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i came up with 22,000#s, or 1,375# per square foot of a 16ft beam.
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You mean pounds per linear foot. Hopefully that is what “K” is supposed to be.
This is a great exercise for you. Go through it all, solve it, grab a mechE’s Mechanics of Solids book if you need to calculate steel beam dimensions, but ultimately don’t tell your uncle what to do. Get a professional evaluation and compare it to your own, and figure out the discrepancies.
Imagine if you told him what to do, he did it, and you were wrong. At best there’s a family feud. At worst there’s a lawsuit.