Technology

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Video

Materials

• 1 newspaper
• Tape

Explanation

Organizations that measure the height of buildings distinguish between towers and buildings, as a building is only classified as a building if at least half of its height consists of habitable floors. A tower doesn't have this requirement. However, it must not be supported by cables or stays - then it's classified as a mast.

A tower topples if its center of mass is no longer directly above its area of support (its "footprint"). Two ways to avoid this are to create a low center of mass (place a lot of the tower's mass down low) and to make a large area of support (let the tower stand on a large area of the floor). However, both of these things become tricky to achieve when you have a limited amount of building material to work with, and when the strength of the material is not the best.

Test and improve

You have now built your first prototype. There are probably improvements to be made. In order to keep working on your design, try answering any of the following questions.

• Which construction method gives the tallest tower - rolled paper, folded paper or crumpled paper?
• How much wind can your tower withstand before it falls?
• What happens if you place an object on top of your tower?

Variations

This build can also be done with other materials.

You can also add the requirement that a tower must be able to support a certain object.

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