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Re: [Phys-L] BP or CE?



I have a few boomerangs, and they are shaped like wings (more flat on one
side).
So I figured there must be a reason for this. I was told to hold it
vertically with the
curved side toward me and throw it fast. It would spin around and come
back. I tried
this many times (years ago when I lived in Florida), but never got it to
return.
Takes much practice!

So if a plane can fly upside down...
does it matter how a boomerang is made?
does it matter how a boomerang is thrown?

Are there cheap paper/cardboard boomerangs to make?



Phys-L@Phys-L.org writes:

On 2014, Dec 22, , at 16:03, John Denker <jsd@av8n.com> wrote:


boomerang
Mostly just a wing, plus some angular momentum / precession


Len Fisher in about fifteen pages explains well (at least to me, I
think), plus some interesting lore, the flight of boomerangs, which are
simply two wings. The explanation hinges on: (as JD wrote) one wing
experiences more lift than the other and the resulting gyro action”
does the rest. Other detail includes “dirty air” (One wing is in
“clean air” the trailing in dirty air, hence less lift.)


How to throw a boomerang in “How to dunk a Doughnut”.

Dr Len Fisher | The Science of Everyday Life

http://lenfisherscience.com/books/the-science-of-everyday-life-an-entertaining-and-enlightening-examination-of-everything-we-do-and-everything-we-see/


bc prays he’s got it right.

p.s. re. angular momentum: lotsa drag, so the throw is tricky to obtain
sufficient AM.
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