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)

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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]


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