Why do triangular shapes work best for distributing weight in bridge building?

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Triangular shapes are optimal for weight distribution in bridge building due to their intrinsic strength, as they maintain their shape under pressure. Unlike other polygons, altering a triangle's angles necessitates changing the length of its sides, ensuring stability. This structural integrity allows for effective load distribution, particularly when pressure is applied to the center of the bridge. Understanding which sides are under tension and compression is crucial for design; typically, the base of the triangle experiences compression while the apex experiences tension. Utilizing triangles in truss designs can significantly enhance the load capacity of structures, as evidenced by previous successful builds.
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Sorry if my English is bad. We're building bridges and learning about truss and truss variations, but I'm still confused as to why the triangular shapes work best and what they achieve. How would I know side would be compressed and which would be tense?

We have to build a bridge using roughly 10 dozen popsicle sticks. If I want to apply pressure/load to the middle, how would I design the bridge to distribute this evenly?

Apparantly last year someone got over 570llbs
 
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Triangles "work best" because they're the only convex polygon that has intrinsic strength. You cannot change any angle of a triangle without also changing the length of one of the sides. You can change the angles of any other convex polygon without changing the length of any side; e.g. a square can be deformed into a parallelogram.
 

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