{"id":17014,"date":"2020-01-27T15:29:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/?p=17014"},"modified":"2020-01-27T15:29:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:29:30","slug":"introducing-the-slap-it-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/2020\/01\/introducing-the-slap-it-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing the Slap-It Challenge!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The Slap-It Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you get a slap bracelet on the arm of a friend (or sibling or parent or another volunteer) from a distance? First 2 feet, then 10 or 12 feet\u2014approaching this as a scientist? We\u2019re inviting kids and families to try your own experiments, and share video of them of course! Post and share them with #SlapIt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For inspiration, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zPXZ9lMl2Ig\">this example<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vbFWvRTcR6M\">this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few factors to consider as you get started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How does <strong>throwing technique<\/strong> affect your success rate? Like with horseshoes, darts or skipping rocks, you may need to try different throwing styles and angles to see what works best.<\/li><li>Obviously, <strong>distance<\/strong> increases the challenge. Start close to your target, then see how far away you can move and still get the bracelet on the arm. (We strongly recommend some protective eyewear, by the way.) Record your attempts and success rate at each distance.<\/li><li>If you have more than one slap bracelet in the house, they may have <strong>different coverings, weights or flexibility<\/strong>. Try each one. Are some more likely to succeed than others? Why might this be?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep a record of your attempts and the variables, including which were successful, and share your videos with us. Good luck and #SlapIt!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your child likes learning how things work\u2014in this case, what makes slap bracelets slap\u2014keep reading.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Slap Bracelets and Noggin Builders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Noggin Builders, we love the humble slap bracelet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s that slightly curved, oversized tongue depressor-like strip that snaps instantly into a coil when you tap or slap it against another object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We dig slap bracelets so much, we hand out Noggin Builders versions to some of our visitors\u2014like those who come to our Dundee Road location to drop off entries to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/2019\/12\/creativity\/\">Postcard Challenge<\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Snap bracelets are elegantly simple and highly addictive\u2014who can resist a good <em>thwack<\/em> around the wrist? And of course, it\u2019s science in action. Which leads us to&#8230;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The science behind the band<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A slap bracelet operates the same way as metal measuring tape, which has a slightly U-shaped surface when it\u2019s extended, but flattens when it\u2019s rolled up. And that\u2019s not a coincidence\u2014you can actually<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6N9uy5ClB5M\"> make a homemade slap bracelet<\/a> by covering a segment of measuring tape with a protective and\/or decorative covering, like duct tape or rubber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the physics world, this is called a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/What-are-the-key-physical-and-mathematical-attributes-of-bistable-springs-aka-snap-bracelets\"> bistable spring<\/a>. \u201cBi\u201d meaning the band will sit happily when it\u2019s undisturbed in two different states\u2014either stretched out or rolled up. However, in this case, the coiled state is a little more stable than the outstretched one. And that\u2019s why a small tap causes it to snap instantly from outstretched to coiled. When it\u2019s rolled up, you have to pull a bit to stretch it out again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you might guess, scientists have found lots of other uses for bistable mechanisms, including switches and latches used in space\u2014even in the wheels of the<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0168218\"> Mars Exploration Rovers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your child is interested in physics and has a few minutes to spare,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iwp8X9I-UIY\"> this video<\/a> does a nice job of explaining and illustrating bistable springs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For true slap-bracelet fans, here are a few more fun facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The bracelets were invented by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1990\/10\/27\/business\/turning-profits-hand-over-wrist.html?pagewanted=all\">shop teacher in Wisconsin<\/a> in 1983 and introduced as \u201cSlap Wraps\u201d in the late \u201880s.&nbsp;<\/li><li>When the craze returned in the 20-teens, Apple<a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/55678\/apple-iwatch-slap-bracelets\/\"> tried to get ahead of the game and filed for a patent<\/a> on a slap-band for its new watch design in 2013.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From how far can you slap a slap bracelet?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nb-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17014"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17563,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17014\/revisions\/17563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}