Q&A

Your science questions answered.

The plastic used in Lego – a type of polymer called ‘acrylonitrile butadiene styrene’ (ABS) – is surprisingly strong. In fact, it’s able to withstand compression better than concrete. Researchers at the Open University in 2012 found that an ordinarysized Lego brick can support the weight of 375,000 other bricks before it fails. Theoretically, that would allow you to build a tower almost 3.5km high! But Lego is far too expensive to be used as a large-scale building material. There are, however, Legostyle construction techniques that use other materials. ‘Insulated concrete formwork’ (ICF) uses hollow polystyrene blocks that are assembled into walls and then pumped full of concrete. The polystyrene acts as a mould and provides insulation. And in developing countries, interlocking blocks of compressed earth mixed with a small amount of cement are used as a cheap alternative to bricks and mortar.