Bindl won MVHS bridge-building competition
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MVHS Pre-Calculus classes held their annual bridge building competition recently, according to Ken Petersen, math teacher.
This year’s winner, Madison Bindl and she set a new school record, Petersen said. Bindl’s bridge held 2,085 pounds. It was capable of holding 5,388 times its own weight.
The challenge in the annual competition is to see whose bridge can hold the most weight in relation to how much the bridge weighs (efficiency).
Students are allowed to use popsicle sticks and glue, nothing else, Petersen said.
The contest requires building an elliptical bridge, which must span a distance of 10 inches. Students can use as many popsicle sticks as they want, but no stick can be shorter than two inches. Before any bridge construction can start, students must have the equation of their bridge, length of major and minor axes, position of the foci, eccentricity of the ellipse, a very accurate sketch, and a justification for picking this ellipse.
Madison Bindl hold the bridge she built in her pre-calculus class, which was the winner and could hold the most weight.
COURTESY PHOTO/MVHS
