In Straws We Trussed

Determining the Validity of our Results

First, remember back to the gorilla hanging from the top of our bridge. This is the first step into determining whether our results make sense or not. We're pulling down on the center of the triangle that our bridge forms. As you do this, the side members have a downward force, causing the members to be compressed. As the side members are compressed, the bottom member, which is connected to the two side members, is being stretched by the force of the side members. This causes it to experience tension.

Try to figure out whether the rest of our calculations make sense based on this example.