- Introduction
The investigation was carried out to establish the number bends that a clip can withstand before failure through breakage. In order to meet this requirement the following report is compiled based on the findings of the team, entire class and all the sections of EGR 186.
- Problem statement
The number of bends required to failure in a periodically bent clip should be established to determine the strength and suitability of the clips.
- Methods section
In order to solve the problem stated above, the following methods were used in the experiment:
- Each team bend the provided 30 paper clips until they fail
- The number of bends until failure between 1 to 20m bends was recorded
- For paperclips which lasted for more than 20 times were classified under “20+ bends”
- Results section
This section presents the results obtained from the experiment. In Table 1, the number of paper clips requiring between 1 and 20, and 20+ bends are presented in adjacent rows. Notably, most of the paper clips (11 out of 30) in the team’s experiment required more than 20 bends to fail and another 6 required only one bend to fail. The rest failed as per the Table 1. These findings are summarized in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Frequency of failure per number of clip bends in the team’s experiment
In Table 2, the number of paper clips requiring between 1 and 20, and 20+ bends in the rows for the entire class. Just as established by the team results, most of the paper clips (133 out of 300) in the team’s experiment required more than 20 bends to fail and another 53 required only one bend to fail. The rest failed as per the Table 2. Figure 2summarizes these findings.
Figure 2 Frequency of failure per number of clip bends in the entire class experiment
In Table 3, the number of paper clips requiring between 1 and 20, and 20+ bends in the rows for all sections in EGR 186. Just as established by the team results, most of the paper clips (633 out of 2400) in the team’s experiment required more than 20 bends to fail and another 468 required only one bend to fail. The rest failed as per the Table 3. The results of all sections in EGR 186 are as summarized in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Frequency of failure per number of clip bends in the entire sections of EGR 186
- Conclusion
In conclusion, the experiment has succeeded in establishing the approximate number of times a paperclip can be bent before failure. Comparing the shape and table of finding in team’s, classes’ and entire sections in EGR 186’s tables and graphs, there is an evident consistency pointing to a conclusion that most paper clips require more than 20 bends to break, whereas another substantial number required only one bend to break. The rest are almost evenly distributed between 2 and 20 bends. Thus, if a paper clip does not fail after one bend, it is highly likely that it will withstand the other bends until more than 20 bends.
