Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

what type of wood is the best for making a dome, and how could it be done? which wood is the most flexible

Hello and welcome to the forums:

Are you stating your question, or asking us? I'm assuming the first.

When you ask about wood, are you asking about the structural component of the dome panels or the sheeting on the panels? Have you considered other materials besides wood?

Finally, what about investigating different shapes for the dome panels? There seem to be "3V", "4V", and "5V" domes. One could also investigate different polygons?

If this project is similar to a bridge building project, I would like to point out the biggest failing of those types of projects. Students rarely built enough of each type of structure to get meaningful results. If you have narrowed your experiment to "which is most flexible", you might be able to use a single polygon of each tested type to get your measurements. If so, then you could build enough of each type to be meaningful (say 10 or more.)

Let us know what your next step is!
Keith

My project i am doing is similiar to a bridge project. i am testing the different shapes a dome can have and how does that affect the weight it can carry. When you mension"3v, 4v, and 5v domes" what does "3v" mean? And i am pretty sure i am using a type of wood to make the domes. my main question is what type of wood should i use?
thanks
-Josh

HI:

Here is a link to the page I found that described "1V, 2V .." etc.: http://www.byexample.net/projects/curre ... struction/ It is just one way to describe the construction and shape of the dome.

As I mentioned, to be a good experiment you will need to build and test many models, at least 5 of each type of dome to test. This means they probably should be small so you can complete your experiment in a timely manner. With that in mind, unless you have access to power equipment to "dimension" the wood you choose, you will have limited options in your choice of wood. Two options that come to mind are hardwood dowels (available at hardware and lumber stores) or balsa wood (available at hobby shops.) Either should be fine, just make sure you have enough material the first time and that they are all the same so that you don't introduce another variable into your experiment.

Keith

thanks for the help, i appreciate its soo much. thanks