When our group was building the paper structure, we took a long period of time to discuss the factors that could affect the height. We reached a consensus that a strong base would hold up a stable and tall building. Therefore we decided to build a pyramid shaped base because pyramid can equally disperse the pressure and it has a very firm structure. In addition, pyramid is heavy at the bottom and light on the top, which is another important physics principle when building tall structures. We also thought about the strength of the news paper. It is too weak to support each other. So we rolled the news paper into a solid stick, we thought this stick would have the strength to support the whole structure. But in the end, we were wrong about it because it collapsed. According to Mr. Chung, the reason why we couldn’t succeed is because the paper sticks we made are too heavy, and it is not thick enough in order to balance. We learned so many physics in just one activity, such as the mass of the structure is also very important.
What makes it stable:
Even though our structure collapsed in the end, I still discovered some factors from our failure experiment that could make it stable. For example, a tall structure always has a large and heavy base to support the rest of the mass on the top, this way the structure will be balanced and stable.
What is the centre of gravity:
In physics, all parts of an object are affected by gravity, the point where the gravity of each part concentrate is the centre of gravity. The location of the centre of gravity depends on the objects shape and mass distribution inside the body. In a mass equally distributed object, the centre of gravity will be at the centre of the geometry figure. For example, the centre of gravity of a balanced sphere is in the centre of the sphere. In a mass not equally distributed object, the centre of gravity will be depending on the location of mass. For example, the centre of gravity of a track is depending on how much goods are carried or which part of the truck carries goods.
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| centre of gravity in a mass equally distributed object |
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| centre of gravity in a mass unequally distributed object |
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