the paper, you might as well soak/coat it with shellac and make a composite. You could cut the paper into thin strips and roll them diagonally around a dowel rod, pull the rod out and then coat with shellac/starch to make a rigid tube. Tape the tubes together and then make a small tripod for the base.

Their idea is actually pretty similar to what I've been doing. The 3-part base is a good idea, i'll probably change mine to be more similar to what they did.

Your max possible height will depend on the diameter of the dowel rod + waste from overlap. The trick is optimizing the diameter of the tube so you get max height but a structure that can support itself.

Oh god we did this in the beginning week of Physics. I forgot how my group did it, but many did it tri-pod style.

Really thin strips of paper rolled into tubes are incredibly sturdy. Make a tripod of those and you're golden.
It would take a lot of work and fine motor skills, but you could definitely pull 8 feet, especially if you only make the tripod go up some of the way and then make a fourth prong go up the rest.

This was my grade 9 tech exam.

Cut the strips, roll it around a pencil, tape it. When connecting them you want to put one inside the other a bit so it doesn't bend at the joints. The hard part of this is getting it to stand while using as little paper as possible. I think I just ended up splitting the bottom of the bottom tube and just using all the tape I had left taping it to the ground.

Don't let anyone near your tower, don't build it near the door.

And I guess if you can use anything you could find something thinner than a pencil and use that instead.

The point of the project is to practice critical thinking and problem solving, yet you're asking us.

Oh well it's a pretty silly assignment anyways. I'm surprised you actually get a quantitative grade based on the height. Considering the goal is for you to brainstorm and think outside the box, the student with the tallest tower didn't necessarily learn the most. He probably just researched what the best design was.

I understand what you're saying. However, grades are too important to not to outside research- note that I came up with a design at first, then asked people what they would do.

And you're in a high school elective. I find that kinda funny. Is this some super intense private school?

if it shows up on my transcript, i'm going to make sure to get a good grade. nah, it's a public school, but i care about grades, and my parents will kill me if i dont do well.

I'd do the same thing. That's why i said it's dumb that you are graded on the height. It promotes a bad approach to the problem.

I'm pretty sure, given this is the first assignment, that he won't actually grade us on it and will use it to get a feel of where most of the students are. Either way, I don't want to take chances.

make a really long strip and tape it to the ceiling.

That'd be too easy, and also it has to be free-standing.

so at this point it's around 72 inches+ or - approx. 4 because of the lean. I'm pretty sure i'll be able to get at least 84, i'll post pics later.