Assignment #24 Name: sultan hashmi Period: 1 Date: 3/25/13

www.inhabitant.com/image Will My Building Withstand an Earthquake? Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was an innovator in designing buildings that could withstand earthquakes. For example, Wright designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which withstood that citys severe 1923 earthquake with only minor damage. Many modern cities located in earthquake prone areas have enacted building codes designed to reduce damage to structures, thereby reducing the incidents of injury or death. Architects often go beyond these safety codes to ensure public safety. For example, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is stronger than required by the citys building code. It also has features built into its base that are designed to dramatically reduce how much the building will sway during an earthquake.

Problem: What design strategies keep structures safe in an earthquake? Hypothesis: If my structure of 15 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of cross bracing and a wide base. (cross bracing, using a wide base, anchoring, a low center of gravity, rigid frame, or flexible frame) will be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. Materials: 40 Toothpicks 5 mini marshmallows or 25 grams of clay Sheet of paper (to build structure on and put names and group number on) Procedure: 1. 2. Make your hypothesis if you havent already done so. On the back or bottom of this sheet, sketch a plan how you and your partner are going to build your structure. How are you going to use the materials? Draw an example of your structure. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Have the teacher check and sign off on your drawing. Before you start building get a group number 11. Once the teacher has given you your group number, you may start building your model. After you have finished making your model, fill out the data table for your group below. Place your model on the counter with a piece of paper underneath it and be sure your names and group number are on it. Collect data from all the other groups so that your data table is filled out. Class Data Table for Period Width of # of Anchore base cross d to the (centimete brace paper rs) s (yes or no) # _____ Low center of gravity (majori ty of the mass is lower than halfwa y down (yes or no) yes yes yes yes Results: Grou p# Height of model (centimete rs) Rigid (clay) or Flexible (marshmallo w) (choose one) Time lasted on the shake table (second s)

1 2 3 4

9.7 19.5 9.5 13.5

11.9 12 8.5x7 4.5x4.7

1 0 1 1

no yes no yes

rigid rigid rigid flexible

12 1 3 15

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

10.8 13.1 11.0 7.0 10.0 12.5 cm 10.8

5.0 9.0 11.0x6.5 5.0 8.5 6.2x5.5 7x8 cm 7.1

3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3

yes no yes yes no yes no no

yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes

flexible rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid

15 3 6 15 8 15 15 3

Observations: Our top part of the tip was moving. It was moving up about 2 centimeters. It was jumping up about 1 centimeter high. Conclusion: According to the textbook page 204-205, base isolators minimize the amount of energy, which helps reduce the shaking in an earthquake. Dampers are shock absorbers, which absorb the energy of the waves. Buildings that are designed with cross bracing, dampeners, shear walls, base isolation and flexible pipes can help reduce injuries and death during an earthquake. In this lab we designed and constructed structures to withstand a 15 second earthquakes, like the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. I hypothesized that keeping a low center of gravity, using cross bracing and has a wide base, then it would survive an earthquake. Over the course of 15 seconds my structure bounced up and down about 1 cm high. The tip of the building was shaking back and forth and was moving the tip about 2 cm. Our building moved from the middle of our paper to the edge of it and moved about 13 cm. Out of the 5 which survived, 3 of them had a rigid frame.4 out of 5 were anchored to the paper.3 out of 5 had a wide base. All except one that survived had a wide base. About 41% survived the shake table. In conclusion, my hypothesis was correct. Cross bracing and having a wide base were the most important factors in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.