Science - Surveying and Tension

Surveying
Part of the science included in the final solution of my buoy includes surveying the Sandy Hook Bay. In order to deploy my buoy in the most logical location, I must know the depths of the bay very well. From a very general project I had done last year in physics, it was very obvious that the depths in the bay vary vastly every mile. This means that I must know the exact depth of the location I plan on deploying rather than just a general area’s depth, if I do not want to run into problems. If I do not have enough chain for a certain location, the anchor will pull my buoy under water. If the buoy has too much slack, it will drift too far from its location of launch. NOAA does much work with this kind of science, especially here in the Sandy Hook Bay. I hope to be working with NOAA to receive data on the depths of Sandy Hook and then deciding with my partner the most logical place to deploy the final product. After decided what location we plan on deploying the buoy, it is up to me to calculate how much anchor chain will be needed to reach the anchor, the bottom of the buoy, and continue up to the outward support PVC pipes. is an image of the general depths in the Sandy Hook Bay from a few years ago.

Tension
Another science aspect in my project involves tension. Tension, the force that pulls or stretches an object, is accredited to ancient Greeks and Romans. This is very important when I am considering the length of the anchor chain. If I make the chain too long for the site, the buoy will be able to drift farther away from the anchor. This would create a safety hazard for boaters as well as threaten the integrity of the buoy itself. If the line I decide to use is too short for the site I deploy the buoy, the force of the anchor will be stronger than that of the buoy and the anchor will pull it under water. This would most likely ruin all the equipment, as well as apply too much force on the foam hull, tearing it apart and detaching the rest of the buoy. By spreading the anchor chain between multiple lines on the buoy rather than one area, I will be spreading the tension the anchor forces on the buoy into four separate areas rather than just one. Figure 5 shows a similar simplified image, with the force being spread between two separate chains.