case+study

CASE STUDY: Investigate mechanical properties of rubber at different temperatures

Case study brief:

You are to further investigate the disaster of the space shuttle Challenger when after 73 seconds of flight the craft broke apart killing all 7 crew on board.

The main cause of the break up of the space craft was the failure of one of the craft’s rocket boosters. One of the factors that contributed to this was the under-performance of a rubber ‘o – ring’ component.

• What factors caused the rubber ‘o – ring’ to fail? – relate to the elasticity and structure of rubber. • What were the implications for NASA after the disaster?

Practical:

Investigate the behaviour of a rubber squash ball at different temperatures by releasing the ball from a height and measuring bounce height Students should choose the appropriate range of measurements, equipmentand measuring techniques Do your results confirm your findings from your case study? Time frame

• Summary of case study and conclusion to be completed over holiday (or in lesson time once report and results completed and handed in)

• Today: Planning of experiment • Next week: performing experiment and recording results • Last week: analysis of experiment and completing investigation. Your __ Investigation __ part of case study __ will be collected in to mark __