Buckling

Imagine you are playing with toy building blocks. You stack them up to make a tall tower. But the blocks aren't perfectly sturdy, they can bend a little bit. If you push just the right way on the tower, it might start to bend or lean to one side. This bending of the tower is called "buckling".

Similarly, when a long and thin object like a beam or column is compressed, it might start to buckle or bend. This happens because the object isn't strong enough to hold its shape when a force is pushing on it. Just like the tower of blocks, the object can bend or buckle to one side or the other.

If the force pushing on the object is too strong, the object can bend or buckle to the point of collapsing. This can be dangerous for structures like buildings, bridges, and even airplanes.

Engineers and scientists study buckling to understand how materials perform under different forces and how to design stronger and more stable structures to prevent buckling.