Building Truss!

 This unit we learned about types of bridges. Also we continued to investigate triangles and how they connect to urban planning. In this project we had to build a truss that was able to hold a gallon of water over a 1 foot gap. My truss bridge was inspired by the Pratt truss bridge.

My blueprint:

My bridge was a total of 14 inches long and had a height of 6 inches. Some angles I used were acute. I tried to create right angle triangles however the angles were equivalent to 81.37 degrees, 54.54 degrees, and 44.09 degrees. I used all 60 of the popsicle sticks I was given for the project. 

My calculations for potential energy and kinetic energy.

My calculations for the triangles on my bridge using the law of cosines

My labeled blueprint:

Line CB, BE, EG, and GH all experience compression along with BD and EF. Lines BA, ED, and GF are experiencing tension.

My design connects to the related topic of disaster risk reduction in SDG11. Because of the triangles that are included in the design it reduces the risk of things like collapsing and snapping by having forces acting on it spread across both the top and bottom. It targets safety, resilience, and sustainability because since we're investing into more quality bridges it is safe and sustainable because then we won’t have to fix or invest more money later on when it starts to deteriorate.

A problem I encounter in my building process is that I can be impatient so I had to resist touching the popsicle sticks before they had fully dried. Overall I am proud of how my project turned out because it was able to maintain a gallon of water which was being held in an old vinegar container.

Sources:

Photos by KE