Facts:
– The more tension you put on a rubber band the farther it can shoot.

-According to Prezi, rubber bands that are thicker are harder to stretch.

-Thinner plastic rubber bands can shoot farther than thick ones.

-Thicker bands shoot closer than thinner bands, but more powerful than thinner rubbers is,  because they have different type of polymers.

Thin rubber band design

Thick rubber band design

Focusing designs:
What I am trying to make is a kind of a portable self-defense weapon that is hard to notice. As a student, I think the best way to hide and use a self-defense weapon is a stationary device. I have been searching for DIY videos about making pen weapons using rubber bands. (Youtube DaveHax) He used a classic slingshot technique to fire pen lead. I notice some innovations in building on it. He made pen guns out of two different types of rubber bands – a thin one and a thick one. I notice that when he used a thicker rubber band, the speed of the pen lead is more potent than the one he made with a thinner group. But the distance it shoots decreases. The point of self-defense weapon is that you can scare your enemy off. So, in that case, I think to scare your enemies off the item needs to be convincing.

Cite:

Fentress, S. (2017, July 20). The science of rubber bands [The science of rubber bands] [White

paper]. Retrieved March 1, 2020, from Moment of science website: https://indianapublicmedia.org/

amomentofscience/rubberband.php

Hax, D. (2018, February 2). How to make a pen gun – stationery weapon! [Video file]. Retrieved from      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YFQnF1eD_w

Mufti, I. (2018, June 28). Does the width of rubber band affect how far it goes [Does the width of      rubber band affect how far it goes] [White paper]. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from Prezi website:      https://prezi.com/itlmhdvkzbxz/does-the-width-of-a-rubber-band-affect-how-far-it-