Engineering Worksheet: Earthquake-Safe Buildings

Engineering lesson 21: Earthquake-safe buildings · Set 103 · 40 questions

Engineer's tip (Low, wide, flexible): Safer: wide base, flexible joints, bracing, steel in concrete, light roof, rubber pads, simple shape. Less safe: heavy tops, narrow bases, loose bricks, no steel, brittle joints. Tipping: compare height ÷ base width — the smaller it is, the steadier the block.

1. 1.🏚️ Does adding cross bracing make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
2. 2.🏚️ Does leaving out steel bars make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
3. 3.🏚️ Does keeping a simple shape make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
4. 4.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 60 cm tall on a 30 cm wide base, tower B is 150 cm tall on a 30 cm base and tower C is 160 cm tall on a 40 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
5. 5.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) making brittle joints (b) using a heavy roof (c) using a light roof (d) raising heavy tanks high
6. 6.🏚️ Does raising heavy tanks high make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
7. 7.🏚️ Why is a wide base safer? (a) it is taller (b) it is harder to tip over (c) it is lighter (d) it is colourful
8. 8.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 20 cm tall on a 20 cm wide base, tower B is 120 cm tall on a 40 cm base and tower C is 60 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
9. 9.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) building tall and narrow (b) adding steel to concrete (c) leaving out steel bars (d) stacking loose bricks
10. 10.Which of these makes a building less safe in earthquakes? (a) stacking loose bricks (b) using a light roof (c) adding cross bracing (d) having a wide base
11. 11.True or false: raising heavy tanks high makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
12. 12.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) building tall and narrow (b) using a heavy roof (c) stacking loose bricks (d) using flexible joints
13. 13.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 120 cm tall on a 40 cm wide base, tower B is 20 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 30 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
14. 14.🏚️ Does fitting rubber base pads make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
15. 15.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 180 cm tall on a 30 cm wide base, tower B is 40 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 150 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower C (b) tower A (c) tower B
16. 16.True or false: using a heavy roof makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False
17. 17.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 10 cm tall on a 10 cm wide base, tower B is 200 cm tall on a 40 cm base and tower C is 60 cm tall on a 20 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
18. 18.🏚️ Does using flexible joints make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) safer in earthquakes (b) less safe
19. 19.True or false: making brittle joints makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
20. 20.🏚️ Why are flexible joints good in an earthquake? (a) they are cheap (b) they bend, not break (c) they look nice (d) they stop shaking
21. 21.🏚️ What do engineers use to test models of buildings for earthquakes? (a) a shake table (b) a fridge (c) a microscope (d) a telescope
22. 22.Which of these makes a building less safe in earthquakes? (a) using flexible joints (b) using a light roof (c) keeping a simple shape (d) leaving out steel bars
23. 23.🏚️ Where should heavy water tanks go in a quake zone? (a) low down (b) on the very top (c) on a thin pole (d) hanging outside
24. 24.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 80 cm tall on a 40 cm wide base, tower B is 50 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 160 cm tall on a 40 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
25. 25.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) using a heavy roof (b) building tall and narrow (c) raising heavy tanks high (d) keeping a simple shape
26. 26.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 70 cm tall on a 10 cm wide base, tower B is 40 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 60 cm tall on a 10 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
27. 27.True or false: having a wide base makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
28. 28.True or false: adding cross bracing makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False
29. 29.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) stacking loose bricks (b) building tall and narrow (c) leaving out steel bars (d) having a wide base
30. 30.True or false: using flexible joints makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
31. 31.True or false: fitting rubber base pads makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False
32. 32.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 10 cm tall on a 10 cm wide base, tower B is 120 cm tall on a 40 cm base and tower C is 40 cm tall on a 20 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
33. 33.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 80 cm tall on a 20 cm wide base, tower B is 60 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 30 cm tall on a 10 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
34. 34.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 60 cm tall on a 30 cm wide base, tower B is 30 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 100 cm tall on a 20 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
35. 35.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) keeping a simple shape (b) having a wide base (c) fitting rubber base pads (d) building tall and narrow
36. 36.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) adding cross bracing (b) using a heavy roof (c) raising heavy tanks high (d) building tall and narrow
37. 37.Which of these makes a building less safe in earthquakes? (a) keeping a simple shape (b) fitting rubber base pads (c) building tall and narrow (d) adding steel to concrete
38. 38.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) adding cross bracing (b) making brittle joints (c) adding steel to concrete (d) keeping a simple shape
39. 39.True or false: adding steel to concrete makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False
40. 40.True or false: leaving out steel bars makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False

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