Physics Tower Project Blueprints

Each individual should have four different blueprints in order to contribute to their group for the
start of the project. The blue prints should have five main components.
- The shape of the base tower
- The shape of the side of the tower
- The shape of the top of the tower
- An example of the levels of the tower
- The pros/cons for each part of the tower

Here is an example of an acceptable blueprint:

Base of the Tower Sides of the Tower

Pros: The pentagon will give a wide base in
order to balance out all of the forces
Cons: The pentagon will use up a lot of our
straws for each level. It also has a lot of joints
which will need reinforcing which will consume
a lot of our tape
Levels of the Tower
Pros: Having this type of a side will give three
points to distribute the weight on each of the
pentagon’s sides. If we cut the straws down we
might be able to save straws here as well
Cons: This does mean we will have to create
several levels in order to get to our required
height, or we might have a very sturdy tower
but it will be shorter than the required height
Top of the Tower

Pros: The middle triangle will be small enough

to hold both the tennis ball and the softball but
the entire pentagon will be wide enough to hold
the basketball

Cons: The triangle will use up a lot of tape in

Pros: This will give us only a few places on order to stay sturdy on top of an empty drop
each side that we have to reinforce through the center of the tower. We may be
able to reinforce it somehow with other straws.
Cons: The structure is pushing all of the force
to the outer edges which will require a lot of
reinforcement along the sides of the structure