Re: Breaking sticks or spaghetti

[herbgottlieb@juno.com (Herbert H. Gottlieb)]

 JBRAUNSDORF@delphi.com writes:
> When one takes a light stick or a piece of uncooked spaghetti and 
> holds it near the ends and flexes it it sometimes does not break into
two pieces but 
> into three.  You end up with one piece in each hand and a short middle 
> section which flies off as a projectile.
> .......  Unless they are somehow constrained to be simultaneous it seems
that the >first break would relieve any stress on the remaining free end
so it should not break a piece off.      Any clues would be appreciated.

This question would make a nice student project using high-speed
photography. I suspect that she would observe that the two breaks are NOT
simultaneous.  The entire spaghetti strand is under great stress before a
break occurs. After that first break, the stress is relieved and the
remaining section attempts to relieve the stress by reverting to its
original straight-stick spaghetti configuration. While doing so, there is
a bound to be a whiplash effect with the free end travelling much faster
than the rest of the stick.   If my theory is true, photographs should
show that the section broken off from the middle of the stick rotates as
it flies off to spaghetti heaven. 

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where we have the best spaghetti restaurants outside of Italy itself)

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]