Re: [Phys-l] swimming

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

My memory betrayed me here: it would be more accurate to say that the 
melange
of results from all three swimmers showed a slower time through the 
syrup laced liquid.
But this represented times from the two protagonists which were similar 
for both media,
whereas the Olympic gold winner was very significantly slower in syrup.

The Mythbusters decided it would be appropriate to discount the Olympic 
swimmer's
results in favor of their own, in order to decide that it is "plausible" 
that the two media
provided similar speeds, though the syrup was apparently more tiring.

Brian W

Videos of the setup are easily available on UTube.

Brian Whatcott wrote:
> This was a diverting episode, no doubt. I sensed a certain effort in
> setting up  repeatable experimental conditions.  When both participants
> found the viscous fluid slowed them somewhat, they engaged a competitive
> swimmer to swim the course, with somewhat similar effect.
>
> Recalling that the viscosity of water, like that of most other liquids,
> varies tremendously with temperature, it seems like a fertile avenue
> for data-mining to relate competitive swim times with water temperature
> for athletes.
>
> Brian W
>
> chuck britton wrote:
>   
> > I'm WRONG ! ! !
> > Looks like Jamie & Adam used syrup.
> > Epsom Salts looks like another thing to try tho.
> >
> >
> > At 10:13 AM -0400 3/30/10, chuck britton wrote:
> >   
> >     
> > > I believe the MythBusters used a concentrated Epsom Salt solution.
> > >
> > >
> > > At 9:39 AM -0400 3/30/10, Bob Sciamanda wrote:
> > >     
> > >       
> > > >   > After our discussion, we both figured that it would be easier 
> > > > to swim in a
> > > >       
> > > >         
> > > > >   more dense liquid, but we could not do an experiment to prove this.
> > > > >         
> > > > >           
> > > > How about fresh water lakes vs oceans or the Great Salt Lake?
> > > >