Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

We are doing the earthquake experiment with the peanut butter and sugar cubes. We tried 3 different soils and none of the walls fell. I built a new building today and tried it with less marbles, a more sturdy game box lid, as well as a longer shake time and still nothing. What else can we do?

The problem may be that the houses are "too sturdy" for the experiment. Here are a few tips:

* Do not try to build the sturdiest houses you can make. If your test houses are so strong that none of them break, your data will not reveal which soil is the best to build a house on in an earthquake prone zone.
* Perform the testing within a day or two after you build the houses. This prevents the peanut butter from drying out and hardening.
* Do not use too much peanut butter. This can make the houses too sturdy, especially if the peanut butter is left to dry out.

Building taller and skinnier houses will also help with the experiment.

Amy
Science Buddies