Day 5: The Truss' Test

Explanation

Hello bloggers of the internet! Although we have finished constructing our mighty Truss bridge, there is one more feat we must accomplish before we can finally lay this project to rest. This feat is a test of the strength and support of our bridge. To test this, we will be placing a small wooden block on top of the bottom middle tube with a string attached that has loops at the ends. Then, we will be placing one end of a two hooked bar into the two holes on the strings and attach the other hook to a bucket that comes out to be about 1 kg.

 The complete setup.

Pouring the Sands of Time

Now with this setup, we will begin pouring in a cup of sand at a time until the bridge actually collapses into itself and CRUMBLES INTO LITTLE TINY PIECES. That won't actually happen unfortunately, but the bridge will either break at the strips, or will tear off one of the edges glued to the gusset. 

CAREFULLY pouring the sand.

My partner Aakash vigorously poured the sand, with each cup came a mini heart attack, until finally, the inevitable happened. Our bridge collapsed. All those hours of building this beautiful contraption were now gone in an instant.

Notice the bridge broke at the bottom middle tube. Our strips did not break, but the glue did give way and cause the tube to fall off.

Measurements and Calculations

After the collapse, our teacher took the sand that was in the bucket and weighed it. Including the bucket and devices used to hold the bucket, the total weight that our bridge held was 2,786 g. Before we actually poured in the sand, we did measure our bridge by itself, which came out to be 18.4 g. Both these numbers are helpful, since we will now be calculating the efficiency of our bridge. We take the weight that the bridge held, 2,786 g, and then divided by the actual weight of the bridge by itself, 18.4 g. The efficiency of our bridge came out to be 151.14. 

The ACTUAL End

Now with the test completed, this will mark the true end to the project and also to this blog. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this blog, and remember to always CAREFULLY measure everything, don't just measure it.