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Possibly poorly run event story...

So obviously I didn't witness this and my student is a possibly unreliable narrator..but according to him, at a recent competition, he was at his device and the supervisor was close to bringing the water over, and my student either left and went back to his materials at his test to get his graphs or was told to, and when he came back, the supervisor had poured the water directly into the device...with the beaker sitting outside the device next to it on the counter. Is this, like, possible? The supervising school is one of the top teams in Ohio and I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing.

jgrischow1 wrote:Possibly poorly run event story...

So obviously I didn't witness this and my student is a possibly unreliable narrator..but according to him, at a recent competition, he was at his device and the supervisor was close to bringing the water over, and my student either left and went back to his materials at his test to get his graphs or was told to, and when he came back, the supervisor had poured the water directly into the device...with the beaker sitting outside the device next to it on the counter. Is this, like, possible? The supervising school is one of the top teams in Ohio and I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing.

There’s literally a thread called Poorly Run Event Stories

CPScienceDude wrote:

jgrischow1 wrote:Possibly poorly run event story...

So obviously I didn't witness this and my student is a possibly unreliable narrator..but according to him, at a recent competition, he was at his device and the supervisor was close to bringing the water over, and my student either left and went back to his materials at his test to get his graphs or was told to, and when he came back, the supervisor had poured the water directly into the device...with the beaker sitting outside the device next to it on the counter. Is this, like, possible? The supervising school is one of the top teams in Ohio and I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing.

There’s literally a thread called Poorly Run Event Stories

I’m well aware; that’s why I referenced that phrase. I’m not sure what happened and since it’s rather specific to the logistics of this event I decided to mention it here.

So you're telling me that the box got soaked? That sucks.

TheChiScientist wrote:So you're telling me that the box got soaked? That sucks.

Not only does it suck, depending on the materials you used, you more or less have to rebuild your box. Tragic.

apparently sticking the box into a vacuum bag, sucking the living air out of it, and then using it actually improves the ability to insulate.

Crimesolver wrote:apparently sticking the box into a vacuum bag, sucking the living air out of it, and then using it actually improves the ability to insulate.

I saw a div B team with a box that had an air pump attached so I think they were trying to create a vacuum. Not sure how well it worked though.

wec01 wrote:

Crimesolver wrote:apparently sticking the box into a vacuum bag, sucking the living air out of it, and then using it actually improves the ability to insulate.

I saw a div B team with a box that had an air pump attached so I think they were trying to create a vacuum. Not sure how well it worked though.

I feel that would be so difficult to keep consistent due to the difficulty of making sure there actually is a vacuum created within the device walls. Did they keep the vacuum bag on it during testing??

But, if it works, great!

JonB wrote:

wec01 wrote:

Crimesolver wrote:apparently sticking the box into a vacuum bag, sucking the living air out of it, and then using it actually improves the ability to insulate.

I saw a div B team with a box that had an air pump attached so I think they were trying to create a vacuum. Not sure how well it worked though.

I feel that would be so difficult to keep consistent due to the difficulty of making sure there actually is a vacuum created within the device walls. Did they keep the vacuum bag on it during testing??

But, if it works, great!

I didn't see it in action, but it was a rigid container rather than a bag and it had a barometer which I assume helped with consistency.

wec01 wrote:

JonB wrote:

wec01 wrote: I saw a div B team with a box that had an air pump attached so I think they were trying to create a vacuum. Not sure how well it worked though.

I feel that would be so difficult to keep consistent due to the difficulty of making sure there actually is a vacuum created within the device walls. Did they keep the vacuum bag on it during testing??

But, if it works, great!

I didn't see it in action, but it was a rigid container rather than a bag and it had a barometer which I assume helped with consistency.

The problem with homemade vacuum devices is that they are very unpredictable. Sure, it might work really well, but if there's an issue with the vacuum, it leaks and your prediction is messed up.