Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My student created her own experiment to test if building height factors into whether or not it will remain standing in a tornado. She built three buildings of varying heights (short, medium height and tall) and used a box fan as wind and observed and recorded damage. Each building was made with the same blocks and the fan was the same distance from each building during each trial. Also, the fan was on high for the same amount of time for each trial. My question is how does she link her results to an actual tornado? Her question was . . . Does the height of a building have an effect on whether or not it is knocked down during a tornado? Thank you.

Hi there and welcome to Science Buddies!!
What a cool experiment you guys have going! In order to link her results to an actual tornado, she will need to conduct some research on tornadoes. She could also conduct some background research on architecture and the structural stability of different building types.

This one talks about how a tornadoe's wind and pressure affects different kinds of buildings:
https://sciencing.com/damage-caused-tor ... sh%20walls.

https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/fil ... ldings.pdf

I know this one is about earthquakes, but you'll find some great info here about what makes a building stronger than others:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... %20or,base)%20are%20generally%20more%20steadfast.

This has great info about what makes a building structurally stable:
https://www.explainthatstuff.com/howbuildingswork.html

This is just a starting point, feel free to explore other resources as you see fit!!
Please let us know if we can help in any other capacity and shoot us as many questions as you'd like; we'll do our best to answer them!!

Happy sciencing!!
Stay nerdy,
lmp1341

Hello and thank you so much for these wonderful resources! I so appreciate it! Take care.