engineering

Votruba Block

Votruba Block is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Votruba Block rather than just read about it. In short: The Votruba Block is a commercial building located at 112 Main Street in East Jordan, Michigan. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Key takeaways

Votruba Block belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Votruba Block to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Votruba Block from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Votruba Block is a commercial building located at 112 Main Street in East Jordan, Michigan. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. It is next to, and shares a wall with, the East Jordan Lumber Company Store Building; both buildings have been rehabilitated to form the Main Street Center office complex.

History The Votruba family was part of a substantial settlement of Bohemians in Antrim and Charlevoix counties that began in the late 1860s. John and Anna Votruba were among the settlement's pioneers, settling in the area in 1871. Their son James J. Votruba was born in 1871 shortly after his parent arrived. In the mid-1890s, James Votruba moved to the nearby East Jordan, which was then in the midst of a lumber boom, and apparently became involved in commercial interests in the town. In 1899, Votruba had this commercial building constructed to house a general store selling groceries, harnesses, and notions. By 1903, Vortuba had given up the business in favor of becoming a travelling salesman, and a new business, the East Jordan Harness Company, occupied the building. This was replaced by a furniture store, possibly owned by Votruba, in 1905. In 1907, James Votruba was back in the general store business, and opened a new store selling groceries, harness, farm implements, confectionery, and other goods in the Votruba block. The upstairs portion of the building briefly housed the Masonic Lodge, and then in 1907-1910 a dance hall. In 1910, the hall reportedly began serving as the meeting place for the Knights of Pythias. James Votrubacontinued to operate the store until his death in 1928. Afterward, a series of businesses used the space. By the 1950s, Healy Hardware occupied the building, staying until the 1980s. Two pizza businesses followed during the 1990s. The building was vacant for a time, and severe deterioration. In 2002–2004, it was rehabilitated as part of the Main Street Center office building project.

Description The Votruba Block is a two-story Late Victorian commercial building with red brick masonry walls, wooden framing, and an iron cornice. It measures 23 feet across and 100 feet in depth. The building has a central-entry storefront on the ground level, with a narrow staircase at one end accessing the second floor. The second story contains two pairs of double-hung windows with round-arch transoms, and the attic story has a short pair of double-hung windows in the center, flanked by a small round window on either side. A decorative galvanized iron cornice tops the facade of the building. Inside, the first floor of the building originally contained a large store space on the first floor, and a kitchen space was later included at the rear. The front two-thirds of the second story contained an apartment, and the rear section contained a large a single room. The recent rehabilitation project resulted in the redevelopment of both floors into office suites.

References

External links Main Street Center

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Votruba Block

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Votruba Block claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Votruba Block before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Votruba Block ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Votruba Block

In research: Votruba Block appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Votruba Block in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Votruba Block is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures completed in 1899, National Register of Historic Places in Charlevoix County, Michigan, Victorian architecture in Michigan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Votruba Block outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Votruba Block in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Votruba Block means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Votruba Block out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Votruba Block in simple terms?

The Votruba Block is a commercial building located at 112 Main Street in East Jordan, Michigan. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Why does Votruba Block matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Votruba Block?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Votruba Block.