Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My son Jason is doing his first ever science fair project. It was not easy to convince him that cross species genetics, like in Spider man, would be kind of too difficult for a third grade project. He saw the maglev train in the project ideas section and expressed an interest in doing something along those lines. He needs to submit a hypothesis which states the variables and his predicted outcomes. I'm sure he could spend thousands of dollars on high power magnets and build a model maglev train that he himself could ride on. Realistically, how much weight can a simple model maglev train built from a kit carry? Ounces, pounds? Santa is bringing him the kit next week, but he is supposed to submit his hypothesis this week. I have no previous experience with this subject and therefore no idea how to answer his question about the weight capacity. Any suggestions anyone can provide will be very much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Hi Joe Trapani,

Welcome to the Ask an Expert Forums. We're happy to help.

I haven't built this train personally, but looking at the kinds of magnets in the kit, the materials list and procedure, and the video in the procedure, I would guess the train will be able to support loads in the few grams to tens of grams/ounces range. That being said, if your son thinks that the train will support 100 pounds, and he has a reason for it, that's a perfectly fine hypothesis. The hypothesis doesn't need to be correct, and it may be very eye opening for him to see what the train can actually hold. But, I could also see it being a bit of a letdown if he were pumped up for a train that held a lot of weight and then built a train that held a little bit. For details about how to formulate a hypothesis in general, take a look at this Science Buddies article about formulating a hypothesis:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... esis.shtml

Let us know if we can help you with anything else!

Terik,

Thanks a lot for your input, the hypothesis link looks helpful. I really wasn't sure how to advise him on wording it properly. His first submission was rejected/ sent back for revision. In the meantime I've been having delusions of grandeur of building a 16' long track lined with thousand of dollars worth of magnets so he can test how many of his classmates can ride it. The more I learn about this, the more fascinating it becomes. For this year he will probably stick to Lego people passengers. I am really looking forward to helping him build this little train. Thanks again for the feedback!

Kindest regards,
Joe

Hi Joe,

I'm glad that both you and your son are so excited for this project. Lego people will probably make very nice passengers. If you want some additional help with the hypothesis, you can post it here and we can brainstorm some ways to improve it.

Let us know if we can help with anything else!