Re: Breaking sticks or spaghetti

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

On Thu, 29 Jan 1998 22:13:28 -0800 Leigh Palmer <palmer@sfu.ca> 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.   Why?
> There are two influences here to consider, flexion and tension/
> compression. Perhaps the problem should be controlled better to
> see if there really are two different outcomes for the "same"
> bending method. Try bending full, equal lengths of spaghetti by
> holding them with only one finger at each end. Do you still get
> both failure modes? the ratio of compression to flexion should
> be the same every time this way.
>
> Leigh

This an EXCELLENT suggestion, Leigh!

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where our physics students appreciate good suggestions
 to get their projects started off on the right track.)


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