Marble Cannon by Devin Kermue and Olivia Lamoreaux

Materials:

1 dowel rod

2 13 inch wood planks

2 springs

1 drill

1 saw

2 hooks

1 coupling

3 parts of a PVC pipe

1 penny

a few screws

3 12 inch zip ties

Cut a wood plank into two 13 inch pieces. (we found this wood plank in a garage, but they can be bought and cut at most hardware places). Then using a drill, drill a screw into the sides of one of the wood planks to create a place to out the hooks in.

Drill screws into a door hinge between the two wood planks to create a way to angle your shots.

Cut a dowel rod and a pvc pipe to closely match the length of your wood planks. Put the dowel rod inside the pvc pipe. Super glue a penny to the end of the dowel rod to fill the diameter of the pvc pipe.

Cut two other parts of the pvc pipe and aligned them on the edges of the one that has the dowel rod (this is going to provide stability when you put the zip ties on). Then use three zip ties to connect the pvc pipes to the wood plank.

With the holes you made on the sides of the wood planks. Screw any type of hook you have into both sides of the top wood plank. Then put a coupling on the middle pvc pipe (the one with the dowel rod inside). To create a handle take the left over parts of your dowel rod and cut it into a half and drill a screw through the dowel rod into the main dowel rod (the one inside the pvc pipe). Take two spring and connect them to the hooks on each side (push the hooks inward to make sure the springs do not slip off). Then connect the ends of the springs to the extra piece of dowel rod you cut to create the handle. Placing a marble at the top of the middle pvc pipe and pulling back on the handel with hopefully launch your marble.

To provide the height to angle and shoot your cannon. Take any extra wood plank or any sturdy object to place between each wood plank. Test your cannon out a few times and mark different distances and angles with a sharpie to accomplish your attempted distance. Good luck!

Our marble was launched from our cannon 2.6 meters from the ground at a angle of 30 degrees. These are our calculations.