Quarky Explores Barcelona
Can gravity design a building for you?
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Quarky is writing this for you...
The story
In Gaudí's workshop Quarky finds strings and little weights hanging upside down. Gravity pulls each chain into the perfect curve, and if you flip that shape over you get an arch that stands up beautifully. Gaudí let gravity do the maths for him.
What you'll learn
- A hanging chain naturally makes the strongest curve, called a catenary.
- Flip that hanging curve upside down and it becomes a very strong arch.
- Gaudí used hanging models with weights instead of complicated calculations.
- Quarky takeaway: nature already knows some answers, you just have to look.
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