Are the Hometrees in James Cameron’s Avatar Structurally Possible?

Rowan Reynolds, Chris Ringrose, Robbie Roe

Abstract


In James Cameron’s Avatar, the Hometree is a sacred home for the Na’vi clans. These “trees” are said to be made of several thinner trees which have grown together to form a larger structure, suitable for its inhabitants. On Earth, the largest trees are significantly smaller (by almost a third). This paper concludes that factors such as reduced gravity result in only 22,100 N m-2­ of compression, low enough to allow the tree to stand. 


Keywords


Film; Physics; Mechanics; Material properties; Avatar (James Cameron)

Full Text:

PDF

References


Avatar (2009) Director: James Cameron. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Avatar Wiki (2016) Hometree, james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com. Available at: http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Hometree [Accessed 25/03/2016]

Patterson, D.W. & Doruska, P.F. (2013) Landowner’s Guide to Determining Weight of Standing Hardwood Trees, Agriculture and Natural Resources. University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture. Available at: http://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/fsa-5021.pdf [Accessed 25/03/2016]

Avatar Wiki (2016) Pandora, james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com. Available at: http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Pandora [Accessed 25/03/2016]

engineeringtoolbox.com (2016) Wood Beams – Strength of Material. Available at: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-beams-strength-d_1480.html [Accessed 25/03/2016]


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
We use both functional and performance cookies to improve visitor experience. Continue browsing if you are happy to accept cookies. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.
OK