Engineering Worksheet: Earthquake-Safe Buildings

Engineering lesson 21: Earthquake-safe buildings · Set 170 · 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.🏚️ 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 120 cm tall on a 40 cm base and tower C is 180 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower B (c) tower C
2. 2.🏚️ Where should heavy water tanks go in a quake zone? (a) hanging outside (b) on a thin pole (c) on the very top (d) low down
3. 3.🏚️ What do engineers use to test models of buildings for earthquakes? (a) a shake table (b) a microscope (c) a fridge (d) a telescope
4. 4.🏚️ Does having a wide base make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) safer in earthquakes (b) less safe
5. 5.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) building tall and narrow (b) fitting rubber base pads (c) adding steel to concrete (d) using a light roof
6. 6.🏚️ Does keeping a simple shape make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
7. 7.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 60 cm tall on a 20 cm wide base, tower B is 120 cm tall on a 30 cm base and tower C is 200 cm tall on a 40 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower C (b) tower A (c) tower B
8. 8.True or false: having a wide base makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
9. 9.🏚️ Does using a light roof make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
10. 10.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) stacking loose bricks (b) using a heavy roof (c) adding cross bracing (d) raising heavy tanks high
11. 11.🏚️ Does adding cross bracing make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) safer in earthquakes (b) less safe
12. 12.🏚️ Why are flexible joints good in an earthquake? (a) they look nice (b) they bend, not break (c) they stop shaking (d) they are cheap
13. 13.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) using a heavy roof (b) leaving out steel bars (c) making brittle joints (d) adding cross bracing
14. 14.True or false: stacking loose bricks makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
15. 15.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) leaving out steel bars (b) using flexible joints (c) using a heavy roof (d) making brittle joints
16. 16.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 40 cm tall on a 20 cm wide base, tower B is 40 cm tall on a 40 cm base and tower C is 90 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
17. 17.True or false: raising heavy tanks high makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False
18. 18.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) stacking loose bricks (b) using flexible joints (c) keeping a simple shape (d) adding cross bracing
19. 19.🏚️ 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 100 cm tall on a 20 cm base and tower C is 180 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower A (c) tower C
20. 20.🏚️ 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 30 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
21. 21.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) using flexible joints (b) fitting rubber base pads (c) adding cross bracing (d) making brittle joints
22. 22.Which of these makes a building less safe in earthquakes? (a) raising heavy tanks high (b) adding cross bracing (c) fitting rubber base pads (d) having a wide base
23. 23.Which of these makes a building less safe in earthquakes? (a) adding cross bracing (b) making brittle joints (c) fitting rubber base pads (d) using a light roof
24. 24.🏚️ Why is a wide base safer? (a) it is colourful (b) it is lighter (c) it is harder to tip over (d) it is taller
25. 25.True or false: raising heavy tanks high makes a building safer in earthquakes. (a) True (b) False
26. 26.🏚️ 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 100 cm tall on a 20 cm base and tower C is 40 cm tall on a 10 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
27. 27.Which of these makes a building less safe in earthquakes? (a) adding steel to concrete (b) adding cross bracing (c) keeping a simple shape (d) using a heavy roof
28. 28.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 40 cm tall on a 10 cm wide base, tower B is 120 cm tall on a 20 cm base and tower C is 210 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
29. 29.🏚️ Does building tall and narrow make a building safer or less safe in an earthquake? (a) less safe (b) safer in earthquakes
30. 30.🏚️ Three solid model towers are made of the same material. Tower A is 30 cm tall on a 10 cm wide base, tower B is 140 cm tall on a 20 cm base and tower C is 50 cm tall on a 10 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower B (c) tower C
31. 31.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) making brittle joints (b) using flexible joints (c) building tall and narrow (d) leaving out steel bars
32. 32.🏚️ 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 100 cm tall on a 20 cm base and tower C is 90 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the easiest to tip over? (a) tower A (b) tower C (c) tower B
33. 33.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) using a light roof (b) using a heavy roof (c) stacking loose bricks (d) leaving out steel bars
34. 34.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) adding cross bracing (b) fitting rubber base pads (c) raising heavy tanks high (d) having a wide base
35. 35.🏚️ 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 10 cm tall on a 10 cm base and tower C is 60 cm tall on a 30 cm base. Which is the hardest to tip over? (a) tower B (b) tower C (c) tower A
36. 36.True or false: adding cross bracing makes a building less safe in earthquakes. (a) False (b) True
37. 37.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) building tall and narrow (b) adding steel to concrete (c) using a heavy roof (d) leaving out steel bars
38. 38.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) building tall and narrow (b) using a heavy roof (c) stacking loose bricks (d) adding steel to concrete
39. 39.🔍 Which is the odd one out? (a) making brittle joints (b) stacking loose bricks (c) keeping a simple shape (d) raising heavy tanks high
40. 40.Which of these makes a building safer in earthquakes? (a) making brittle joints (b) stacking loose bricks (c) keeping a simple shape (d) leaving out steel bars

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