potato cannon by Andrew George

Andrew George, A block

The potato cannon project was to make a gun out of PVC pipe that would be able to shoot potato's. As a class we were split into groups and had to come up with a design which had directions and a list of the parts needed. then we went to the hardware store to find the prices of the materials that we were going to need to build the potato cannon. After it is built we get to fire it.

My design was a very simple one that most of the class chose to use. The barrel was 48 inches long with a 2 inch diameter that connected to a reducer. The reducer connected to the combustion chamber that was 24 inches long and had a diameter of 4 inches. The combustion chamber had an end cap that would be screwed on after the hairspray was used. The combustion chamber also had a grill lighter in the side of it that would spark the fuel.

I thought my design was very successful. It was the second cheapest in the class which was one of the goals. The cheapest design was not very save so i believe that makes my design the most successful. To improve my design i would just make the barrel and the combustion chamber longer to achieve a farther distance.

I learned how to build a potato cannon, the parts needed and how much it cost to build one.

i thought the project went well except for the fact that we never got to build it but we did the important part, firing. If you were to do it next year you should have your class make a couple of them and play dodge potato with them across the field.

The bridge project was to build a bridge out of balsa wood. The bridges were going to be suspended between two tables and have weight hung off of them until the was some visible damage.

My design was based on a suspension bridge on top of a king truss. I used as much material as possible and make the sides as complicated which in turn i thought would make the bridge stronger. i also used a lot of members going across connecting the two sides.

I though my design was successful. i got second or third don't remember. It held something like 20 pounds. One way that I could improve my bridge design is that I could have doubled the support one the ends, which was where my bridge broke. i could have also added more members in the superstructure.

I learned about trusses and how to design a bridge. i also learned more about civil engineering which was what i was the most interested in.

I think the project went very well and you could do it the same if you were to do it next year. This was definitely my favorite project.