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Serious question: is it even under actual "tension" at all?

Don't the track pieces fit together loosely?

And aren't most Lego/Duplo pieces made of such hard and rigid plastic that they don't effectively bend at all?

So while it's still an interesting math problem about angles and lengths, I'm not sure the premise of "tension" is correct here.



I highly recommend anyone interested in the question of whether Legos can bend to watch some videos from this channel: https://youtu.be/lp7cFcnJCH4?si=eYMf8rcTpv_2DD-B

Some amazing "illegal" Lego creations there.


Amazing creations!

But the sound of those bending Lego bricks made my teeth hurt, I had to mute the video. :-|


They certainly do bend. You can stack Lego pieces into a circle, like https://www.instructables.com/Lego-Circle/ . I've done the same with (enough) Duplo.


The proper term is stress? Since there is also compression.

My 3yo son usually ends up with really "tense" tracks if he manages to build a circle. The lever torque of the track length makes them bend a tiny bit, so there should be tension in the outer rail. The fittings are quite close fits.


FWIW you can get duplo track under enough tension that the tracks no longer have loose give and you can lift it up the entire track without it coming apart. It requires a bit of work to make a track like the one in OP


Try Märklin C track. They are rigid plastic and made with ruthless German precision.


One half of the duplo can be in tension and the other half in compression.


Stress if you’re looking for more precise language.




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