The Stress That You Apply: Footprint Area, Weight & Load
Students examine contact stressCopyright 2012 City of Grimes, IA http://www.grimesiowa.gov/
Students learn about contact stress and its applications in engineering. They are introduced to the concept of heavy loads, such as buildings, elephants, people and traffic, and learn how those heavy loads apply contact stress. Through the analysis of their own footprints, students determine their contact stress.
Civil engineering projects often incorporate the concepts of force, area and contact stress in their designs. For example, bridges, buildings and houses carry heavy loads that are transferred to the soil beneath, thus these concepts are important in determining the best design for such structures. Several additional factors, such as load size, contact area, load transfer system and soil resistance, affect how contact stresses are handled in construction designs. For these reasons, civil engineers must be aware of all the variables that might affect a structure so that they can design and construct safe buildings, bridges, roadways, homes, furniture, vehicles and many other items.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe the concept of contact stress and provide real-world civil engineering examples.
- Describe load and provide examples.
- Explain how contact stress changes when either the contact area or load is adjusted.
- Calculate how much stress their bodies apply to the floor and create a visual representation.