Column
Columns transfer loads downward into foundations. This topic is part of Architecture within Arts & Culture. This page currently draws on 46 supporting questions, with answers and bonus facts available below.
Column trivia questions
A column is a vertical structural element used mainly to support what?
Answer: Loads above it
Bonus fact: Columns transfer loads downward into foundations.
What are the three classical Greek architectural orders?
Answer: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Bonus fact: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian are the major classical Greek orders.
What is the decorative top of a classical column called?
Answer: Capital
Bonus fact: The capital sits above the shaft and below the entablature.
What structure in many orchids combines reproductive parts into a single column?
Answer: Column
Bonus fact: The orchid column fuses male and female reproductive structures.
What rising columns of warm air do glider pilots use to gain altitude?
Answer: Thermals
Bonus fact: Thermals can lift gliders thousands of feet.
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to what?
Answer: Ground
Bonus fact: Tornadoes connect a storm cloud with the surface.
Basalt columns form when lava cools and what?
Answer: Contracts
Bonus fact: Cooling contraction creates fractures.
Which famous Northern Ireland site is made of spectacular basalt columns?
Answer: Giant's Causeway
Bonus fact: Giant's Causeway formed from ancient volcanic lava flows.
On many abacuses, bead columns represent what mathematical idea?
Answer: Place value
Bonus fact: Columns commonly correspond to ones, tens, hundreds, and so on.
Elements in the same vertical column of the periodic table are called what?
Answer: Group
Bonus fact: Group members often have similar chemical properties.
What rising columns of warm air help gliders stay aloft?
Answer: Thermals
Bonus fact: Pilots circle in thermals to gain altitude.
What type of distillation uses a fractionating column to separate liquids with closer boiling points?
Answer: Fractional distillation
Bonus fact: Repeated vaporization and condensation improve separation.