Beyond Misinformation: What Science Says About the Destruction of World Trade Center Buildings 1, 2, and 7

Take this short quiz after reading the booklet in order to test your understanding of the material.

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* 1. Your Information:

Name:

Email address:

City, State:

Architect, Engineer, or Other?

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* 2. How many high-rise buildings suffered complete collapse due to fire before September 11, 2001?

a. Zero

b. 2

c. 8

d. 15

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* 3. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed primarily due to:

a. Diesel fuel fires from the diesel generators on the 5th floor.

b. Structural damage caused by debris from the collapse of WTC 1.

c. Normal offices ignited by debris from the collapse of WTC 1.

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* 4. Per NIST, for what period of time and over what distance (in terms of stories) was WTC 7 in absolute free fall?

a. There was no period of free fall. Fire cannot cause a building to collapse that quickly.

b. For less than one second over a distance of one story, i.e., a fairly insignificant duration.

c. For 2.25 seconds over a distance of eight stories, i.e., one-third of its 7-second fall.

d. For 7 seconds over a distance of 47 stories, i.e., the whole way down.

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* 5. According to NIST, the mechanism that initiated the collapse of both WTC 1 and WTC 2 involved:

a. Floor connections at the exterior columns failed, which then caused the laterally unsupported exterior columns to buckle and fail.

b. The sagging of heated floors pulling the exterior columns inward until they buckled and failed.

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* 6. True or False: NIST provided detailed calculations and analysis after the point of collapse initiation in order to try to explain why the lower sections of WTC 1 and WTC 2 failed to slow down or arrest the fall of the upper sections of the buildings.

True. These detailed calculations are included in NIST’s final report.

False. NIST acknowledges that it stopped its analysis at the point of collapse initiation.

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* 7. According to FEMA, approximately how far did the debris field from the collapse of WTC 1 and 2 extend from each tower’s base?

a. 50 feet

b. 100 feet

c. 200 feet

d. 400 to 500 feet

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* 8. True or False: According to some FDNY members whose oral histories are documented in the World Trade Center Task Force interviews, the perception that explosions destroyed WTC 1 and WTC 2 was prevalent and widely discussed by FDNY personnel.

True. According to one FDNY member, “A debate began to rage because the perception was that the building looked like it had been taken out with charges.”

False. No one from the FDNY suspected that explosions had destroyed WTC 1 and WTC 2.

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* 9. Where was molten metal observed at the World Trade Center?

a. Nowhere.

b. Pouring out of WTC 2 during the seven minutes prior to its collapse.

c. In the debris of WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7 after their collapse.

d. Both b. and c. above.

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* 10. NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations advises, “Indicators of exotic accelerants include…melted steel or concrete.”

NIST, however, claimed, “The condition of the steel in the wreckage of the WTC towers (i.e., whether it was in a molten state or not) was irrelevant to the investigation of the collapse because it does not provide any conclusive information on the condition of the steel when the WTC towers were standing….”

True. NIST did indeed claim that the condition of the steel in the wreckage of the WTC towers was irrelevant to the investigation.

False. NIST never made a claim that so directly violates NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations.

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* 11. Out of the more than 170 areas that NIST tested on recovered exterior columns from WTC 1 and WTC 2, how many showed evidence of exposure to temperatures above 600°C (the traditionally assumed critical failure temperature) for any significant time?

a. Zero

b. 5

c. 18

d. Every area tested

(This concludes the quiz. The following questions are optional.)

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* 12. Optional: Would you like to receive our occasional email news bulletins?

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* 13. Optional: Do you believe that a new investigation into the collapse of the three WTC high-rises is warranted?

Yes

100% of survey complete.