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How many rubber bands can you wrap around a watermelon until it explodes?
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Milton Steinberg
How many rubber bands can you wrap around a watermelon until it explodes?
I’m not going to act like I know exactly how many rubber bands it takes to crush a watermelon. This is too vague. Throwing some generic facts out there. The average mass of a watermelon is estimated to be between 20 and 25 pounds. If we say a watermelon is the shape of an ellipsoid since it is more “prolate” than a sphere , it’s area should be (based on average numbers) around 230 inches squared. The rubber bands are storing elastic potential energy while being stretched. The amount of elastic potential energy is determined by the displacement of the rubber band. Mathematically represented as: F=k*x, where k is the spring constant and x is the displacement. Assuming each rubber band is the same size, it would be mathematically incorrect to calculate the variable x since you will be wrapping the rubber bands around different parts of the watermelon, changing the value of the x variable. Just for simplicity, let’s assume that the rubber bands all wrap around the same area and have constant values for F (which is inaccurate). If the band is displaced by 16 inches, the N/m is 500 (368.78 foot-pounds), F=500N/m*0.4064 meters (16 inches), you will get an elastic potential energy force of around 41 Joules, using 1/2kx squared because of Force= work*distance. 30 foot pounds. But because of the shape of the watermelon, and me not knowing what your specifications are. Of course it doesn’t take 41 Joules to crush the watermelon, but just edit the numbers to your specification. I would estimate about 300.
I’m not going to act like I know exactly how many rubber bands it takes to crush a watermelon. This is too vague. Throwing some generic facts out there. The average mass of a watermelon is estimated to be between 20 and 25 pounds. If we say a watermelon is the shape of an ellipsoid since it is more “prolate” than a sphere , it’s area should be (based on average numbers) around 230 inches squared. The rubber bands are storing elastic potential energy while being stretched. The amount of elastic potential energy is determined by the displacement of the rubber band. Mathematically represented as: F=k*x, where k is the spring constant and x is the displacement. Assuming each rubber band is the same size, it would be mathematically incorrect to calculate the variable x since you will be wrapping the rubber bands around different parts of the watermelon, changing the value of the x variable. Just for simplicity, let’s assume that the rubber bands all wrap around the same area and have constant values for F (which is inaccurate). If the band is displaced by 16 inches, the N/m is 500 (368.78 foot-pounds), F=500N/m*0.4064 meters (16 inches), you will get an elastic potential energy force of around 41 Joules, using 1/2kx squared because of Force= work*distance. 30 foot pounds. But because of the shape of the watermelon, and me not knowing what your specifications are. Of course it doesn’t take 41 Joules to crush the watermelon, but just edit the numbers to your specification. I would estimate about 300.
I’m not going to act like I know exactly how many rubber bands it takes to crush a watermelon. This is too vague. Throwing some generic facts out there. The average mass of a watermelon is estimated to be between 20 and 25 pounds. If we say a watermelon is the shape of an ellipsoid since it is more “prolate” than a sphere , it’s area should be (based on average numbers) around 230 inches squared. The rubber bands are storing elastic potential energy while being stretched. The amount of elastic potential energy is determined by the displacement of the rubber band. Mathematically represented as: F=k*x, where k is the spring constant and x is the displacement. Assuming each rubber band is the same size, it would be mathematically incorrect to calculate the variable x since you will be wrapping the rubber bands around different parts of the watermelon, changing the value of the x variable. Just for simplicity, let’s assume that the rubber bands all wrap around the same area and have constant values for F (which is inaccurate). If the band is displaced by 16 inches, the N/m is 500 (368.78 foot-pounds), F=500N/m*0.4064 meters (16 inches), you will get an elastic potential energy force of around 41 Joules, using 1/2kx squared because of Force= work*distance. 30 foot pounds. But because of the shape of the watermelon, and me not knowing what your specifications are. Of course it doesn’t take 41 Joules to crush the watermelon, but just edit the numbers to your specification. I would estimate about 300.
I’m not going to act like I know exactly how many rubber bands it takes to crush a watermelon. This is too vague. Throwing some generic facts out there. The average mass of a watermelon is estimated to be between 20 and 25 pounds. If we say a watermelon is the shape of an ellipsoid since it is more “prolate” than a sphere , it’s area should be (based on average numbers) around 230 inches squared. The rubber bands are storing elastic potential energy while being stretched. The amount of elastic potential energy is determined by the displacement of the rubber band. Mathematically represented as: F=k*x, where k is the spring constant and x is the displacement. Assuming each rubber band is the same size, it would be mathematically incorrect to calculate the variable x since you will be wrapping the rubber bands around different parts of the watermelon, changing the value of the x variable. Just for simplicity, let’s assume that the rubber bands all wrap around the same area and have constant values for F (which is inaccurate). If the band is displaced by 16 inches, the N/m is 500 (368.78 foot-pounds), F=500N/m*0.4064 meters (16 inches), you will get an elastic potential energy force of around 41 Joules, using 1/2kx squared because of Force= work*distance. 30 foot pounds. But because of the shape of the watermelon, and me not knowing what your specifications are. Of course it doesn’t take 41 Joules to crush the watermelon, but just edit the numbers to your specification. I would estimate about 300.
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