PHYS208 Fundamentals of Physics II
Group Exercise -- Punkin' Chunkin'
![[Punkin' chunkin']](images/pumpkin.gif)
This weekend marks the 13th year of the Punkin' Chunkin' contest held in Sussex County, Delaware.
The object of this contest is to propel, without use of explosives, an 8 to 10 pound
pumpkin as far as possible; the 1996 record was 2,710 feet set by an air cannon
from Illinois. This record
was retaken by Delaware's Universal Soldier in 1997 with a launch of 3718 feet.
There are several categories available: catapult, centrifugal, human-powered, youth,
and longest overall toss.
Source: Wilmington News Jounal, Sunday, Oct. 26, 1997.
I propose a new category -- electromagnetic toss. Using the principles of PHYS208 (and PHYS207), design
a punkin' chunkin' rail capable of a one-mile toss. Be as specific as possible,
taking into consideration physical properties of the pumpkin, ballistics as realistic
as possible, and energy sources and dissipation.
Remember that your device will be firing in the middle of a cornfield...
A Few Additional Resources:
World
Championship Punkin' Chunkin' -- official homepage
Snapshots
of Punkin' Chunkin'
Wayne Morton's
World
Championship Punkin' Chunkin' Home Page (Wayne is an alumnus of the Fall'92 class of PHYS208, BS'95 UD Mech Eng.)
Punkin' Chunkin' 1998,
from Cool Ocean Breezes
"http://www.physics.udel.edu/~watson/phys208/group/exercise4.html"
Last updated November 5, 1998.
Copyright George Watson, Univ. of Delaware, 1997.