Fruit Market Disaster |
"It's lunch time at the market. You catch sight of the apple of
your eye. No sooner do you make your move than it feels as if
all your dreams are cascading to the ground. Time freezes. You
desperately grasp for memories of what you had once learned
from Isaac Newton, the grand master of such matters. But even
the great Newton did not know how to slow down time. Reality
sets in as bystanders glare. Alone in your embarrassment, and
standing in the rubble that includes your dented beauty, you are
left to wonder how such a seemingly small move could lead to
such disaster."
The following videos were filmed in conjunction with the Quick Study article entitled "Friction, Force chains and Falling Fruit" by Jacqueline Krim and Robert Behringer, for the September 2009 issue of Physics Today, volume 62. The videos have been organized by the order in which the fruit has been stacked from bottom to top. Following the order of stacking are the respective coefficients of friction. The thumbnails link to mpeg versions of the videos or you may watch on YouTube. Please note that express permission is required for the reproduction of these movies. You can view the original article at Physics Today here. |