Toothpick Towers

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Toothpick Towers

• Advanced Physics

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The Requirements

• At least 10.0 cm tall
• No more then 10.0 grams
• Holds and Balances at least 3.00 Kg

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Do Not Wait until the night before the due date
Start ahead of time and test the tower early.
Gather materials and make the plans BEFORE
starting to build Plan on taking several hours IF
you have never build with balsa wood or
toothpicks before - BALSA WOOD MAY NOT be used
for the towers!
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Time to Build
Plan on several hours to draw plans, revise then
build a tower.
No matter how much time you plan on, you will
need more than you think.
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A ruler is used to measure the height
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The paper was allowed as the glue made it stick
to the wood
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Any type of wooden toothpick may be used.Any
type of glue may be used.Hot Glue is NOT a good
glue to use
Materials
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Flat Toothpicks

• are light (about 150 for 10 grams)
• are weakest (thinnest)
• vary in strength

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Toothpicks come in many shapes
10.0 grams uses about 150 flat toothpicks. These
are weak and vary a lot in quality
Larger and thicker toothpicks weigh more, but are
harder to break.
It is okay to mix the types of toothpicks
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Triangles

• Most successful towers have many triangles as
  part of the design. Triangles help make the tower
  rigid and strong.

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Rectangles and squares easily deform under
pressure. This does NOT make a strong and
well-constructed tower.
Force
Tower
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The tower will lean to the right or the left.
Once leaning starts, breaking soon occurs
Force
Tower
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• Triangles make for strong towers

The more triangles, the stronger the tower
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Triangles strengthen towers by keeping the tower
rigid.
The diagonal prevents the deformation of the
shape
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The more triangles, the stronger the tower. This
is true for both vertical and horizontal parts of
the tower.
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• Generate ideas
• Use games and exercises to warm up your
  creative thinking
• When ideas slow down, try another exercise to
  generate fresh ideas
• Breaking into smaller groups may be helpful
• Use a computer to capture every comment/idea (in
  Microsoft PowerPoint, of course, using Meeting
  Minder)

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Testing Towers

• The tower is placed on the testing structure. A
  board is balanced on top of the tower. A metal
  bucket with a 2 Kg mass is placed on top of the
  board.
• Masses are added until the tower breaks or 15 kg
  is held.

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Log Cabin Design - Strong but HEAVY - Notice the
parts cut out with wire cutters Hard to balance
the bucket on top!
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Building Supplies

• Cardboard
• Wax Paper
• Sewing Pins
• Tape
• Fingernail Clippers or
• Diagonal Cutters

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Cardboard
Use corrugated cardboard to build upon.
The pins easily stick into the cardboard..
The entire set up may be easily picked up, moved
and stored.
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Add photo of cardboard with pins sticking out of
it
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Plans
Draw plans the actual size the tower will be
Use a ruler to draw straight lines
Avoid making spans larger than the toothpicks to
be used in building
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Insert photo of drawing plans with a ruler
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Include photo showing toothpick and spans smaller
than a toothpick
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Place the plans on the cardboard.
Tape the plans down so the plans cannot move.
Cover the plans with wax paper to protect the
plans from glue.
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Tape the plans onto the cardboard
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Place wax paper over the plans
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Place toothpicks over the plans
Put glue on a toothpick and add it to the plans.
Use pins to hold the toothpicks in place until
the glue dries.
When the side is finished, take out all the pins
and remove the side from the wax paper.
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Place toothpicks on the plans
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Use nail clippers or diagonal wire cutters to cut
toothpicks to the correct length
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Put glue on toothpicks to be added to the tower
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Use pins to hold the toothpicks in place
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Use a box to protect and carry the tower
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Glues - do NOT use Hot Glue

• Wood Glue - holds best but dries slowly
• White Glue - holds well but dries slowly
• Super Glues - holds well, dries quickly but may
  take a while to dry on wood (but not to skin)
• Accelerator - a catalyst to make super glues
  INSTANTLY harden

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Glue is IMPORTANT

• Do NOT use hot glue
• Hot glue is too flexible and heavy
• Joints will flex
• The tower and arms will bend
• The tower will weigh more than 10.0 grams
• You will be VERY UNHAPPY

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White or Wood Glue

• Easy to use
• Soaks into the wood
• Holds very well
• Easy to clean up
• Does not need ventilation during use
• Does not dry quickly

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Superglues

• Dries quickly - much faster on flesh than on wood
• Does NOT soak into wood
• Accelerator - catalyst to INSTANTLY harden the
  superglue
• Sticks to wax paper and plans

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Epoxies

• Avoid using epoxies
• Heavy after drying
• Must mix in the proper ratio
• Does not dry fast
• Does not soak into wood

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The diagrams, answers to the questions and the
sign off sheet should be turned in before leaving
school the day the tower is due
Make the diagrams BEFORE testing the tower (Just
in case the tower breaks)
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If the tower breaks before it is tested, it MUST
be repaired or rebuilt for a grade to be earned.
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The Tower Project is worth 150 points, but more
points than this may be earned
Towers may be tested early to help ensure a good
grade.
Dont wait to start working!
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Time to Build
Plan on several hours to draw plans, revise then
build a tower.
No matter how much time you plan on, you will
need more than you think.
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The Requirements

• At least 10.0 cm tall
• No more then 10.0 grams
• Holds and Balances at least 3.00 Kg