Excelsior Space Mission 2006 : Experiment 4- Astro Pen

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Experiment 4- Astro Pen

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Experiment 4- Astro Pen

topic started 1/10/2006; 8:20:26 AM
last post 1/10/2006; 8:20:26 AM

Mission Control - Experiment 4- Astro Pen

1/10/2006; 8:20:26 AM (reads: 4500, responses: 0)

PROBLEM: Which pen would work the best in space.

HYPOTHESIS: Thomas and Teagan thought that the gel pen would work best.

MATERIALS: Five different pens ( a gel pen, a blue bic pen, a black bic pen, a felt pen, and a space pen), a stop watch, two rubber bands, a pad of lined paper, and a book that's bigger than the paper.
PROCEDURE:
1) Put a rubber band around the bottom of the lined paper pad.
2) Sit down in a chair and lean back (you can also lie on your back).
3) Get a partner to time you as you will draw one line every three seconds.
4) When your partner says go you tip the pen upside down and start drawing a line for 3 seconds. When your partner gets to three start making a new line.
5) Continue making lines every three seconds until the pen's ink is out. If the ink doesn't run out when you get to the end of the page stop.
6) Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each pen. Use a new piece of paper for each pen.
7) Record your results.

RESULTS: The gel pen got 4 strokes before it ran out of ink. The felt pen got 150 strokes and the space pen got 130 strokes before running out of space on the page. The bic black pen got 10 strokes and the bic blue pen got 61 strokes before running out of ink.

OPSERVATIONS: It was surprising to see the felt pen and the blue bic pen lasted that long. It is also surprising that the gel pen only got 4 strokes.

CONCULSION: The felt pen lasted a long time because it had the most ink in it. It also has a felt tip that soaks up the ink. The space pen lasted a long time because it is pressure sealed and as a result, the ink is forced out. The space pen has been designed to work with zero gravity, unlike other regular pens.

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