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Show your inner engineer
Show your inner engineer and move the world forward
- Secondary 3
About 60 minutes
Engineering design challenge in which students build a hydraulic “hand” capable of grabbing and moving a marshmallow about 30 cm. The activity explores pressure in fluids and mechanical advantage through a hydraulic system inspired by biomedical prosthetics.
Physical principles covered
- Incompressible fluids
- Pressure in fluids
- Hydraulics
- Hydraulic jacks
- Mechanical advantage
- Transformation of motion
Required Materials
- Syringes of different sizes (10 mL and 30 mL)
- Tubing to connect the syringes
- Cardboard
- Brass fasteners
- Cable ties
- Marshmallows
- Cups
- Cutting tools
- Water
Concepts from the Québec Education Program
Science and Technology – The technological world:
- Fluids: pressure and volume
- Transformation of motion and energy
- Mechanical properties of materials
- Designing a technological system