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Re: Structural failure of NY's WTC



Without reading anything my answer would be "under the
weight of what was falling down."

Tucker Hiatt wrote:

Moral astonishment aside, I was completely taken by surprise upon
observing the physics of collapse of the World Trade Center
buildings. Reading reports such as
<http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/WTC_towers_structure010911.html>
has helped very little.

Would any PHYS-Ler care to speculate regarding why a structural
failure (due to intense heat) at or above mid-section would lead to a
domino-like structural failure all the way down? Clearly, many
experts in structural integrity were surprised when the collapses
occurred -- some of those experts were rescue workers toiling
underneath the doomed buildings.

- Tucker
--
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Tucker Hiatt, Director
Wonderfest
P.O. Box 887
(39 Fernhill Avenue)
Ross, CA 94957
hiattu00@usfca.edu
415-577-1126 (voice)
415-454-2535 (fax)
http://www.wonderfest.org

Truth is a great flirt. - Franz Liszt
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