Build Things That Don't Break
Like Duolingo, but for Build Things That Don't Break. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Build Things That Don't Break
- Tension is an internal force that pulls back against external loads
- Intermolecular bonds act like tiny springs that resist being stretched
- Ductility allows materials to deform and 'thin out' under tension
- Brittle materials fail without warning signs like thinning
- How tension acts as a restorative force within a material
- The relationship between material behavior under stress and physical outcomes
- In a static system, tension is transmitted equally throughout the length of the object
- Tension is a 'tug-of-war' where every segment pulls on the next with equal force
- Compression pushes atoms closer together, creating internal resistance
- Materials slightly deform or 'squish' to push back against the external weight
- Slender objects fail by bending sideways (buckling) before they crush
- Brittle materials like stone handle high weight but fail by shattering or crushing
- Weight is distributed across the surface area of the material's slice
- What happens to the internal structure of a material under a compressive load
- Increasing the width of a pillar allows it to manage more squeezing force
- How different shapes and materials respond to compressive forces
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Build Things That Don't Break the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What behaves like a tiny, microscopic spring inside a material to resist a heavy pull?
Get it right to open this lesson and 25 more in the app.
Where Build Things That Don't Break takes you
Ever wonder why skyscrapers don't topple or how bridges carry thousands of cars? Learn to think like an engineer by mastering the hidden forces that hold our world together.
- 1
Master the Forces Around You
- Pushing and Pulling: The Basics of Tension
- Why Things Squish: Understanding Compression
- The Secret to Staying Upright
- How Shapes Change Strength
- 2
Design Like a Pro
- The Magic of the Triangle
- Building Bridges That Last
- Why Arches Never Go Out of Style
- How Skyscrapers Dance in the Wind
- Testing Your Design to the Breaking Point
- Learning from Famous Mistakes
- 3
The Hidden Math of Reality
- Measuring Stress Without the Headache
- Gravity: The Constant Competitor
- Predicting the Future with Formulas
3 sections · 13 units · 26 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Build Things That Don't Break is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Build Things That Don't Break today.
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