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Writer's pictureMaria Wheeler

The Science Behind Skyscrapers

elevator

The elevator is one of my favorite inventions. It means that me, my injured knee, don't have to walk up thirteen flights of stairs to my dorm. The elevator was also one of the most important inventions of skyscrapers. Chicago is technically the city where skyscrapers were first invented. There were many parts and inventions to skyscrapers that became popular and were brought into existence altogether. Skyscrapers were first built in the late 19th century. Before that buildings were usually only six floors tall. This was because a person could only walk up six flights of stairs comfortably. 

Elisha graves otis

Elisha Graves Otis was the creator of the passenger elevator used in buildings. This technology was first introduced in 1852 in New York. This elevator was very new so many people didn't trust that it was safe. The brake system was very new and was made up of spring operator pawls that would press against the elevator box. This made the elevator still very safe when the cable would break. To popularize the elevator and to make people think it was safer Otis stood in the elevator and cut the cable. When The brake system worked people trusted it more. 


skyscraper

The materials in skyscrapers were super important to the sturdiness and the height that they could be built up to. The reinforced steel of the skyscrapers was the skeleton of the building. The reinforced steel was first used by William Le Baron Jenney who was an architect as well as an engineer. He created a much hotter firing system for the steel that fired out the impurities. The steel was not only stronger but it allowed buildings to be skinnier since the wood supports would make the walls of the building very thick. It also made buildings sturdier in high winds, they could bend instead of snap. The support has to be even throughout the building and has to survive the strong wind and weather at higher altitudes. The rounded sides and the layer looking aesthetic of skyscrapers like Burj Khalifa stand up to heavy winds because of the structure. 


Skyscrapers have to be some of the most structurally sound buildings ever created.

 

Works Cited

Craven, Jackie. “The History of Skyscrapers.” ThoughtCo, 10 January 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/how-skyscrapers-became-possible-1991649. Accessed 22 July 2024.

“History of the Elevator: Its Inventor, When the Elevator Was Invented, and Why The Invention and History of the Elevator.” Nationwide lifts, https://www.elevators.com/history-of-the-elevator-its-inventor-when-the-elevator-was-invented-and-why/.


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