Film Science Questions for: Brooklyn Bridge

Background: largeness attracts our attention: tall structures like the Eiffel Tower, expansive landforms like the Grand Canyon, the hugeness of the Twin Towers. But, all these structures were "engineered" so what is it that draws us to them, the look, the emotion or the technology?

1. What parts of a suspension bridge remind one of a spider's web?

2. The cables and wires were made of what new construction material?

3. Pair up these terms: bridge towers, tension, compression, cables.

4. What weather phenomenon spurred the commencement of the bridge's construction?

5. A horizontal support rod, with a 30 kg sign at the end, sticks out from a wall. A length of wire attached

to the end of the rod angles at 35⁰ back up to an attachment point on the wall above the spot where the

rod is attached. Find the forces in the wall, rod and wire.

6. A sign is supported by a wire slung between facing walls. The left hand segment of wire angles up at

20⁰ from the sign to the wall on the left. The tension in the left wire (T1) is 250 N. The right hand

segment of wire angles up at 35⁰ from the sign to the wall on the right. The tension in that wire (T2) is

520 N. Find the weight of the sign.

7. Why was there an increased risk of fire inside the caisson?

8. What was the cause of "caisson disease"?

9. The nature of the river bed required the caissons be dug down to what depth?

10. A 900 kg load of rock is left on a greased 15⁰ ramp. It is attached to a steam engine that can haul up

with 15 000 N. What happens?

11. The bridge cable anchorages were located how far inland?

12. a) How many separate # 8 gauge wires are in each of the four cables?

b) What is the combined length of the wires in each cable?

13. A 90 kg bundle of steel scrap metal and a 120 kg stone block are attached to each other by a cable

slung over a pulley. What happens to the steel and stone?

14. What is the sole purpose of all the wires and cables?

15. A 25 N sign is supported between facing walls by two wires. The left hand wire angles up at 35⁰

toward the left hand wall. The right hand wire stretches horizontally from the sign over to the right

hand wall. Find the tension in the horizontal wire.

16. What about the view so amazed people walking out across the Brooklyn Bridge in the years just after

its completion?

17. Engineering should improve our lives, sometimes in large, obvious ways. A popular myth suggests

"literary" people have a reduced understanding of engineering and less appreciation of its benefits.

The following individuals have stepped around this falsehood.

a) How did Hart Crane show his understanding of the bridge's importance? For a closer look at his

poem "To Brooklyn Bridge", look at one of the many websites about him and his work.

b) How did a walk across the bridge affect social commentator Louis Mumford?

c) Arthur Miller, a famous playwright, had what to say about the effect of the bridge on people?

18. A horizontal support rod sticks out from a wall. A length of wire is attached to the end of the rod and

angles at 30⁰ back up to an attachment point on the wall above the spot where the rod is attached. If

the force in the wire (hypotenuse) is 200 N, find the forces in the wall and the weight of the sign.

19. The paintings of the Brooklyn Bridge seem to all emphasize what aspect of its structure?

20. In the end, is the Brooklyn Bridge more emotion or engineering or art?