Physics of Stone Arches

  • By Melissa Salpietra

Medieval architects were masters at building with stone. But as cathedral design evolved, some medieval architects began to push beyond the boundaries of known structural design and into unknown territory. With the pursuit of taller and taller cathedrals, any errors could lead to catastrophic collapses. In this interactive, try your hand (safely) at constructing a cathedral arch and learn more about the physics behind the arch.

Click the link below.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/assets/swf/1/arch-physics/arch-physics.swf

Here is another fun link. It's a little dated, but still interesting.