The experiment is performed by placing standard
calibrated masses (100-1000 g) on a compression
block (in this case ~60-g wooden block) in order to
uniformly compress the marshmallow. The stress is
then determined by calculating the total force (F =
mg) acting on the marshmallow surface area (A). One
issue that must be addressed is the potential instability
of the wooden block and weights compressing the marshmallow. This problem can be resolved by adding
a suitable support structure. An example of a support
structure composed of three wooden blocks is shown
in Fig. 1