Sofia Perozzi Math 7 Period 1 3/26/14 Geometry Project Essay

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a historical landmark that has been listing for 642 years, but somehow has never fallen over. The Romanesque, cylindrical piece of architecture is a bell tower located in Pisa, Italy. This building is a significant monument in Tuscany because of its fascinating history, beautiful structure and function, and its relationship to geometry. This bell tower is 1 of 4 buildings in Cathedral Square in Pisa. The construction of this beautiful architecture began in 1174 and took 199 years to complete. Five years after construction began, and while only the 3rd floor had been completed, the bell tower began to lean. The foundation of this structure was only 9.8 feet deep and constructed on clay, which was the cause of its eventual tilt. As the tower began to list in 1181, construction of the tower was paused for nearly a century. Due to the wars being fought within Italy, there was no money put aside to finish the structure and engineers had no grasp as to why the tower was leaning. After the tower's construction had resumed in 1275, they added another 4 floors to the building. The 7th floor was finally completed in 1319. Eventually, in 1372, the bell chamber or 8th and final floor was added. Yet in 1989, the tower was closed to the public and a task force of engineers, mathematicians, and historians focused on how to stabilize the building because many felt its tilt had become a serious danger. The bell tower was reopened in 2001 after soil beneath one side had been removed and counterweights had been added to the other. The beautiful 8 floored, columned, bell tower is made out of white marble. The leaning tower contains 7 bells, one for each note, and was used to notify citizens when it was time for church, weddings, funerals, wars, or even an execution. The landmark contains approximately 296 steps in each stairwell to reach the bell chamber. The person responsible for ringing the bells for each occasion had to climb and descend an approximate total of 592 steps. The height of the building is 183 feet and 3 inches tall. The outer diameter at the base is 50 feet and 9.6 inches. The overall weight of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 14,700 metric tons. Not only is this bell tower a memorable sight because it leans over, but it is also a remarkable Romanesque building with several arched columns and a lovely wedding-cake appearance. The Leaning Tower of Pisa has various aspects and dimensions, which show the area of a cylinder. For example, calculating the area of the Leaning Tower would help architects discover how much marble has been used. To find how much marble would be necessary to create the leaning tower, use the calculation of surface area for a cylinder. The equation to calculate surface area of a cylinder is A=2r2+2rh. The dimensions for the leaning tower include the height and diameter in feet. In order to calculate the radius, divide the diameter by 2. The diameter is 50.8 feet; therefore, making the radius 25.4 feet because it is half of the diameter. Now, simply solve the equation by plugging in the number for radius and height. This equation is: A=(2)(3.14)(25.4)2+(2)(3.14)(25.4)(183.3). It is important to remember order of operations when solving this equation and therefore, multiply the radius by itself first. The area that is covered in white marble is 33,290 feet3. The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Tuscany, Italy is remarkable because it appears to be falling over though it has only been leaning for the past 642 years. While tourists of many generations have visited this one of a kind structure to see it listing, it is also interesting to think about the geometric

Sofia Perozzi Math 7 Period 1 3/26/14 Geometry Project Essay relationship it has to a cylinder. Architects and engineers certainly used this method to discern how much white marble would be necessary to construct this bell tower. Is it a possibility that the large pause in the tower's construction prevented an early collapse? Hopefully, modern day engineers and mathematicians used as concrete of an equation to prevent this tower from collapsing, as the equation that was used to find the area of the structure in this report.