Assignment # Name: _____________Lex Von Klark__________________ Period: _________2/14/13______________________ Date: _______________________________

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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 20 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of cross bracing (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. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 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. Have the teacher check and sign off on your drawing. Before you start building get a group number 7. 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 # _____ Group Height of #7 model 19.9 cm Width of base 12 cm # of cross 20 Anchored to the paper (yes or no) no Low center of gravity (majorit Rigid (clay) or Flexible (choose one) Time lasted on the shake (seconds) Results:

(centimeters) (centimeters) braces

(marshmallow) table

y of the mass is lower than halfway down (yes or no) yes

rigid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16.5 cm 20.0 cm 4.5 cm 9.5 cm 8.0 cm 8.1 cm 19.9 cm 16.1 cm 16.5 cm 24 cm 16.4 cm 13 cm 15.5 cm 9 cm 11.5

12 cm 7.9 cm 14.5 4.0 cm 9 cm 13.3 cm 12 cm 7 cm 7.5 cm 6 cm 4.5 cm 7.5 cm 7 cm 6 cm 15

0 8 14 1 0 0 20 4 4 3 0 0 20 1 1

no no yes no yes No no no no no no no no no no

yes no no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

rigid rigid flexible rigid flexible rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid rigid

1 12 15 1 15 15 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1

Observations of your model during shake test. (Must be qualitative and quantitative.)
My model lasted 2 seconds. As it was moving towards the edge of the table, 1 person tried to help and keep it on. It fell into 38 pieces.

Conclusion According to the text book on pages 204-205, base isolators, shear walls, tension ties, cross braces, flexible pipes and dampers help a building in an earthquake because they reduce the damaging effects of the seismic waves on the building. In this lab we built structures out of 40 toothpicks. We had a choice between using clay or marshmallows to keep the structure together. I hypothesized that a structure that has a wide base and a lot of cross bracing would stay up the longest. Over the course of 2 seconds my structure shook and almost fell off the table. All of the cross bracing fell off. Three of the fifteen structures survived. Two of the three structures were anchored to the table, and 1 of the three structures had cross bracing. In conclusion my hypothesis was incorrect. Being anchored was the most important factor in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.