engineering

Stick bomb

Stick bomb is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stick bomb rather than just read about it. In short: A stick bomb is a (mechanical) spring-loaded device constructed out of flat sticks woven together under a bending moment. Other names for stick bombs include Chinese stick puzzles, Cobra wave, and frame bombs.

Key takeaways

Stick bomb belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stick bomb to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stick bomb from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A stick bomb is a (mechanical) spring-loaded device constructed out of flat sticks woven together under a bending moment. Other names for stick bombs include Chinese stick puzzles, Cobra wave, and frame bombs. Stick bombs are created for fun and as art, not for any practical use.

History

Simple stick bombs made out of four, five, or six sticks have been known to schoolchildren for ages. They were often known as "Chinese stick puzzles", which indicates a possible origin for the devices. Tibor Tarnai describes in 1989 several designs, including those with indefinite size which he credits to Andy Ruina of Cornell University. Ruina claims to have invented the "infinite popsicle-stick bomb" in 1971. In the early 1980s, Tim Fort, known professionally as the Kinetic King, independently invented the multi-celled stick bomb. He also invented all of the stick-bomb weaves currently used including the ortho weave, the diamond weave, and the slant weave; using tongue depressors instead of Popsicle sticks is also credited as one of his innovations. In early 2011, he debuted the cobra weave, the most popular weave, during the Minneapolis audition episode of America's Got Talent. Fort developed methods for making three-dimensional stick bombs as well.

Guinness Book of World Records The current world record for the world's largest stick bomb is 68,480 sticks and was achieved by a group from Natick, Massachusetts known as the Natick High School Bomb Squad. The record was previously held by a group from Austria in 2015 as well as a group from Lakeview, Oregon in 2014.

Technical aspects

Stick bombs can be constructed out of most flat sticks of the appropriate dimensions. The usual material for construction is wood, but plastic can also be used. Ice pop sticks (craft sticks) and tongue depressors are popular because of availability, low cost, and because they are easily coloured. Tongue depressor sticks are strongly recommended for construction as they have lower tension than craft sticks and thus are easier to work with. The sticks are woven together to form a reticulated grid with each stick held in place by a bending moment created by the elasticity of wood or other material. If constructed properly, the removal of a single stick causes the other sticks to fly apart with surprising force. The speed of the shock wave depends on the materials used. The variety of configurations in which stick bombs can be constructed is virtually limitless, and there are several tricks (stunts) that can be incorporated into the design. For reasons of structural stability, each stick is touching at least three other sticks in a frame bomb.

References

External links FrameBomb.com

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stick bomb

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stick bomb claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stick bomb before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stick bomb ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stick bomb

In research: Stick bomb appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stick bomb in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stick bomb is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Children's games, Mechanisms (engineering), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stick bomb outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stick bomb in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stick bomb means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stick bomb out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stick bomb in simple terms?

Why does Stick bomb matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stick bomb?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stick bomb.