Re: [Phys-l] Good Questions

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

At 08:31 PM 10/7/2006, Sheron,  you wrote:

> "Why does it take two hands to handle a Whopper?"
///
> .And the Whopper has Lettuce, tomato, mayo and maybe even
> cheese.
> Sheron
> LCC Instructor

This was an interesting observation. And assuming the concern
has to do with torque, stability issues etc., takes me to
the weighty question of why a milkmaid's stool has three legs,
then to the consideration of the sublime stability offered
 to the apical point of a skeletal triangular pyramid,
then on to Colin Chapman's preoccupation with the triangle in
 connection with the space frames used in his early racing cars
 (The "Lotus" marque)  - even why welding up a fourth side to the
 top hat section chassis members of made-over production
 cars he used in club hill-climbs should have improved their
 angular stiffness by a factor of hundreds?
Two other structures that bubble up to consciousness at this
 point would be
1) the horizontal tube connected to a superimposed horizontal
tube at 90 degrees to it   by a pair of struts at each end
of the lower member,  connected to the ends of the upper
member: the two tubes  are wonderfully stiff in their
 horizontal planes.
2) the horizontal triangle of tubes connected by two tubes
at each lower vertex to a superimposed triangle of tubes rotated
by 180 degrees wrt the lower triangle. Another structure that's
nicely stiff in rotation, but also stiff in extension or compression.


Brian Whatcott    Altus OK    Eureka!