Why did one of the WTC towers collapse

Let me clear this first that I do not believe in any conspiracy theories that the goverment was blowing our buildings. But when that first plane hit, it kind of hit the building really high on top, but the rest of the building beneath was still structually untouched. So my question is can a building collapse if the top 10 percent gives way and is too heavy for bottom to support. I figured as that top is crumbling that maybe it was going to stop it wasnt going to take the whole building down. I am not a construction engineer of any sorts and maybe I am underestimating the weight of top of that building on the whole structure?

I can understand the second building as it was kind of hit right in the middle so I think it was too much for the bottom to handle as top half was crumbling.

The initial impact from the Aircraft hitting the building would have shaken the entire building to its core and likely have weakened the entire structure all the way through, After that it was just a matter of the structural integrity of the top half being lost placing extra strain on the rest which resulted in a chain reaction of failure.

Because a plane hit it while going at like 400 miles an hour.

It was a controlled demolition.

When a plane with thousands of gallons of fuel crashes into a building going over 400mph...explosions happen.

Becuase a plane went into it and exploded.

Becuase a plane went into it and exploded.

PastafarianGod

The first ten floors were made of cheese.SolidSnake35

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]The first ten floors were made of cheese.Engrish_Major

[QUOTE="Engrish_Major"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]The first ten floors were made of cheese.trastamad03

I'm not a structural engineer but from what I remember they were saying(the news) the jet fuel super-heated the supports at the core and that's why they fell.

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]The first ten floors were made of cheese.Engrish_Major

And the supports are made pasta?

The structural strength of the twin towers was on the outside of the building. All of the weight-bearing beams were wrapped around the outside of the building, like a curtain. This is different than the new WTC, where the central core (containing the stairwells and elevators) provides much of the structural support. Since the original buildings were just a "hollow" design, the middle had no chance of standing when the top started to collapse onto it.Engrish_Major

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]The first ten floors were made of cheese.Engrish_Major

Shock weight can be many times more than the actual weight of something. Think jumping onto a scale vs gently stepping onto one. The peak weight displayed on the scale when jumping will be multiple times higher than the at rest weight of you standing on the scale.

If 10 floors slammed down onto the floors below them at any mentionable velocity it would have been more like 20 or 30 floors worth of weight. Couple that with the structure already being weakened by impact and heat.

a mixture of these three posts and you have your answer.

The initial impact from the Aircraft hitting the building would have shaken the entire building to its core and likely have weakened the entire structure all the way through, After that it was just a matter of the structural integrity of the top half being lost placing extra strain on the rest which resulted in a chain reaction of failure.

mattisgod01

Fire weakened the structure and when you have several floors of a building falling the inertia is just far too great for the rest of the building to stop itnutcrackr

Shock weight can be many times more than the actual weight of something. Think jumping onto a scale vs gently stepping onto one. The peak weight displayed on the scale when jumping will be multiple times higher than the at rest weight of you standing on the scale.

If 10 floors slammed down onto the floors below them at any mentionable velocity it would have been more like 20 or 30 floors worth of weight. Couple that with the structure already being weakened by impact and heat.

Alter_Echo

So my question is can a building collapse if the top 10 percent gives way and is too heavy for bottom to support.

deniiiii21

Yes it can and I have video to back it up.