Mary Gail HareSun Staff Writer
Those who build a tower of pasta and marshmallows can expect a little sway.
"It's hard because the marshmallows don't hold and the spaghetti sticks are not all the same size," said James Gross, a senior at Walt Whitman High School in Montgomery County.
The flimsy construction project was one of six competitions in the third annual Physics Olympics yesterday at Liberty High School in Carroll County.
About 130 students from 11 high schools also competed for medals in egg dropping, bridge building, sand fishing, leverage build-outs and pingpong ball projectiles.
With spaghetti for raw material, a builder is not trying for longevity.
"It twists but it will hold," said James, who grimaced as his tower teetered. "All we need is for it to stand for 10 seconds."
In another corner of the classroom, a team from Seneca Valley High School in Montgomery County was laying more elaborate groundwork for its tower.
"A strong base is the key," said Rob Seweryniak, 18, who recommended building a triangle with marshmallows to strengthen the crossbeams.
Then the six students on the Seneca Valley team ran into a slight communication problem.
"Marshmallow, what's that?" asked Mrugesh Majmudar, 17, who moved about a year ago to the United States from India.
"Give him one to taste," said Rob. "No, wait. We may need them all."
Supplies of building materials were limited and strict deadlines were imposed to heighten the competition.
Just as a judge started the 10-second countdown for Seneca Valley's spaghetti tower, a competing tower collapsed. With just two minutes to deadline, the team from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia began to rebuild.
"We tried to build too fast, but we are rising from the ashes," said Tiffani Osterhaut, 17.
But the resurrection proved to be too little, too late -- 70 centimeters short of the 140-centimeter winner created by a team from South Carroll High School.
Undeterred, Wilde Lake moved on to bridge construction, with a word of advice to the next tower construction crew.
"Chew before you glue," said Chris Hitzelberger, 17. "Spit-moistened marshmallows stick better."
Tim Durkin, a physics teacher at Liberty, said he organizes the competition each year to "give students a chance to see a dry subject in a different light."
The events remain a mystery until the day of competition. Most teams have practiced the traditional egg drop from a third-floor window, but few have built a pasta bridge between two desks.
Todd Walter, 17 and a veteran of the 1994 Physics Olympics, spanned the 8 inches with 50 sticks of spaghetti. He led the North Carroll team to victory with a bridge strong enough to support 639 grams of jelly beans. He built his 1995 victory with experience gained from last year's defeat.
Once again, saliva proved to be the glue that held the work together. "Lick the sticks at the end to make them sticky," Karen Fadely, 17, said.
In another competition, the students made the longest possible fishing poles from strands of spaghetti taped together.
Each team was given 50 pieces of spaghetti, 1 meter of masking tape and 2 meters of thread. To win points, a team member had to reel in a cup containing 50 grams of sand and place it atop a pile of five physics text books.
"Using your noodle" in thoughtful exercise was the point of the day, Mr. Durkin said.
"Some kids are good at book learning, but today they have to think and solve problems," said Glenn Bock, physics teacher at Wilde Lake.