Stability Experiment

Hey guys.


I have this homework where i need to find out how different heights affect the stability of an object.


What I have planned to do so far is use wooden blocks and pile them up. So for example, I will test the stability of 1 block, two blocks, three blocks (on top of each other) etc.


However, I'm not sure how I would go about testing the stability.In other words, how would I measure the stability of each structure?


This is High School Level btw. Thanks for the help

First off, your tower of blocks will collapse because not all of the blocks are perfectly shaped. If they were (and you placed them perfectly on top of another), then theoretically you could stack them until the bottom block reaches its peak compressive strength.

The tower collapses because the successive cummulation of misshapen blocks causes the centre of gravity of the top blocks to be tilted at an angle until the top blocks have their centre of gravity unsupported.

Instead of just simply placing the blocks on top of each other, create some sort of incline which you can control the angle of and assume that all the blocks are perfectly shaped and you have placed them perfectly.

Start with two blocks (because you know what happens with only one block) on the incline and then change the angle until there is a change in the "stability".

You could very easily calculate the angle at which "unstability" occurs if you knew the dimensions of the blocks.

...