Official Rules
Tri-Cities
ASME Egg Drop
1-3pm, Saturday, March 6, 2010
Kingsport Town Center (formerly Fort Henry Mall), Kingsport, TN
click here for FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. The object of the
competition is to design a device that will protect a fresh, raw grade-A egg
from breaking when it is dropped from a height of 22 feet; eggs will be provided
at the event. Entrants will compete to design a device with the lightest
weight, the fewest number of parts, and the most accurate landing on the Drop
Zone target (see equation at the end of the rules.)
2. All scores will
be determined using the Egg Drop Competition Official Rules equations. The
goal of the egg drop competition is to obtain the lowest non-zero score.
Any egg drop that results in the egg breaking receives a score of zero.
All devices will be dropped from the same height. In the event of a tie in
any of the categories or competition rounds, the tying entrants will continue to
have their devices dropped until one device achieves a clearly winning score.
3. The first,
second and third place winners from each category, as calculated by using the
equation, will compete in a final round of competition for the Grand Prize.
4. Anyone with an
imagination is eligible to enter this competition. Registration is
required. You may register online, by mail,
or in person at Kingsport Town Center mall management office, formerly the Fort
Henry Mall. Early Registration is $3 for individuals and $5 for teams if
submitted online (or postmarked) by February 18, 2009. On or
after February 19th, the Registration Fee is $6 for individuals and
$10 for teams. Only
one registration per drop device is allowed.
To register by mail, print the registration form and mail it to:
ASME- Holston Section, c/o Todd
Athon, P.O. Box 7081, Kingsport, TN 37664
The registration fee must be included with the form.
5. Raw grade-A eggs will
be provided on the day of the competition to each contestant, and are the only
eggs allowed for use. Contestants shall provide all other materials.
6. After the drop,
the judge will remove the device from the target and the contestant, or their
designee, will remove the egg from the device for inspection by the judge.
No repairs to the devices will be allowed between drops.
7. The entire device
will be released at the drop plane (even with the top of the railing). It
cannot contact anything on the ground, a person, or a structure (for example, a
long slide may not be used to transport the egg from the balcony to the ground.)
Participants will drop their own devices. If they are unable to reach over
the railing, they may appoint someone else to drop the device for them.
8. After check-in, each
device entered will be weighed with the egg provided to each contestant. The
lowest weight for a device will be zero (no negative values will be allowed.)
No changes or modifications to the device will be allowed once it has been
weighed with the egg. Once the device has successfully landed without
breaking or cracking the egg, the egg will be removed and weighed; its weight
will be subtracted to determine the weight of the device only, which will be
used in the formula.
9. For the Grand Prize
competition, the number of parts used for each device will be counted. Each
individual piece will count as one part. For example, if the egg is cradled in
100 Styrofoam peanuts glued together the device will have 101 parts (100 parts
peanuts and 1 part glue.) Gasses,
other than air, will be considered one part.
10. The Drop Zone will
be a target comprised of concentric rings. Landing the device entirely
within the innermost one-foot diameter ring will be one point, within the second
ring will be two points, and so on. Landing outside all of the rings will
be twelve points. The device will receive points based on the outermost ring in
which any part of the device lands.
11. Scores will be
calculated using the following formula. If the egg cracks, your score is zero.
The lowest non-zero score wins:
For the initial round, the
formula is:
For the grand prize round, the
number of parts used in the construction of the device becomes a factor and the
formula is:
Where:
W = Weight of the device in
grams
N = Number of parts
DZ = Drop Zone Target points
EIF = Egg Integrity Factor (1 if not cracked or 0 if cracked)
12. The cash value of
the prizes, awarded the day of the competition in each category, shall be:
|
Category |
1st Place |
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
|
Grades
K - 5 |
$100 |
$50 |
$25 |
|
Grades
6 - 8 |
$100 |
$50 |
$25 |
|
Grades
9 - 12 |
$100 |
$50 |
$25 |
|
Over Grade 12 |
$100 |
$50 |
$25 |
|
Teams – all ages |
$150 |
$75 |
$50 |
|
Grand Prize |
$150 |
|
|
13. You must be
present at the end of the competition to win.
14. A panel of judges
will determine if each entrant follows all competition rules, and their
decisions are final.
15. Official rules are
subject to change until the day of the competition.
Any discrepancies will be decided by our Super Judge and will be the
final decision. For the most recent
rules and a list of frequently asked questions, see the official Egg Drop
website at www.asme-eggdrop.org.
16.
