Conservation of Momentum and the collapse of the WTC, how is this physically possible?

Question

To believe the official story of 9/11 requires one to also believe the law of conservation of monumtum was violated. The Gov't has told us that the towers collapsed because of floors falling on top of one another all the way down, but this occured at virtually free fall speed (10 seconds) according to the 9/11 commision and others who have timed the collapse.

actually the towers had 47 massive steel columns. the fire was hot enough to weaken the steel, but not melt it, with that said where did the molten steel come from. And by the way, you did not answer my queston.

it appears ppl are confused. The official story is that of a pancake style collapse. So how do the floors continue to fall at free fall speed.

Answer 1

Law of conservation of momentum? Your first step should be to pick up an introductory physics text and read it thoroughly. Once you've done that, calculate the force of 15 floors of the WTC falling just one floor (about 18 ft). Do we think the floor loading on the receiving floor might exceed design limits? Ubetcha. Since that floor will fail, calculate the force of 16 floors of the WTC falling 18 ft. Continue all the way down. As for dust, buy yourself a sheet of drywall and pound it with a hammer.

There was no molten steel at ground zero. This has been widely misreported. Now it's supported by photoshopped photos. Ask the people who were there, and really saw what happened.

Seemingly improbable collapses of towers are not unheard of. L'Ambiance Plaza in Bridgeport collapsed during construction, in a way very similar to the WTC. Another example is the Bailey's Crossroads collapse in Fairfax, VA. While not a progressive collapse, the Hartford Civic Center roof is an example of how unexpected loads can cause sudden failure of a truss system. I suggest you research these and draw your own conclusions.

The thing you need to think about (assuming you even care about the answer to your question) is that WTC1 and 2 failed initially at the floors where the airplanes struck. If the buildings were brought down by controlled charges, then whoever planted them would have had to know which floors the planes would strike. As big a target as they were, hitting a precise floor with a plane moving at 400mph would have been an amazing hit. Doing it twice is beyond belief. But even assuming that happened, the control system for the demolition charges would have to survive the crash and fire. It just isn't credible. The only possible explanation is that the collapse was related to the airplanes.

Answer 2

I have attached a journal article written about the WTC tower collapse from a peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Minerals, Metals, and Materials, which may help to answer some of your questions.

I would suggest reading it over. It does some information which may be useful.

Answer 3

The structure had no central bracing. The floors were literally hung from the outer skin. Once that was punctured, the whole structure was compromised. And yes, the heat would have been enough to weaken the steel.

Answer 4

The structure, whatever it consisted of, was designed to support a static load, not stop a falling one. So the mere fact that the lower floors offered negligible resistance to the falling floors doesn't violate any physical law. (And "virtually" free fall speed doesn't mean "exactly" free fall speed.)

Answer 5

I agree, there are many conspiracy theories, that the tower was destroyed from the bottom up, but how the towers collapsed does follow the laws of physics. The momentum of the plane was tranferred to the Tower, causing structural damage. The structure then fell due to gravity.

Answer 6

Excellent article above. Also try this:

http://web.mit.edu/civenv/wtc/PDFfiles/Chapter%20VI%20Materials%20&%20Structures.pdf

It is a pdf, so it takes a bit to download, but not too long if you have broadband connection. Basically, it deals with progressive collaspse.

Answer 7

This is one of the principal reasons why people do not believe the Government version of the story. One possible explanation is controlled demolition.

For detail see the links:
http://physics911.net/stevenjones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories
http://www.serendipity.li/wtc5.htm
http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/analysis/wtc7/speed.html