Testing!

Bungee Drop Event Notes

1. Description

  • Teams design, construct, and calibrate an elastic cord.
  • Two separate drops are conducted from given heights.
  • Objective: Drop a mass in a bottle as close as possible to, but without touching, a landing surface.
  • Team Size: Up to 2 members.
  • Eye Protection: Required (Category B).
  • Impound: Yes.
  • Approximate Time: 10 minutes.

2. Event Parameters

  • Elastic Cord:
    • One elastic cord must be impounded.
    • Cord terminates with a closed metal ring (0.5 to 1 inch diameter).
    • Calibration data (if any) is also impounded; only papers allowed in the competition area.
    • Tools for confirming heights, lengths, or mass must be impounded.
  • Drop Mass:
    • Supplied by supervisors.
    • Mass placed in a 500-591 mL plastic bottle.
    • Attachment mechanism (hook, clasp, carabiner, etc.) connects the cord ring to the bottle.
    • Mass range: 50.0 g - 300.0 g.
      • Increments: 25.0 g (Regionals), 10.0 g (State), 1.0 g (Nationals).
    • Total drop mass and length, including the attachment mechanism, will be posted after impound.
  • Anchoring System:
    • Supervisors provide a top anchoring system/extended platform with a release mechanism (e.g., clamp).
    • All teams must use this anchoring system.
  • Judging:
    • Supervisors must provide an accurate system for determining the proximity to the landing surface and whether contact occurred.

3. The Competition

  • Alterations: No physical alterations to the elastic cord after impound, except marking drop locations before each drop.
  • Elasticity Test:
    • The bottom meter of the cord must stretch to at least 1.25 meters when a 500 g mass is attached vertically.
    • It must return to approximately its original length after mass removal.
    • Failure results in ranking behind teams that pass the test.
    • The cord may consist of multiple materials (rubber, nylon, latex tubing, thread, sewing elastic, metal springs, etc.) and strands.
    • "Self-limiting-brake" mechanisms (e.g., parallel, non-elastic strand) are prohibited.
  • The Drop:
    • 5 minutes to prepare the elastic cord in the holding area.
    • 5 minutes to complete both drops.
  • Drop Heights:
    • Regionals: Both heights are the same, between 2 and 5 meters inclusive, at 25.0 cm intervals.
    • State: Both heights are different, between 2 and 5 meters inclusive, at 10.0 cm intervals.
    • Nationals: Both heights are different, between 5 and 10 meters inclusive, within the interval allowed.
    • Drop height values and instructions posted after impound.
  • Bonus Drop:
    • Awarded for a drop distance within the following parameters: 30.0 cm (Regionals), 20.0 cm (State), 10.0 cm (Nationals).
    • Involves dropping into a window determined by the Event Supervisor.
      • Window heights: 30.0 cm (Regionals), 20.0 cm (State), 10.0 cm (Nationals).
    • A successful bonus drop earns a 0.80 multiplier on the final score.
    • Maximum of one bonus drop; no additional time provided.

4. Scoring

  • Low score wins.
  • Final Score = (Drop Distance 1 + Drop Distance 2) x Bonus Multiplier (if earned)
  • Drop Distance:
    • If the drop mass doesn't hit the surface, the distance is measured from the lowest point of the bottle to the surface.
    • If the drop mass strikes the surface, the drop distance is half of the drop height.
  • Teams failing the elasticity test are ranked lower than those who passed.
  • Bonus Multiplier: 0.80x multiplier if the team completes a successful Bonus Drop.
  • Tiebreakers:
    1. Success in the bonus drop.
    2. Lowest individual drop distance for either drop.
    3. Longest measurement for the elasticity test.

Resources

  • Science Olympiad Store (store.soinc.org).
  • Event Pages at soinc.org.