Massachusetts Institute of Technology / MIT Museum
Building N51 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139
Open Daily 10am – 5pm / Closed Major Holidays

The MIT Museum is open today, Sunday, April 21. Cambridge Science Festival events will proceed as listed here.

THE MIT MUSEUM'S 16th Annual
Friday After Thanksgiving (F.A.T.) Chain Reaction

Friday, November 29, 2013, 1 – 4 PM
Rockwell Cage Gymnasium
120 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

Whether it's the reaction induced between one creative contraption and another equally crafty contrivance, or the joyful reactions sparked on the faces of the spectators, the MIT Museum's Friday After Thanksgiving (F.A.T.) Chain Reaction is a one-of-a-kind, must-be-seen-to-be-believed engineering feat.

Artist/inventor Arthur Ganson masterminds the choreography of this Rube Goldberg machine, assisted by MIT teams and participants who range from Girl Scout troops to artists and engineers. Spectators talk to the teams, engage in hands-on activities, and fill the seats waiting for the magic moment when all the machines are linked up to set off a chain reaction with a surprise ending.

This is a great family event where "kids" of all ages enjoy watching, playing and making things at F.A.T. In years past, more than 1,500 people attended this unique event!

Guidelines for Teams

Team Admission (up to 4 team members):

Pre-registered: $12 in advance (opening September 2013) or $15 at the door
Additional team members, $5 each (in advance or on-site) up to a maximum of 8 people per team
Each all-student team gets one free admission to the event for a chaperone. Other accompanying adults, students, seniors or children are expected to pay for admission (see spectator admission fees above)
Accompanying adults (parents, relatives, friends) of team participants who are not listed as team members are expected to pay for admission to the event. Each student team gets one free admission to the event for a chaperone.

Guidelines:

Your link in the chain reaction should be no wider that 2', no taller than 4', and no longer than 6', should use no chemicals (small amounts of baking soda and vinegar OK), no plug-in electricity (batteries and low-power DC OK), and use no more than a cup of water.
Your link must be repeatable.
Test your chain reaction before bringing it to the event.
Make your reaction last AT LEAST 30 seconds and end in LESS THAN three minutes. Give your audience time to enjoy your event, be it funny, playful, clever, whimsical, or elegant.
There will be a section of the Chain Reaction connected by tubes to pass a single golf ball from machine to machine. You'll receive the ball at a height of 2" above table height. You will then integrate this ball into your link, using it in any way that you can imagine, and then release this same ball to the next link in the chain at a height of 6" (this is not a typo, we mean 6", NOT 2") above table height. We (the good folks at the Museum) will be bringing along extra tubes, ramps and slides in order to transfer the ball from the 6” release point on your machine to the 2” receiving point on the next machine.
You may also connect your machine using single string pulls. These reactions must begin AND end with a string pull. Be sure that it takes no more force than the hanging weight of a golf ball moving 1" to start your link and ends by pulling a string AT LEAST 1" in length with enough force to lift a golf ball.

Inspiration:
Your chain reaction could be as simple as books falling against one another or as complicated as a Rube Goldberg invention. Look at the Game MOUSETRAP, the Japanese TV show Pythagoras Switch, or IDEO's Incredible Global Rube Goldberg Chain Reaction Experience. See also the music video This Too Shall Pass by OK Go.

New for 2013:

Assistance!
Come to the MIT Museum on Monday, February 18, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., to explore reaction ideas and inspiration for a link of your own. And, on Thursday, April 18, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., join Arthur Ganson at the Museum for an introduction to Rube-Goldberg oriented physics and opportunities to experiment, discuss, and prepare your link for F.A.T. 2013. Then, on Friday, October 11 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., refine your contraption at the Museum's Second Fridays program about the Friday After Thanksgiving Chain Reaction.

Theme!
It's the Chain Reaction's 16th anniversary! We encourage this year's F.A.T. builders to create machines that employ the anniversary theme of "sweet sixteen", so get ready to channel your inner Willy Wonka.

Questions?

E-mail: museuminfo@mit.edu
or join our online F.A.T. community
or visit Arthur Ganson's F.A.T. Advice page

Register!

Team registration for F.A.T. 2013 will open in September.

The Day of the Event:

Bring your chain reaction to the event site at 11:30 a.m. and we'll connect your device to others to make one grand chain reaction. MIT engineers and Arthur Ganson will be on hand to help. Participants will set up their links between 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., then introduce their teams to the audience, demonstrate their links and tinker from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. We will set off the grand chain reaction at 3:30 p.m.

Amenities:

Parking is available in the West Garage on Vassar Street across from Rockwell Cage Gymnasium, or on the surrounding streets (metered rates apply). Food is not allowed in the Rockwell Cage gymnasium; however, Central and Kendall Squares offer numerous dining options before and after the event. All MIT facilities are wheelchair accessible.

Videos from Past Years

The Council for the Arts at MIT provides principal funding for F.A.T.

MIT Museum Home Programs Friday After Thanksgiving F.A.T. 2008

THE MIT MUSEUM'S 16th Annual Friday After Thanksgiving (F.A.T.) Chain Reaction

Friday, November 29, 2013, 1 – 4 PM Rockwell Cage Gymnasium 120 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139