Forces

Forces

1. Tension

   • Pulls it apart, tends to make it longer
   • Suspension bridge; cars & people on the road pull the vertical cables

2. Compression

   • Squeeze it together, tends to become shorter
   • Beams/columns on the lower part of a skyscraper is pushed towards each other because of the weight on top.

3. Bending

   • Opposite side in tension
   • One side in compression
   • When bending a metal rod, top in tension and bottom in compression, or opposite.

4. Shear

   • Sides slide past one another in opposite directions
   • During an earthquake, the road slides apart in opposite directions.

5. Torsion

   • Action that twists the material
   • The Tacoma Narrows collapsed by being bended due to strong wind.