The Parthenon

by Anthony Prewitt

Submitted : Fall 2011

The Parthenon is a building in Greece built in 447 B.C. (The Parthenon). The objective is to figure out the volume, mass, weight, and ground pressure of one Parthenon column. Calculus is applied to formulate two equations, one for the volume of a straight cylinder and another for a tapered cylinder. After figuring the column’s volume, the mass can be figured by using the density of the column times the volume. This leads to finding the column’s weight, which is gravity times the mass and also gives the ability to find the ground pressure with the equation: pressure equals force divided by area. The mathematical results show the columns built were a remarkable feat in 447 B.C. The building of the Parthenon must have taken thousands of man hours. The fact that this building still stands today shows the engineering used two-thousand five hundred years ago is still relevant today.

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