PHYSICS
Buoyancy students can calculate and see
Start with total loaded mass, divide by water density, and the class has the minimum displacement. Double it for reserve volume, choose a rectangular footprint, and solve for draft. The free Buoyancy Reckoner makes it easy to compare designs while preserving the underlying equation.
ENGINEERING
A sandwich, a beam, and a deadline
Corrugated board introduces sandwich structures, anisotropy, buckling, shear, capillary action, and load paths with a material students already know. Cross-laminated panels, bulkheads, thwarts, and guarded edges turn abstract vocabulary into testable design choices.
- Predict how flute direction changes stiffness
- Compare narrow and wide hull stability
- Map point loads from knees and seats
- Document failure without treating it as failure
FIELD PAPER
Read the physics of the floating box
Capt. Dan's foundational paper connects Archimedes, metacentric stability, material structure, hydrostatic pressure, and the kinetics of water damage in one gloriously serious account.