Question

A column that can support same load in compression as it can in tension is called

• A. Intermediate column
• B. Long column
• C. Short column
• D. Cannot be determined

Hint:

Short column → crushing/yielding governs. Long column → buckling governs, so compressive strength reduces significantly.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Compare tension and compression behavior.
A member in tension fails mainly by yielding (or rupture), so its capacity depends mostly on material strength and area.
A member in compression may fail either by crushing/yielding (short column) or by buckling (long column).
Step 2: Key idea for “same load in compression and tension”.
If a column can take the same load in compression as in tension, it means the column is not losing capacity due to buckling.
That happens when the column is short (small slenderness ratio), so failure is by crushing/yielding similar to tension capacity (area-based).
Step 3: Analyze options.
(A) Intermediate column: Buckling effects start becoming important, so compression capacity reduces.
(B) Long column: Buckling governs, so compression capacity is much less than tension capacity.
(C) Short column: Correct, buckling is negligible, so compression capacity can be comparable to tension capacity.
(D) Cannot be determined: Not required because classification is clear from the concept.
Step 4: Conclusion.
Hence, the column is a short column.

Answer 2

Another way to see this is through the Euler buckling load formula, \(P_{cr} = \dfrac{\pi^2 EI}{L_e^2}\), and how it behaves as the column becomes shorter and stockier.

This formula shows that the critical buckling load grows rapidly (inversely with the square of the effective length) as a column gets shorter, meaning very short columns have an extremely high theoretical buckling load — so high that the column crushes (fails by yielding of the material) long before it could ever buckle. In that situation, the column's compressive capacity is governed purely by the material's crushing or yield strength times its cross-sectional area, which is exactly the same basis used to compute its tensile capacity.

1. Intermediate column: Here the effective length is long enough that the Euler buckling load drops to a value comparable to the material's crushing load, so the actual failure load ends up somewhere between the two, reduced below the pure material (tension-equivalent) capacity.
2. Long column: Here the effective length is large enough that the Euler buckling load becomes much smaller than the material's crushing load, so buckling governs well before the material capacity is reached, making the compressive capacity much less than the tensile capacity.
3. Short column: Here the effective length is small enough that the Euler buckling load is far higher than the material's crushing load, so the column simply crushes at its full material strength, the same strength basis used in tension, making compression and tension capacities equal.
4. Cannot be determined: Since the Euler formula gives a clear, predictable trend of buckling load versus effective length, the classification of when compression capacity equals tension capacity is very much determinable, not unknown.

Applying Euler's buckling formula shows the compressive capacity converges to the same material-strength basis as tension only when the column is short.

Therefore, the correct answer is short column.