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Experimentals: Building with different shapes

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Man stacks books on top of each other on two small tables
Experimentals: Building with different shapes

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  7–8


Did you know that the shape of an object can affect its strength?

Watch as Ruben Meerman conducts this science experiment with two columns of different shapes to see which can carry the greater load.

Consider how engineers might use this information to build tall structures.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you ever been under a multi-storey building, maybe in a carpark, and seen the shapes of the columns holding up the building? What shapes did you see? Why do you think the designers used those and not other shapes? What shapes do you think will be the strongest?
  2. 2.What shapes does Ruben use to test the strength of columns? How many books does it take to collapse the square columns? How many books does it take to collapse the round columns?
  3. 3.Describe the ways Ruben made sure it was a fair test (ie only one thing, the variable that was being tested, was changed). How would the test have been affected if Ruben had used differently sized books? Other than the shape of the columns, what else could influence how quickly the columns collapse? Is there an ideal size for each of the shapes that would enable them to carry the maximum load? Design an experiment to find the best column size for both round and square columns. What shape would you recommend to a high rise builder? Why?
  4. 4.Ruben used only square and round columns in his experiment. What other possible column shapes might there have been? Is there another shape that can carry an even greater load? Design an experiment to test columns of other shapes to find the strongest shape of all. Alternatively, use a different material and design your own test.



Date of broadcast: 26 Aug 2006


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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