Marbles

[peteb]

Are there criteria regarding what a marble is? Must it be glass? Any size allowed?

[thesaga]

Sorry for the late response, but there are no specifications on size listed on the rules other than the total dimensions. It also doesn't say anything about material, although it should comply with the general rules and safety rules.

[nataliafriesen]

There are no specific requirements for evaluating marble, but it also needs to meet basic quality requirements such as: mineral composition, gloss and smoothness, and size.

[thesaga]

Are the "basic quality requirements" based off of just everyday common sense or did I miss a section in the Rules covering that?

[knightmoves]

nataliafriesen's response reads like an AI wrote it, and is confused by the fact that "a marble" and "marble" are very different things.

There are no "quality requirements". The rules say "a marble". Anything that you can buy commercially that is described as "a marble" meets that definition. Plastic marbles would count, or clay ones, or glass ones or whatever. Ball bearings are not marbles.

[Kordo]

When asked in the FAQ what constitutes a marble they answered "The item used must be commercially available and sold as a marble. No size is specified." We purchased the following on Amazon (Eisco Labs 3/4" Steel Marbles Pack of 5) here is the link. https://www.amazon.com/Eisco-Labs-Steel ... 184&sr=8-9
Shouldn't these be allowable?

[Northridge]

As someone who has judge Mission for years at many levels including Nationals, I would strongly encourage you to not press your luck and use what would traditionally be considered a marble. So a glass marble. The more you make judges think, especially in this event, the more likely it is that it will not end up counting. There is no need for steel marbles for any of these steps, the can all be performed with traditional glass marbles.

[jgrischow1]

As someone who has judge Mission for years at many levels including Nationals, I would strongly encourage you to not press your luck and use what would traditionally be considered a marble. So a glass marble. The more you make judges think, especially in this event, the more likely it is that it will not end up counting. There is no need for steel marbles for any of these steps, the can all be performed with traditional glass marbles.

Was wondering about your opinion on this FAQ.

"Q. Will a 109*109*109 cm device only receive 3*25 penalty points, but still be qualified for competition?

A. We cannot prejudge a device, however a 109*109*109 cm device would be subject to the penalties detailed in 7.b.i.. This device does not violate rule 6.p. and would be allowed to compete as long as all other conditions are met."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the intent of the FAQ asker seems to be that having a device way over the allowable deminsions of 60x60x100 will still be allowed to compete as long as they are under 110x110x110. This would mean they can have a much higher pendulum score by taking advatange of the larger box. Since the max penalty is only 75 points for having a device too big (but under 110^3), and you can get 3x pts per pendulum swing cm, it is "worth it" to intentionally make your device larger than the allowable dimensions. This would seem like a violation of the spirit of the problem.

[Northridge]

I think it is an incredibly risky strategy for little reward. I personally have already judged a team that tried this, but my measurement had them at 110 cm, not 109 cm. As I am sure you are well aware, at a measurement of 110 cm you are now participation point only. If you are clever with angles and really think about it, you can get quite large pendulums without risking the possibility of getting knocked down to participation points. While I am all for optimizing these machines, to me it is simply not worth the risk. Especially at a larger competition like a State or National Tournament.

[jgrischow1]

I think it is an incredibly risky strategy for little reward. I personally have already judged a team that tried this, but my measurement had them at 110 cm, not 109 cm. As I am sure you are well aware, at a measurement of 110 cm you are now participation point only. If you are clever with angles and really think about it, you can get quite large pendulums without risking the possibility of getting knocked down to participation points. While I am all for optimizing these machines, to me it is simply not worth the risk. Especially at a larger competition like a State or National Tournament.

thx