Science of Stupid (2014) s08e01 Episode Script
Cornering in a Go Kart, Using an Outboard Motor, Jumping Out of a Plane Without a Parachute
1
DALLAS (off-screen): This
is the Science of Stupid.
Yes, this is the show that
extracts scientific wisdom
from pure stupidity.
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): Take
notes as people with too much
time and too little sense
test the boundaries of science
in pursuit of fun.
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): We'll
reveal what went wrong and why
with the help of
such key principles as
the coefficients of friction,
animal defense mechanisms,
and our old
friend, lift force.
MAN: Ah.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Taunt science and you're tempting fate.
So watch out, it's
the Science of Stupid.
In this episode
we'll be taking control
of terminal velocity.
He was okay.
Looking closely
at tire traction,
and diving headfirst
into propeller science,
but first this.
It's hard to imagine anything
more terrifying than clinging
desperately to
a sheer rockface.
40 feet up,
scrambling around for
the slightest hint of friction.
MAN: Ah. Ah, ah!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Pretty scary.
MAN: Thank you.
DALLAS: But not scary
enough for some climbers
who like their rock faces to
be, mmm, somewhat slippier.
The ice climber, a rare breed
that scales gravity taunting
ice incrusted cliff faces
and even frozen waterfalls.
Yeah, just not for me.
What makes ice
climbing possible,
aside from an inhuman head
for heights and an enormous
insurance premium, is the
high strength of ice's unique
internal structure, but it
does have its weak points.
Ice consists of water
molecules arrange hexagonally
to form crystalline
structures.
This tightly organized
arrangement can make an icicle
strong enough to support the
weight of an ice climber.
However, as ice grows it can
create networks of weak roots
between the crystals.
These are more perilous
near the top of an icicle,
which bears more of its weight
and so is under more stress.
Strike a weak point
here and that fracture can spread in an instant.
Okay, before we
grab our crampons,
let's experiment with
that unique structure.
Here we have a man
demonstrating how an ice shelf
composed of zillions of tiny
hexagons is strong enough to
stand on.
(screams)
DALLAS (off-screen):
But not stamp on.
Note how
excessive force applied by
stamping results in sudden
fracture along weaker routes
between ice crystals.
Okay, let's ice climb.
MAN: Here we go!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Close one. Still, the ice did hold strong there.
Let's see how it
does further up.
MAN: Woah.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Err, not great.
Although the icicle did
kind of stay in one piece,
it's just that it
wasn't very well stuck to the grass at the top.
MAN: You alright, Wallis?
MAN: I'm fine.
DALLAS (off-screen): Okay,
Wallis, but you do have to pick your icicles carefully.
And that is not an
icicle I would pick.
Ice weighs nearly
60 pounds per cubic foot,
so that icicle is already
supporting over a tonne of its
own weight, or
at least it was.
Remember, the higher you are
the more stressed the icicle
and the more
likely you are
to suffer a
different kind of stress.
And now we briefly avert our
gazes from people doing stuff
wrong and focus on someone
doing something right.
Record breaking right.
Consider the
skydiver in freefall,
initially accelerating
to earth at a terrifying
32.2 feet per
second per second.
Imagine the relief when that
parachute finally pops open,
but what if they're not
wearing a parachute.
Like
Yasuhiro Kubo here going for a Guinness World Record title.
He'll be
freefalling from around
10,000 feet and attempting to
catch up with his parachute
attached to this canister.
The record is determined by
how long he waits
before jumping,
at 50 seconds
later off he goes.
♪
DALLAS (off-screen):
Well that was a relief, and a World Record.
Freefalling without a
parachute is one of the most
dangerous stunts imaginable.
Do not even
consider considering to consider to do it, ever.
Especially when even regular
skydivers have their off days.
Err, little help please mate.
Go on, you can do it, go on.
Great, thank you.
Alright, so how does a
skydiver fall fast enough to
catch up with a parachute thrown
our nearly a minute beforehand?
Well to find out we need to
swot up on terminal velocity
and air resistance.
As an object falls it collides
with trillions of tiny air
molecules, resulting
in air resistance.
