Spaghetti Strength Experiment

Have you ever wondered how strong spaghetti is? Try this experiment at home and see just how much weight spaghetti can hold! 

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What you’ll need:

• 1 Package of Spaghetti
• 2 Objects of the same height (e.g. chairs, boxes, etc.)
• Scissors
• String
• Paper Clip
• Large plastic or paper cup
• Objects to use as weights (e.g. coins)
• Rubber bands or tape

What to do:

1. Place your objects of equal height next to each other with a gap in between that is just a little bit shorter than a piece of spaghetti.
2. Cut 2 little holes on either side of your large cup just below the rim (have an adult do this!)
3. Thread a string through each hole and tie it together to form a loop, making your cup a bucket.
4. Next, bend your paper clip into a ‘C’ or ‘S’ so that you can hang your bucket on the spaghetti.
5. Now place one strand of spaghetti between your two objects and hang you bucket from that strand.
6. Begin to slowly add more weight to your bucket. How much can the one strand of spaghetti hold until it breaks?
7. Add your weight carefully. If you throw or drop your weights into your bucket, your spaghetti will break very easily. Put your hand underneath your bucket when adding the weight and then remove it slowly.
8. Next, tie 5 strands of spaghetti together. Use your rubber band or tape to do this. Before you add your weight, predict how much more it can hold! Add weight slowly just like you did before. What happens now? Was your prediction right? You might find some strands of spaghetti are breaking before others.
9. You can continue this experiment with even larger bundles of spaghetti and more weight!

What does this Experiment Teach us?

• This experiment teaches us about how structures such as bridges are built.
• When cars drive over a bridge, the bridge has to bend in the middle under the weight of the cars.
• Engineers (people who can design bridges) need to make sure that a bridge is strong enough to hold the weight of the cars driving on it.

For more information and pictures, visit https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strength-in-numbers-spaghetti-beams/