Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

i am trying to find out how to build a small scale project, the only real requirments is that it must be as big as a normal size shoe box, no bigger. my teacher is testing our structures with a machine that will shake our projects, my project cannot break or crack. I am tryingto build a little cuilding that can withstand this shaking. so i was wondering if anyone had any ideas about this because i have none!


this project is due 1/25/07

if anyone has ANY Ideas pleas reply to this

Hi!

I suggest you re-post your question to the physical sciences portion of the board--there are engineers over there who are likely to have helpful suggestions for you.

Let's talk about scale. shoebox size structure would be about 4 inches wide by 8 inches long by about 4 inches high. A real structure might be 20 ft wide by 40 ft long by 20 ft high. The scale would be 1 to 60. That means that 1/16 inch by 1/32 inch wood strips would represent 2 X 4s. 3/4 inch thick plywood would be represented by 0.012 inch thick cardboard. one could construct a scale model building similar to one of the houses being built in your neighborhood. Hobby shops have thin bass wood strips that could represent all the wooden members (studs and floor joists, etc) and thin cardboard could substitute for the sheathing and interior paneling. You wouldn't find miniature nails, but that doesn't matter. Modern building codes require glue (stronger than nails).

So it looks to me as if you could build an accurate scale model according to the latest earthquake resistant building codes. One piece of advice. Design a very simple model like a one-room cabin.