As the object accelerates the
air resistance acting on it
increases until it matches the
force of the object's weight.
It's now at terminal velocity,
the maximum speed it can fall.
A larger surface area
increases air resistance and
so decreases
terminal velocity.
A smaller surface area
decreases air resistance
and so increases
terminal velocity.
A sky diver in spread-eagled
position hit terminal velocity
around 120 miles an hour
after about 12 seconds,
but for Yasuhiro
to catch up with his chute that is just too slow.
So which of our wannabe record
breakers has remembered how we
speed up our
terminal velocity?
Not these ones.
That is the complete opposite.
Their raft has a
large surface area,
thereby increasing
air resistance and slowing them down.
Okay, anyone else.
Yeah, that's
it, going upside down and reducing his surface area
decreases air resistance and
increases terminal velocity.
Trouble is, oh, woah,
it's very hard to control.
Oh, is that guy inverted too?
Yes, he was.
Once he's caught up with his
chute Yasuhiro needed to steer
himself into
position to grab it.
How did he do that?
Well skydivers can also use
air resistance to maneuver.
For example, by adjusting his
body shape this chap deflects
more air backwards,
which pushes him forwards.
Bullseye.
Somehow all of our
high flyers were fine,
but I think we should leave
the record to Yasuhiro.
Now can you guess what
scientific principle this free
runner is about
to demonstrate?
DALLAS (off-screen):
Did you work out the science he's about to show us?
Yes, it's angular momentum.
As he lands he pushes
back with his feet,
tipping the trash can.
This rotates him around
his center of mass,
giving him angular momentum
he probably didn't want.
Who ways
recycling can't be fun?
In 1956 race car mechanic,
Art Ingels, and partner,
Lou Borelli, took an old
lawnmower engine and fashioned
the very first go-cart.
They got about
two horsepower out of it,
but go-carts aren't all
about straight-line speed.
Races can be won and
lost on the bends.
Sometimes with a little help,
but when you've crossed the
line seconds ahead of the
rest it's a moment to treasure.
Selfie?
The secret to winning those
corners lies in not losing too
much speed or traction, and
the secret to that lies in
straight lining a bend.
Our driver decelerates as
he approaches the corner,
sweeping in from wide and
cutting across the apex of the
bend, before accelerating
out wide again.
This is called
straight lining a bend.
It maximizes the radius
of the curve he follows,
allowing him to
maintain a higher speed,
with less risk
of an understeer,
where the front
wheels lose traction,
or an oversteer where the
rear wheels lose traction.
Okay, visors down
and let's see who can
straight-line a bend.
Well he can.
Beautifully sweeping
in from wide,
tickling the apex and
accelerating out wide again,
maximum the radius and
protecting the lead.
Another one?
Yeah, not quite as good.
Approach the turn too tight
and straight lining that bend
is going to be hard.
So how about we take
it a little wider?
Err, yeah, not that wide.
An oversteer causes his rear
tires to lose traction.
A little corrective steering
later and now it's a massive
understeer.
Two for one.
Okay, we've got this.
Find the line,
maintain traction,
and he's stolen the lead.
Now defending a corner means
forcing your attacker to take
the worst possible route.
Yep, that was a bad one.
As our driver cuts in his
attacker is squeezed out and
oversteers significantly.
So it's like I said,
go-carts aren't all about
straight line speed.
The path to victory lies in
mastering the tightest of turns.
Admittedly that is
a little too tight.
For thousands of years the key
to engineering strength
has been down to a simple
shape, this one.
From the 4,000-year-old
pyramids of Giza,
to dad's bike.
Well, the frame anyway.
The triangle has been
recognized by engineers as the
strongest of all polygons.
Squares, rectangles,
pentagons, nonagons, decagons,
no shape is in better shape
than the mighty triangle.
Apply force to a square and
you can change its angles,
collapsing it even if
its sides don't fail.
This is true of all polygons,
except the triangle.
No matter how much
force is applied,
a triangle will not collapse
as long as its sides don't fail.
