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smartkid222 wrote:If the top section of your tower is a square or rectangle, use the Pythagorean theorem to find the hypotenuse (or diagonal of the square) which would also be the diameter of the circle.

is this for the 8 cm diameter hole? well, a square of length(at most) approximately 5.6cm should be able to fit through an 8cm diameter hole

Yes that's correct.
Special note: AT MOST. Don't even think of cutting it so close.

That's a pretty neat app - I've yet to see one that allows for the creation of 3d trusses, much more or less space trusses.

What materials can you use? I cant find out anywhere.

Bubba1960 wrote:What materials can you use? I cant find out anywhere.

Read the rules

Ok thanks. I must of skiped over that last time. Im probly gonna use balsa wood then.

I have a few questions about bracing...

1. What size wood do you use? I tend to stick with 1/16 squared and 1/16x1/32, would you say this is a decent size or too large?
2. So far, i've been using bracing for the top part of the bridge in the following fashion (Think of the tower as laying on it's side):

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Of course, the angles are off, but would you say putting an altitude between each of these triangles would change anything? By this i mean, would putting horizontal (in this image, a vertical) piece of balsa make the structure any stronger? I feel like it'd make the tower more rigid - thoughts?

SLM wrote:Here is a link to an online tool for calculating forces in 3-D (space) trusses: http://www.nexote.net/nexote/3D%20Truss ... 0Notebook/. You might find it useful for designing towers. The website permits users to ask, if needed, for help for using the tool.

If you want to model your tower as a two-dimensional structure, then you can use either http://www.nexote.net/nexote/Structural ... 0Notebook/ or http://www.jhu.edu/virtlab/bridge/truss.htm to calculate member forces.

What are going to use for the modulus of elasticity for your wood? I ask because everything this program calculates requires that you use the actual modulus of elasticity of your wood. The modulus of elasticity of wood, and especially balsa, varies hugely, and so will the error in the calculations in this software. I suppose you could use the program to give you a relative efficiency of one design vs. another, just keep in mind that the size of a structural member does not vary linearly with modulus of elasticity.

That prgram is really complicated.... I cant figure out how to use it.

EpicFailOlympian wrote:Why is weight bad?

it increases your score and the higher it is, the worse rank you get