41G TIlEOllY OF AKCIIITECTURK.

Book IL
Cohesive Force
of
Plecei draini in the Direction
of
their Lengtfi.
First experhnent.
A str.nll 10(1 of oak
0-0888 in. (=1 FVench line) square, and
2-14
in. in length, broke with a weight of
- -
-
1 15 lbs. avoirdupois
Another si)ecinien of the same wood, and of similar dimensions,
broke with
- - - -
-
105,8g
Another specimen
. . - . -
llO-j'jj
The mean weight, therefore, was, in round numbers, 110 lbs.
A rod of the same wood as the former, 0-177 inch
(
=
'2
French lines)
square, and
2-14 inches long, broke with a weight of -
4,S9;Jlbs. avi ird pc is
A nother specimen
- - - -
- 4 1
8
Another specimen
. . . -
.
45H
The mean weight, therefore, was 436 lbs. for an area
^^^
in.
(
= 4 s(]uare lines
French, or 110 lbs. for each, French line = 0-0888 in. English).
1599. Without a recital of all the experiments, we will only add, that after increasing
the thickness and length of the rods in the several trials, the absolute strengtli of oak was
found to be 110 lbs. for every
-^^^
of an inch area
(
= 1 French line superficial).
The Strengtli
of
Wood in. an upright Position.
1600. If timber were not flexible, a piece of wood placed ujiright as a post, should bear
the weights last found, whatever its heiglit
;
but experience shows that when a post is
higlier than six or seven times the width of its base, it bends luider a similar weight before
crushing or compressing, and that a piece of the height of 100 diameters of its base in
incapable of bearing the smallest weight. The proportion in which the strength decreases
as the lieight increases, is diflicult to determine, on account of the different results of the
ex])eriments. Rondelet, however, found, after a great number, that when a piece of oak
was too short to bend, the force necessary to crush or compress it was about 49 72 lbs. for
every
f|^
of a square inch of its base, and that for fir the weight was about 56-1
G lbs.
Cubes of each of these woods, on trial, lost height l)y compression, without disunion of
the fibres
;
those of oak more than a third, and those of fir one half
1601. A piece of fir or oak diminishes in strength the moment it begins to bend, so that
the mean strength of oak, which is 47-52 lbs. for a cube
-^^^n
f ^" inch, is reduced to
216 lbs. for a piece of the same wood, whose height is 72 times the width of its base.
From many experiments, Kondelet deduced the following progression :

For a cube, whose height is 1 , the strength = 1

] 2
__ s
__
48,
=
^

60,

=,(,
Thus, for a cube of oak, whose base is 1-066 in. area
(
= 1 square in. French) jjlaced
upright, tliat is, with its fibres in a vertical direction, its mean strength is ex-
pressed by
144*
X
47-52 = 6842 lbs. From a mean of these experiments, the
result was (by experiment) in lbs. avoirdupois ...
6853
For a rod of the same oak, whose section was of the same area by 12-792 in. high
(
=
12 French in.), the weight borne or mean strength is 144 x
-^^
=5702 lbs.
From a mean of three experiments, the result was
- -
-
5735
For a rod 25-584 (=24 French) in. high, the strength is 144 x
-o-
= 3421 lbs. - 3144
For a rod 38-376
(
=36 French) in. high, the strength is 144 x
g
=2281 lbs. -
233G
For a rod 51-160
(
= 48 French) in. high, the strength is 144 x ^^= 1 140 lbs.
For a rod 63-960
(
=
60 French) in. high, the strength is 144 x ^|-= 570 lbs.
47
5"
For a rod 76-752
(
=72 French) in. high, the strength is 144 x
-5]p=
285 lbs.
F^r a cube of fir, whose sides are 1
-066
in. area
(
= 1 square in. French), placed as
before, with the fibres in a vertical direction, we have 144 x 56-16 =8087 lbs. - 8089
The French inch, consisting "f" HI lines.