November 13, 2008

THE RULES

1. THE PROJECTILE LAUNCHER

The goal of this event is to design and construct a device to launch a ping pong ball the furthest horizontal
distance. Only the materials provided may be used. Students will be given:

a. Paper Towel Rolls (1)

b. Rubber Bands (2)
c. Paper Clips (10)
d. Masking Tape (2 feet)
e. Popsicle Sticks (3)

Specification: One part of the device must touch the ground during the launch.

Scoring – Each team will be given two practice launches, if desired. The team will notify the judge
before the final (official) launch. The horizontal distance will be measured in feet.

Total Points = Distance (ft) x 15 points

First Place = 15 additional points

Second Place = 10 additional points

Third Place = 5 additional points

2. ALUMINUM FOIL BARGE

The goal of this event is to float the maximum number of marbles on a 20 cm x 15 cm piece of aluminum foil.
Each team will be allowed two pieces of aluminum foil, one for a practice and the second for the competition.
The practice piece must be turned in to the judges before the official piece may be obtained. You do not have to
use the second piece of foil, but one is available if the team chooses to use it. The final design must float with
the marbles for ten seconds. When you wish to have your barge timed, just call for the judge. Once your
device has been timed, you may not add more marbles. If your device sinks during the practice run or while
being timed and there is still time left in the event, you may refloat the barge. If the barge sinks while being
timed and there is time left, you may not add more marbles to the device, but you may remove some to refloat
it.

Scoring – The team that floats the maximum number of marbles will receive a score of 200 points,
second place 190 points, etc. In case of a tie, the teams involved will be called back for a second attempt, this
time with an odd shaped piece of aluminum foil. The team that floats the maximum number of marbles receives
20 points, second place 19, etc.
3. THE SPAGHETTI TOWER
The goal of this event is to design and construct a tower with spaghetti and marshmallows. Students will be
given 30 marshmallows and 50 pieces of spaghetti for building. The tower should be at least 1 foot high and
must survive a simulated earthquake. The tower must remain standing after the simulated earthquake (impact
provided by bowling ball).

Scoring – Initial Earthquake: The tower will be placed on the testing pad. A bowling ball will be dropped
from 18 inches. If the tower remains standing, its height will be recorded. The Richter scale of the initial
earthquake is 1.0.

After Shock: The team will decide if they would like to test the tower in the after shock for additional points.
The after shock bowling ball height is 36 inches. The Richter scale for the after shock is 3.0.

Total Points = Richter Scale x Final Height

The winner will be awarded 50 additional points, second place team will receive 25 additional points.

4. THE PAPER AIRPLANE

The goal of this event is to construct a paper airplane from the materials given which will travel the greatest
horizontal distance. Each team will be given one 8.5” x 11” sheet of bond paper. The airplane must be made
completely from the materials supplied; no foreign material may be introduced. The maximum time allotted to
construct the airplane will be 20 minutes. The contestant will throw his/her airplane so that it will travel a
maximum distance during its flight. Each team will be allowed two (2) attempts. The best score of the two
throws will be officially recorded.

Scoring – The paper airplane which travels the greatest distance will win. The team with the plane that travels
the furthest will receive a score of 200 points. (The team with the next furthest distance will receive a score of
190, 180, etc.)

5. THE MEGGNIFICENT EGG DROP

The goal for this activity is to build the least massive device to safely transport an egg through a 4 meter drop
and have it land safely without breaking.

The equipment for this activity includes 10 pieces of paper, 10 straws, 100 cm of thread, and masking tape.
Each group may enter two devices built from the supplies listed above. The devices must be constructed so that
the egg may be placed inside after the device has been massed on a pan balance. The maximum mass of each
device is 25 grams. The egg cannot be coated or taped in any fashion. The egg must be completely removed
from the container to be judged. The device with the least mass that safely preserves the egg is the winner.
Construction time will be approximately 20 minutes to allow for all the devices to be massed and dropped.