Systems of triangles,
like trusses,
are particularly effective at
transferring loads to their
supports, and squares and
rectangles can be reinforced
simply by adding cross
braces which, yep,
turn them into triangles.
We owe the mighty
triangle so much.
Because of it, huge cranes can
hoist thousand tonne weights,
factories, stadiums and
stations can bear vast roofs
without supporting columns.
And the legs of this child's
swing set can easily hold the
weight of these, err, adults.
Unlike the rotten
beam at the top.
So how do you strengthen
an entire structure?
Well trusses like these roof
supports are a system of
connected triangles
that transfer the weight of the roof to the walls.
MAN: This is
either going to work
or it's not.
DALLAS (off-screen): Now I'm
hopeful because there is yet
another triangle, making
your ladder very sturdy.
See, the ladder's
completely fine.
MAN: Boy, that hurt.
DALLAS (off-screen): Now
rectangular structures,
like a wardrobe, can be
reinforced by inserting a
cross brace to form triangles.
This wardrobe. Yeah,
that's just a rectangle.
So the force of the
impacts have no trouble
altering its angles.
Still it's much
easier to pack up now.
Good work lads.
But remember, even a triangle
is only as strong as its sides.
So as a tornado
tears through Russia,
even a gantry that can support
hundreds of tonnes in weight
has its limits.
DALLAS: The inventor of
the first outboard motor,
French electrical
engineer, Gustave Trouve,
was also responsible for
the first electric vehicle,
the portable
electric safety lamp,
the endoscope and the
light-up ballet dress.
In short, the
man was a genius.
But thanks to the simplicity
of Gustave's outboard motor
you don't have to
be a genius to use one.
The outboard motor,
distinguishable from the
inboard in that it sits
outside the body of the
vessel, can be rigged to very
small lightweight boats,
giving them a high
power to weight ratio.
So with all that
power in your hands,
wouldn't it be
good to understand a little of the science?
As propeller blades rotate
they accelerate a column of
water backwards, producing a
reaction force that thrusts
the boat forwards.
The propeller can be moved
left or right to steer.
It could also be angled
up, called tripping up,
which raises the bow, reducing
hydrodynamic drag when at
speed for greater
efficiency, or angled down,
called trimming down, which
lowers the bow into the water,
giving the hull
more stability.
Just watch out for your depth.
Exactly how and when you
alter the direction of thrust
through trimming is
a science in itself.
Trimming up raises
the bow, reducing drag for efficient planing.
MAN: Or not.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yeah, or not.
MAN (off-screen): Ooh.
DALLAS (off-screen): When in
a boat with a high power to
weight ratio it's best not to
slam the throttle on and off.
MAN (off-screen): Ooh.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Okay, onto steering.
And where better to learn
than dinghy derby practice,
where boats can race upriver
and over 50 miles an hour.
And now for a textbook 180.
Ah, I've not read
that textbook.
One dramatic change
of thrust direction,
one massive increase
of drag at the side,
leading to two damp sailors.
Reverse propeller direction
to thrust backwards, nice.
Trim up, keeping that
prop clear of the bottom,
loving your work, sir, and to
finish, a little showboating.
Classic.
Drop your prop in extremely
shallow water and your boat
may stop, but you might not.
But once you've perfected
thrust and trim control
you can move onto
more advanced skills.
Like diving.
The humble baseball,
more complex than it looks,
comprising of an outer
layer of leather,
several layers of yarn,
two types of rubber and a
cushioned cork center.
Its mass gives it
lots of momentum.
Okay, lots of
momentum not always ideal,
so a safer option
might be this.
Plastic, hollow, lightweight,
its kinder on your furniture.
And harmless fun for kids.
WOMAN: Nice shot.
DALLAS (off-screen):
But not for mums.
Alright, so plastic balls,
not 100% pain free,
but with whole tournaments
across America dedicated to
this variant of baseball a few
extra hours backyard batting
for junior could
yield a future star,
provided they first complete
their homework on velocity,
momentum, angles and vortices.
Some plastic balls are
perforated and spinning them
can allow air to
rush into the holes,
creating vortices inside
that can curve the ball,
making it harder to hit.
