Impact Absorption

Overview

Objectives/Goals My objective was to determine which packaging material absorbs the most impact. My hypothesis was that the packaging peanuts would do the best because they are soft, flexible and don't have many air pockets in them. Methods/Materials Using a 4" PVC pipe, I drilled a hole that marked the fist 12 inches and then continued to drill holes every 2 inches above the initial 12 inch mark, until reaching 48 inches. I placed an egg at the bottom of the pipe in a viewing tee and I put 8 inches of material above the egg. I then dropped a 2 pound weight in 2 inch intervals above the material until the egg broke. I did the experiment three times on each material and then averaged the scores. Materials used: 4" PVC pipe (5'long), PVC tee, 2 pound weight (bar bell) string, duct tape, nail, drill, eggs, packaging peanuts, bubble wrap, cotton balls, newspaper, ladder bungee cord, swimming noodle, Sharpie pen, plastic wrap, paper plate, journal and pencil. Results The results showed that the bubble wrap and packaging peanuts did the best, with both averaging a 23 inch drop before breaking the egg. The cotton balls did the poorest, breaking the egg with only 16 inches of drop and the newspaper averaged only slightly better at 17 inches. Conclusions/Discussion My results show that the packaging peanuts tied with the bubble wrap for being the best to absorb the impact. My hypothesis was close to accurate, but not completely supported, because the bubble wrap did just as well and was actually more consistent. My results enabled me to meet my objective to determine the best absorbing material.

Competition history

• CSEF 2011 Product Science (Physical) (Junior Division Only) · Entry J2104

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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