# Reply for: Do tall buildings sway in the wind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 7, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158 "2011-07-07T08:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kadgarth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@Kadgarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kadgarth)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/1 "2011-07-07T08:31:29Z")
I noticed this article was fairly short and just wanted to add my own anecdote to it. When I was a child (8 or 9 years old) my father took my brother and I to see one of his friends who worked in the world trade center. He had an office on one of the top floors. On his desk he had what looked like a small fishtank filled with water. The entire time we were there the water was never stayed still in the container. He told us that the wind caused the building to continually sway back and forth. He also showed us the same phenomenon in one of the toilets up there. > **[Do tall buildings sway in the wind?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342729/do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/2 "2011-07-09T09:44:14Z")
When I go to the 18th floor of my office building, I feel nauseous and get headaches within minutes. I can tell it’s my motion sickness, but no one ever believes me. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/3 "2011-07-09T12:57:38Z")
Dammit, now I’ve got that Dylan song in my head: ::: singing :::: Yes and how many floors Must a man walk down Before he can re-ach the ground? The building, my friend, is swayin’ in the wind, The building is swayin’ in the wind. [sub]Sorry.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/4 "2011-07-09T13:48:15Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Dammit, now I’ve got that Dylan song in my head: > > ::: singing :::: > Yes and how many floors > Must a man walk down > Before he can re-ach the ground? > The building, my friend, is swayin’ in the wind, > The building is swayin’ in the wind. > > [sub]Sorry.[/sub] How much wood would A woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck could chuck wood… [sub]Not sorry.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/5 "2011-07-09T15:03:21Z")
Tall buildings are designed to flex a bit in the wind, but not so much that you would typically notice. I’ve worked on the 30+ th floors of several Manhattan skyscrapers and never felt the buildings rocking back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/6 "2011-07-10T02:53:24Z")
Steel-framed skyscrapers do have a certain amount of sway, but I think it’s far less and much slower than people imagine. The period must be measured in minutes under normal wind conditions, and my understanding is that the 1500-foot Willis Tower normally only has six inches of sway, but is designed to allow as much as 12. Design parameters usually are around 1/500th of building height; the worst real-case measurement I’ve been able to find (a Houston skyscraper during a hurricane) was 1/30th. I will see if I can get a better answer from a structural engineer next week, as I sometimes get asked about this on architectural tours I’m giving. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/7 "2011-07-10T03:00:13Z")
I work on the 8th floor of a 30 floor building. When it’s windy, you can hear the weatherstripping around the windows creak. If you put your hands to either side of the window, you can -feel- the movement…that said, it’s not that MUCH movement. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/8 "2011-07-10T03:24:13Z")
I used to work on the 11th floor of a 17-story building in Denver. An old building, built in 1910, brick & mortar. One very windy day, pencils started rolling off desks and the window blinds started flapping without the windows being opened. On the way home I stopped and looked back at the building. It clearly had been swaying–but it looked so absolutely solid! ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/9 "2011-07-10T04:02:21Z")
Wind might have been able to get into your Denver building with the windows closed, but I assure you that a 17-story building, designed before computer structural engineering, wasn’t swaying enough to send pencils off the desks. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/10 "2011-07-10T07:10:54Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Dammit, now I’ve got that Dylan song in my head: > > ::: singing :::: > Yes and how many floors > Must a man walk down > Before he can re-ach the ground? > The building, my friend, is swayin’ in the wind, > The building is swayin’ in the wind. > > [sub]Sorry.[/sub] An apology is worthless, as this shows our frXXnsdship (all variations) has failed. I reclaimed my daughter’s car and know how to make can even (especially) make a kraut dog. I am fascinated to learn where the Kosher Dog and the Chicago Dog interfere, and how it relates to Chicago history around the support of the White Army. Wife’s grandfather is shown in the unsuccessful army’s uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/11 "2011-07-10T07:25:11Z")
w44e ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reply-for-do-tall-buildings-sway-in-the-wind/588158/12 "2011-07-12T17:44:42Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Steel-framed skyscrapers do have a certain amount of sway, but I think it’s far less and much slower than people imagine. The period must be measured in minutes The period of the swaying is likely to be seconds, as shown in [this video of buildings swaying visibly in Tokyo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHgIzIE2HrQ) after the recent Sendai earthquake. The cameraman was holding steady, so there was no quake happening at the time the video was being recorded; IOW, although the amplitude of the sway shown in the video far exceeds anything you’d ever see due to wind, there’s no forcing function present, and so the buildings are almost certainly swaying at their natural frequency just as they would in the wind.