Amherst Middle

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Amherst Middle
Technology Education
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This PowerPoint will enable you to complete your
Structural Engineering Note Packet.
Use the forwards and backwards arrows on your
keyboard to navigate through this PowerPoint at
your own pace. Enjoy!
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Click on the hyperlink below to answer questions
1 2.
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Your goal as a Structural Engineer is to design
and build the most efficient structure. This
means that the REAL winner will be the person who
spends very little money to support a lot of
weight!
This is called efficiency, and here is the
definition
Efficiency- compares how much goes in to how
much comes out. (example- How much time, effort,
or money does it take to accomplish something?
Spend less to get more!)
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Here is how we will determine our winner, the
most efficient engineer
Question? How much does it cost to support 1
pound?
Answer? Use the efficiency formula!
Efficiency
Watch this next example to see how this works
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Engineer Cost (millions) Critical Load (pounds held) Efficiency (cost to support 1 pound)
Amanda 25,000,000 40 ?
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Engineer Cost (millions) Critical Load (pounds held) Efficiency (cost to support 1 pound)
Amanda 25,000,000 40 ?
Efficiency
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Who is the most efficient engineer below? Use the
efficiency formula to complete the chart below
Engineer Cost (millions) Critical Load (pounds held) Efficiency (cost to support 1 pound)
Tim 12,000,000 16 ?
Jenny 18,000,000 36 ?
Joe 24,000,000 40 ?
Sarah 36,000,000 50 ?
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The amount of weight the structure can withstand
before failing (or breaking).
Critical Load-
The process of redesigning something many times
to make it better.
Optimization-
Trade-offs-
An exchange of one thing in return for another.
Example- adding more wood makes it stronger
(good), but also raises the cost (bad) which do
you choose?
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Click on the picture hyperlink below to answer
questions 15-19.
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Click on the picture hyperlink below to answer
questions 20-27 .
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Materials Lab
Click on the picture hyperlink below to answer
questions 28-34.
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Shapes Lab
Click on the picture hyperlink below to answer
questions 35-38.
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Truss- A structure made up of many pieces
connected together. Commonly used in bridges,
buildings, and roller coasters.
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Roadbed- The surface where cars would drive on.
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SPAN
Span- The actual distance the bridge must go
over (shorter than the roadbed).
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Members- The individual pieces that make up the
truss. We will be using balsa wood.
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Joints- Where the members intersect, and are
glued.
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Coordinates- These numbers (called X and Y) tell
the location of joints on a grid system.
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Gusset Plates - Cover the joints, strengthening
them by adding more glued surface area.
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Force Vector- Shows the location and direction
of the applied force.
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Congratulations! Youre Awesome! Now go back and
review your note packet to be sure youve
completed everything!