Ever wondered why home roofs are shaped like a wave? Roofs of houses and buildings are usually not plain. Rather they are corrugated with a wave-like shape.
Let’s do a simple experiment to try and find out the reason.
I have here with me a simple house-like structure that needs a roof. Let’s try a plain roof first. This piece of paper is my plain roof.
Having placed the roof, let us now test its strength. I will place this heavy block on top of the roof.
Oops! The roof just gave way and crashed.
Now, let us corrugate the roof. I fold the plain sheet of paper once in the front, once at the back, once in the front and once at the back and so on…all the way till the end.
I now have a wave-like structured roof. I install the roof on the house.
Time to test it.
I place the block… and WOW !, It stays in place without crashing.
See, a simple corrugation of the paper increased its ability to carry loads multiple times.
Now we know why corrugated roofs are popular, isn’t it?
