Well when I was cruisin about the mall last week, I saw one of them flying pigs toys at Jungle Fun. It was the kind where the pig would flap its wings and fly around in circles connected to the ceiling by a string. Now being a budding physicist, I took a moment to think about the forces behind the pig. First of all, I tried to draw a free body diagram and it turned out the the pig required a 3-D FBD. Tension was applied by the string and its weight went straight downwards, however foreward acceleration due to the flapping wings kept this pig moving in a constant circle. I also assumed that centrifigul force kept the pig moving in a perfect circle. If there was no gravity, then the pig would move in a perfect circle on the same plane as its connection to the ceiling. But because the world sucks, it is pulled to the ground and forms a smaller circle.
* Note: Due to some technical difficulties with my phone, I could not put on the original picture, but instead is a similar flying pig with a FBD on it!
No comments:
Post a Comment