Scoring – The least massive device to work will receive a score of 200 points, the next 195, etc. Each container
that prevents the egg from breaking will be dropped two or three more times as a tie breaker. For example, if
one device of mass 16 g is dropped three times successfully, and a second 16 g device has the egg break on the
second fall, then the first device is awarded first place and the latter second place.

Each team is responsible for their own device.

6. MATH SCRAMBLE
This event is based on your ability to solve math problems. Each team will be given 20 problems to solve.

Fermi Questions & Other Mathematical Puzzlers

This event is based on the ability of Enrico Fermi to estimate the answers to problems that required very large
or very small quantities.

An example of a Fermi-style question is the following:

“How many ping-pong balls would be required to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool?”

Solution: You can line approximately 30 ping-pong balls along one meter. Therefore
30/m*30/m*30/m means you would have 27000/m3. An Olympic-size pool is 50m*30m*1m =
1500m3. The number of ping-pong balls in the pool would then be 27000/m3 * 1500m3 ≈ 4 x 107
ping-pong balls. To Fermi, the coefficient in front was less important than the order of
magnitude, or power of ten: 107. We will score these questions accordingly (see below).

Each group will be given 20 challenges to solve: 10 Fermi Questions and 10 other mathematical puzzles.
CALCULATORS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED FOR THIS ACTIVITY. Physics books will be available for
reference. You will not be allowed to access the Internet. Each question is worth 5 points. On the Fermi
questions, one point will be deducted from each answer for a power of ten above or below the accepted
answers.

Scoring: The highest score out of one hundred will be awarded 200 points in the STEM Competition, the next
highest will receive 195 points, etc.
Fermi Questions

1. How many letters are there in the whole Physics book in front of you?
2. If you were to stack cans of soup one on top of another, how many would it take to reach the moon
(384,000km away)?
3. As part of the Earth’s rotation, how many miles do you travel every hour? The Earth has a radius of
approximately 3963 miles. Hint: Assume the Earth is spinning in place.
4. How many grains of sand would fit inside a normal-sized classroom?
5. If every person in the world drinks an average of 4 cups (32oz) of water each day, how much water is
drunk worldwide in a year?
6. Neptune takes 164.79 Earth years to orbit the Sun. How many Earth minutes is that?
7. How many centimeters tall is Patterson High School at the front of the school?
8. How many seconds are in thirty years?
9. How many blades of grass are there in the state of Maryland (12,407 square miles)?
10. If you were to create a stack of sheets of paper, how many sheets would it take to reach the height of the
Legg Mason building (529 feet) in downtown Baltimore?

Other Mathematical Puzzlers

11. If fifteen people are at a party and each person shakes hands with each other person, how many
handshakes occur?
12. Add the numbers 1+2+3+4+…+198+199+200
13. How many three-letter ‘words’ can you make, using the standard English alphabet? For example,
include “qpv”, even though it is not an actual word with a meaning.
14. If the price and thickness are the same, which is the better buy: a 12 inch round apple pie or an 11 inch
square apple pie?
15. Find the value of x, given 2 + 51 − 1 + x +1 =3
16. Write as a fraction (improper fraction or mixed number format are both acceptable):
1
1+
1
1+
1
1+
1
1+
1
1+
1
17. If you have a basin full of drinking water, a 10oz glass and a 6oz glass, how could you produce exactly
an 8oz serving of water?
18. Order the following numbers from smallest to largest: the number of telephones on the planet, the
number of U.S. Senators, the number of people in the world, the number of grains of sand in the world,
the number of countries in the world, the number of cars in the United States.
19. The only numbers that divide evenly into 6, other than 6 itself, are 1, 2, and 3. 6 is called a “perfect
number” because the sum of these numbers (1+2+3) is the original number (6). Find two more perfect
numbers between 6 and 500.
20. Find and list all prime factors of 2008.