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The Defenestration Project Journal
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Day One
Our first plan was to create an apparatus connected to a bungee cord that could hold the egg. We decided that the bungee cord would probably not allow the apparatus to hit the ground, which is part of the objective.
Instead we decided to create two rubber band weaves that would suspend the egg within the middle of a cardboard box.
Next we began construction based on our first draft. We wrapped rubber bands around a screwdriver and pushed it through the side of the box.
It took so long to punch the rubber bands through the side of the box that we decided to loop the other side through a coat hanger instead.
Weaving the rubber bands took a long time.
After we finished construction, we asked Mrs. Carter to look at our apparatus and our draft. We wanted some outside advice.
Mrs. Carter suggested three things:
1) Tighten up the rubber band weave so the egg won't fall though
2) Pack newspaper or cotton balls above and below the rubber band weave for extra shock absorption
3) Make sure that the rubber bands we're using aren't too stiff
After Mrs. Carter's advice, we wanted to do some tests before planning our next draft.
We weighted our apparatus. The weight was 401.5g. We were very surprised to see how close to the 500g limit we were.
Next we performed an actual egg drop to see if our apparatus could save an egg.
We were so surprised at our results that we had to do one more test to make sure the egg couldn't have survived on its own.
After our successful drop, we crunched the numbers to find out what our grade was so far.
Apparatus grade = S + D/(w + 9)
Apparatus grade = 5 + 45 / (4 + 9)
Apparatus grade = 3.84
Our first grade for the apparatus was a C.
Day Two
In order to raise our grade we decided to lower the weight on our apparatus.
We removed extra materials and cut the box to remove cardboard weight.
With our new weight we figured we had a B. Here is the back of our first draft and our plans for the future.
It is important to note that we used none of the feedback that our small group generated. Even though Mrs. Carter's ideas were good, we decided to remove weight not add it in the form of newspaper or cotton.
Day Three
Our second draft's goal was to remove as much weight as possible. To this end, we removed all but four rubber bands. Two would hold the egg on the bottom and two would hold the egg on top.
Previously we had a plastic bag to help prevent a mess. Now, we made the bag part of the design so it could help hold the egg in place.
Our new weight was 262.5g. Would all of the removed mass have an effect on the egg's safety?
Our new grade was a B+. We felt that we had removed all the weight we could. To increase our grade enough more we'd have to raise our design score.
Day Four
A better design meant that we'd have to add another method of increasing the egg's safety. Our 3rd draft included a parachute.
The new parachute added only 4.5g. Here are the results:
We were concerned that the parachute might be affected by wind during the final drop outside. We used a large fan in our final test.
With the parachute, our design score increased to 50.
Our final testing grade was an A-
Day Five
Now it was time to drop our apparatus for real and receive a final grade.
The parachute didn't open. We think that the slight rain might have weighted down the parachute causing it to not open.
It looked grim. However the results were OK!
Our egg survived!
Final Results
Our final drop seemed to be less successful than any of our other test drops. The parachute did not open and the egg didn't stay in the rubber bands. The egg was saved, however, by the plastic bag being caught in the rubber bands.
Our final weight was 267g.
Our final design score was 50 / 60
Our final project grade was 9.27 / 10 which is an A-
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