I definately agree with you that the spring should not count. If anything the mass of the spring makes you have less energy since if you look at the starting and ending positions, the main mass falls from the top hight to the bottom, but the spring will start extended and then compress towards the top, meaning that the center of mass if the spring actually moved UP which means energy from the falling mass must've been used to move the spring up.cool hand luke wrote:On the spring falling being included in the weight.
I'd argue quite vehemently that you should NOT count the spring. lets say the spring starts perfectly horizontal. As the mass falls and the spring is stretched, it may indeed move up, and then back down. However, it started flat, ends flat, so no change in gravitational potential energy.
On where can you start the vehicle - I asked for a clarification since if you go by the letter of the wording the tip of the egg has to be ON the start point, meaning the tip of the egg is touching the ground.
I also asked if it has to be directly above the center of the little piece of tape, or can it be scooted all the way to the edge. No response yet.
If I remember correctly 2 years ago the spring on my launcher was not included in the mass at any of the competitions, 3 of which were run by Bro Nie. They may have changed it this year though, so wait for a clarification to be safe.
