Toy Boat, Toy Boat
To: Dewey, Synccem and Howe, Engineers
From: B. Obama, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Navy
Re: Navy Contract
Sirs:
The severe salt problem which I have just discovered affects most of the world's oceans has resulted in an immediate need for new cargo ships. We must act now!
Due to the cutbacks I have proposed in the Defense Department budget, it is no longer possible to build the Navy's new ships using traditional materials such as steel or wood. I have obtained a large supply of enormous plastic sheets and adhesive tape, which I have determined will make an ideal naval construction resource. Unfortunately, these sheets are extremely expensive, so we must conserve on them.
You have been supplied with miniatures of these sheets, and rolls of tape. Your assignment is to construct a scale model of the new cargo ship we will build for the Navy. It must be able to carry as many "hanger bolts" as possible (they are used to make hangers for the Navy's aircraft in the Persian Gulf).
You will receive credit for each of the hanger bolts your craft will carry without sinking. Because of the cost of materials, though, the number of bolts will be divided by the number of plastic sheets you use, so do not make the craft too large!
Good luck! Time is short.
Materials List and Instructions
You will need the following materials:
· Sheets: This problem was written to use a supply of old microfiche sheets I had. If you can’t get something like that, change “plastic” to “paper” and substitute 3x5 cards or business cards.
· Adhesive tape
· Washtub or pail
· Weights - the “hanger bolts” in the writeup were just that, bolts used to hang table legs on tables (bolt with one wood-screw end and one threaded end for a nut). You can use any sort of bolt, or 10d nails, or threaded nuts, or marbles - it’s best to use things which are of consistent size and weight, so you can count instead of having to actually weigh the load.
Setup:
· Fill washtub with water
Play:
· Hand each patrol the instructions
· Give patrols a time to build boats
· Put boat in water
· Add weights until it sinks
· Winning patrol is one with bolt which carries largest weight