How do compression and tension make things strong?
 Introduction
Think about bridges, long buildings, tower cranes, airplanes and almost any other large structure. How can they be made so large and so strong with materials that don't seem to have enough strength? The answer to this question by material and structure engineers is compression and tension. In other words, these structures are designed in a way that all forces including weight and wind will be converted to tensile and compressive forces on the structural material. 

In this project we will try to find out how compression and tension can make a bridge or tall building strong.

 
 Project description
In this project you will design and perform some experiments to see how compression and tension can result in the strength of a structure. You will then use the result of your experiments to build a tall structure that holds about 100 times more than it's own weight.
 Details of this project
More details or support on this project is available for the members of ScienceProject.com. Material needed for experiment or a science kit about this title may be available at MiniScience.com.