Biggest splat award will be given for the drop with the furthest egg
matter from the target center or judges opinion of spectacular egg explosions.
17.
Most Creative design is determined by our panel of judges.
18.
A device may only be registered and dropped once during the
preliminary round of competition. A
device cannot be registered in multiple category’s and a device cannot be
registered twice in the same category. If
a device is registered and dropped in more than one category this will
disqualify the participant from receiving any prize.
Q: Do multiple uses of glue count only count as one part?
A:
Glue can be used and counts as one
part. Other adhesives can be used, but
each different type of compound counts as a separate item or part.
Q: What about multiple uses of string? For example, if we use (8) 4" pieces of string is that 8 separate parts? If so, then I'm assuming that if we do not cut the string but keep it as one continuous string serving to secure multiple sections then it only counts as one part.
A:
8 pieces of string would count as 8
different parts. One long continuous
piece of string (or tape, or other item) would count as one part, but may add
additional unneeded weight to the device; the choice is left to the entrant.
Q: For decorating the device, does the ink count as a part?
A:
Coloring would not count as a part,
but may affect the weight of the device.
Decals or other additional identifying insignia (ribbons, flags, etc.)
will count as additional pieces as they can affect rigidity and accuracy.
Q: How is the weight of devices using lighter-than-air gasses (i.e. helium balloons) measured?
A: See Helium Balloon Calculation Sheet. The weight of the helium, the balloons and attaching string or straps is negated by the uplift of the helium; however, those items do have mass. Any device using helium shall be weighed and the volume (length x width x depth) of the balloons shall be measured. For every liter (61 in3) of balloon volume we shall add 0.18 grams for the weight of the helium and 1.07 grams for the offsetting uplift (a liter of air weighs 1.25 grams) to the weight measured by the scale to determine the total device weight.
Q: Assuming an entry makes it through the initial round, can the entrant
make modifications to it prior to the grand-prize round (since the scoring
formula is different)?
A: Modifications to change the egg drop device cannot be made between the initial and grand prize round. If the entry qualifies for the grand prize round, then that same entry with no modifications must be entered for the grand prize round. The only difference in scoring formulas is the counting of number of parts. Entries should be designed with minimizing the number of parts.
Q: The rules say that no repairs are allowed between drops. Does that mean
that devices designed to permanently deform to absorb energy (same idea as
replaceable collapsible car bumpers) are essentially not
allowed? Or can pieces which are designed to deform be replaced?
Would that be considered a "repair"?
A:
No repairs will be allowed between drops means that if a part were to
collapse, it cannot be replaced or repaired for the final grand prize round. Entry's should be designed to withstand multiple drops without replacing
parts.
Q: May a contestant enter both the team event and individual event? If so, must they have two separate egg drop devices?
A: A contestant may enter as an individual as well as being part of a team.
However, each entry must have a separate and unique device design, and there
must be separate registrations for each entry (one for the individual &
one for the team). In other words, the entrant cannot enter the same device
design as both an individual and as a team he is an entrant for -- the
designs must be unique.
Q: How many contestants make up a team?
A: Any number of persons can make up a team, however only up to 4 t-shirts
will be provided with each team entry. Additional t-shirts can be purchased
for other team members if the number is over 4 persons on the team.
Additional t-shirts can be ordered on the registration form. Team members
can also be any age.
Q: When the egg lands, is the landing zone considered where it initially hits or where it finally rolls to?
A: Where it finally comes to a stop -- and the outer most circle that it is completely within is the point value it will get.
Q: During team competition, does each member of the team make a separate device, or does the whole team create a single device?
A: Each team entry will have only one egg drop device -- in other words, a team of 5 people will only have 1 device that they all contributed towards; a team of 2 people will have only 1 device; a team of 10 people will still have only 1 device. For each entry, whether it is an individual entry or a team entry, only one device will be dropped -- one per registration... The definition of a team is "a number of persons associated in some joint action" -- persons being plural means more than one(1). A team cannot be made up of a single person -- one person would be considered an individual entry.
Q: As a teacher, I am going to give my students extra credit if they participate
in the contest. Will they receive their score sheet back? I need some kind
of proof that they have participated on the event.
A: There will be a scoring sheet in each participants information that they receive at the contest. This scoring sheet will be used to record their scores. After the drop and determination of the Egg Integrity Factor (EIF) by the judges in the drop zone, the paper will be taken to the scoring table, where the scores will be input into a computer for display during the competition. The students will have to request their scoring sheets back at the scoring table after the scores have been entered in the computer.