Teachers' Domain®
 

Organization:

Forgot Your Password?

Not yet registered?

Register now to download, share, and save resources. It's simple, safe, and free! Learn More

You are now "Test Driving" Teachers' Domain

You may view up to 7 resources in this limited trial period.

You have 6 views remaining. Register now for unlimited free access and to download, share, and save resources. Learn More

About Registration:

Registering with Teachers' Domain is free and allows you to:

  • • View as many resources as you like
  • • Save, sort, and share resources using My Folders and My Groups
  • • Download resources to your desktop
  • • See standards correlations for your state

Thank you for "Test Driving" Teachers' Domain

You have viewed all seven resources permitted in this limited trial period. You may continue to browse the site, but to view, download, share, and save resources, you must register now. Registration is simple, safe, and free.

For more information:

Learn about our online Professional Development Courses, or review our Privacy Policy.

If you still have questions, please contact us.

NSDLNSDL users sign in here

Recommended for: Grades 3-12

Resource: Pantheon Dome

Media Type:
QuickTime Video

Length: 2m 33s
Size: 4.1 MB

or

The Pantheon Dome was clearly ahead of its time. It created a completely unobstructed yet covered space much larger than any built before or many centuries after it. This video segment adapted from Building Big: "Domes" explains how this magnificent building was constructed and the forces and design features that keep it standing.
 

Teachers' Domain, Pantheon Dome, published January 22, 2004, retrieved on ,
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.bbdome/

 
The Pantheon Dome, completed in 128 A.D., was one of the most impressive engineering accomplishments of its time -- indeed, for all time. Although Romans had been building small domed bathhouses and temples for centuries, no other dome would match the Pantheon Dome's 143-foot diameter for another 15 centuries.

The dome was constructed primarily of concrete, a material rarely used at that time for anything besides foundations. This allowed workers to more easily taper the thickness of the dome walls, which ranges from 5 feet near the top to more than 20 feet where the dome meets the building's vertical walls. Another impressive feature of the Pantheon Dome is the oculus, or "eye", which provides a 27-foot opening to the sky. The oculus is located 143 feet above the building's floor, making the dome as high as it is wide.

The Pantheon's completion was certainly a crowning achievement for its designer, Hadrian, the 13th emperor of Rome. It did, however, present its share of engineering problems. Most important of these was that the dome required significant lateral support in the form of enormous concrete "step rings" near where the elegantly arching dome meets the vertical walls of the lower part of the building.

Throughout most of a dome, inward and upward forces counteract the force of gravity -- the weight of the dome itself. These opposing forces cause the individual sections of the dome to push hard against, or compress, one another. Where compression is high, the dome is stable. At the lower sections, where the dome meets the building's vertical walls, however, the necessary compressive force is missing. To save the dome from collapse, Pantheon engineers placed the massive concrete step rings around the base of the dome. These rings are heavy enough to resist the outward force of the dome and have kept the dome stable and relatively free from cracks for nearly 2,000 years.
National Science Digital Library

Teachers' Domain is proud to be a Pathways portal to the National Science Digital Library.

Please answer this survey question:

Thank you!

Your response has been received. Thanks for helping improve Teachers' Domain!

Source: Building Big: "Domes"

This resource was adapted from Building Big: "Domes."

Resource Produced by:

WGBH Educational Foundation

Collection Developed by:

WGBH Educational Foundation

Collection Credits

Collection Funded by:

National Science Foundation