Buckling plays a role in many natural and human-caused phenomena. Explore the following examples.

(a) Mountain building. When two continental plates are in (very slow) collision, the compressional force near their interface drives their crustal rock to buckle upward, producing mountains. Estimate how high such mountains can be on Earth and on Mars, and compare your estimates with their actual heights. Read about such mountain building in books or on the web.

(b) Thermal expansion of pipes. When a segment of pipe is heated (e.g., by the rising sun in the morning), it will expand. If its ends are held fixed, this can easily produce a longitudinal stress large enough to buckle the pipe. How would you deal with this in an oil pipeline on Earth’s surface? In a long vacuum tube? Compare your answers with standard engineering solutions, which you can find in books or on the web.