We have again reassesed the feasibility of our project. For the final project, we need a physical model of our idea and need to be able to explain the physics portion of it to the class. We realized that building a 6 foot by 3 foot model may not be the most realistic model. It would not be possible to be able to do it on such a big scale, just because of transportation and sheer size. We are going to create a physical model for the project but instead of a full scale model, we will construct a model with a 1:3 ratio. Every measurement will be 1/3 of the original model.

Today we used a table in the physics room to measure out the dimensions of our project. The bottom board will be 6 feet long (72") and 3 feet (36") wide. We will cut a board to fit those dimensions if we cannot find a board exactly like that. The top board will be 21 inches above the bottom board. The top board's dimensions will be 6 feet (72") and 42" wide , extending out over the bottom board slightly. Now that we have figured out most of the dimensions, the main step we have left is construction.

We have made some progress on our project. After dropping the initial idea of zero-gravity ping pong, we had a bit of a creative dead end on where to turn next. We knew we would build a revolutionary ping pong table with one table on bottom, like a normal table. There would be two thin boards extending from each side at about a 10/80 degree angle. We would then have another board extending straight up from those boards. On top of the second board on each side, we will put another board that is parallel to the table on the bottom, as a second court. You can play off either of the two courts because they will both have nets.

We have discussed our ideas and have come to a conclusion that we do not have the proper resources or facilites to create the inverse Ping pong idea we had with the air fans. We believe that in theory this idea could be accomplished given the proper equipment to reverse the effects of gravity and air resistance. However, we do not have the fans that we would need, especially at the specific levels of power needed to make it work. For this reason, we have decided to settle with arena Ping Pong, but keeping the innovative name of Pong-Ping. We will use a ping pong table of sorts and will give it walls using boards which will make it much harder for the P-P ball to go off the table, and will therefore allow for a much more intense version of ping pong.

Brief Initial Description of Project

Liam Rowley and Peter Bergmann's 20% project for Ms. Pinder's 4th period Honors Physics class. We are attempting to create an alternative form of the popular game of table tennis, also known as Ping-Pong. The orignal ideas include Arena Ping-Pong and a form of Ping-Pong incorporating air fans.