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Quizzical Pursuit
—The Architecture Puzzler
Created by Dave Guadagni
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Solution to Last Week's Puzzler
Architecture Puzzler #250
Question
White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is an outcropping of hydrous calcium sulphate. What is the common name of this rock and how is it used in the construction industry?
Answer
Hydrous calcium sulphate (CaSO4-2H2O) is gypsum. When it is ground up, "boiled," or calcined at a low temperature until it forms a fine powder known as plaster of paris, it becomes, when rehydrated, the core for gypsum wall board products. It is also used as a base for toothpaste. In the United States, gypsum is found in two belts that vary in width from 1 to 150 miles (2 to 240 kilometers). One belt runs from Texas to New York and the other from California to Utah.
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Dave Guadagni, AIA, is an architect with Robertson/Sherwood/Architects
Quizzical Pursuit is Copyright 2005, Dave Guadagni.
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Full moon at White Sands.
Photo: National Park Service
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