本文介绍了Andria Rogava利用网球搭建的各种奇特结构，特别是“网球塔”。作者打破了自己之前创造的纪录，成功搭建了一个由34个网球组成的12层高塔。文章还展示了由不同数量网球构成的多层结构，如每层由四个或五个网球组成的塔，并解释了为何每层由六个网球组成的塔是不可行的，因为“锁定”球会简单地位于中间。文章附带了相关照片和视频，展示了这些令人惊叹的平衡结构，以及它们在外界干扰下崩溃的瞬间。

🎾作者Andria Rogava构建了一个新的网球塔记录，由34个网球构成，共12层，每层由3个网球组成，顶层由一个“锁定”球保持整个结构稳定。

🧱作者还尝试了其他结构的网球塔，包括每层由4个或5个网球组成的塔，它们比3个网球的结构更脆弱。作者成功搭建了一个由21个网球组成的6层塔（每层4个球），以及一个由11个网球组成的3层塔（每层5个球）。

🤔文章解释了为什么每层由6个网球组成的塔是不可能实现的，因为“锁定”球会简单地位于其他6个网球之间，无法起到稳定作用。

A few years ago, I wrote in Physics World about various bizarre structures I’d built from tennis balls, the most peculiar of which I termed “tennis-ball towers”. They consisted of a series of three-ball layers topped by a single ball (“the locker”) that keeps the whole tower intact. Each tower had (3n + 1) balls, where n is the number of triangular layers. The tallest tower I made was a seven-storey, 19-ball structure (n = 6). Shortly afterwards, I made an even bigger, nine-storey, 25-ball structure (n = 8).

Now, in the latest exciting development, I have built a new, record-breaking tower with 34 balls (n = 11), in which all 30 balls from the second to the eleventh layer are kept in equilibrium by the locker on the top (see photo a). The three balls in the bottom layer aren’t influenced by the locker as they stay in place by virtue of being on the horizontal surface of a table.

I tried going even higher but failed to build a structure that would stay intact without supporting “scaffolds”. Now in case you think I’ve just glued the balls together, watch the video below to see how the incredible 34-ball structure collapses spontaneously, probably due to a slight vibration as I walked around the table.

Even more unexpectedly, I have been able to make tennis-ball towers consisting of layers of four balls (4n + 1) and five balls too (5n + 1). Their equilibria are more delicate and, in the case of four-ball structures, so far I have only managed to build (photo b) a 21-ball, six-storey tower (n = 5). You can also see the tower in the video below.

The (5n + 1) towers are even trickier to make and (photo c) I have only got up to a three-storey structure with 11 balls (n = 2): two lots of five balls with a sixth single ball on top. In case you’re wondering, towers with six balls in each layer are physically impossible to build because they form a regular hexagon. You can’t just use another ball as a locker because it would simply sit between the other six (photo d).

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