Being hollow, the ball
also has a lower mass than a
regular baseball, so he needs
to strike with a lot more
velocity for it to gain
sufficient momentum and fly far.
And striking
underneath the ball,
so it launches at
around 25 degrees also helps maximize distance.
Therefore the balls' lower mass
means they're safer for kids
and beginners, and thanks
to those internal vortices
curving the ball
is child's play.
You just have to
know how to pitch it.
This is not how to pitch it.
MAN: I'm not going to
try to hit you though
I'm going to go to your
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): Face?
With that excessive amount
of velocity and therefore
momentum they really didn't need
to bother with a curve ball.
Because he didn't
see that coming.
That's it, nice fast
swing, plenty of momentum,
but for distance you'd also
want to aim a little higher.
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): Yeah,
a bit higher than that.
You're looking for
that 25 degree angle.
MAN: Ah.
DALLAS (off-screen): It was
closer to minus 25 degrees.
Yeah, that's more like it.
A high velocity swing and an
angle closer to 25 degrees
means even his hollow plastic
ball is heading for the stands.
Now let's see if we can
launch it into next door.
Oh, yeah, not, not quite.
The achievements of science in
this century alone are really
quite staggering.
We've detected water over
30 million miles away on Mars,
we've grown
functioning human organs,
and discovered that 68% of
our universe is composed of a
mysterious dark energy,
but we're still not quite sure
why people do this.
♪
♪
Captioned by
Cotter Captioning Services
DALLAS (off-screen): This
is the Science of Stupid.
Yes, this is the show that
extracts scientific wisdom
from pure stupidity.
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): Take
notes as people with too much
time and too little sense
test the boundaries of science
in pursuit of fun.
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): We'll
reveal what went wrong and why
with the help of
such key principles as
the coefficients of friction,
animal defense mechanisms,
and our old
friend, lift force.
MAN: Ah.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Taunt science and you're tempting fate.
So watch out, it's
the Science of Stupid.
In this episode
we'll be taking control
of terminal velocity.
He was okay.
Looking closely
at tire traction,
and diving headfirst
into propeller science,
but first this.
It's hard to imagine anything
more terrifying than clinging
desperately to
a sheer rockface.
40 feet up,
scrambling around for
the slightest hint of friction.
MAN: Ah. Ah, ah!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Pretty scary.
MAN: Thank you.
DALLAS: But not scary
enough for some climbers
who like their rock faces to
be, mmm, somewhat slippier.
The ice climber, a rare breed
that scales gravity taunting
ice incrusted cliff faces
and even frozen waterfalls.
Yeah, just not for me.
What makes ice
climbing possible,
aside from an inhuman head
for heights and an enormous
insurance premium, is the
high strength of ice's unique
internal structure, but it
does have its weak points.
Ice consists of water
molecules arrange hexagonally
to form crystalline
structures.
This tightly organized
arrangement can make an icicle
strong enough to support the
weight of an ice climber.
However, as ice grows it can
create networks of weak roots
between the crystals.
These are more perilous
near the top of an icicle,
which bears more of its weight
and so is under more stress.
Strike a weak point
here and that fracture can spread in an instant.
Okay, before we
grab our crampons,
let's experiment with
that unique structure.
Here we have a man
demonstrating how an ice shelf
composed of zillions of tiny
hexagons is strong enough to
stand on.
(screams)
DALLAS (off-screen):
But not stamp on.
Note how
excessive force applied by
stamping results in sudden
fracture along weaker routes
between ice crystals.
Okay, let's ice climb.
MAN: Here we go!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Close one. Still, the ice did hold strong there.
Let's see how it
does further up.
MAN: Woah.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Err, not great.
Although the icicle did
kind of stay in one piece,
it's just that it
wasn't very well stuck to the grass at the top.
MAN: You alright, Wallis?
MAN: I'm fine.
DALLAS (off-screen): Okay,
Wallis, but you do have to pick your icicles carefully.
And that is not an
icicle I would pick.
Ice weighs nearly
60 pounds per cubic foot,
so that icicle is already
supporting over a tonne of its
own weight, or
at least it was.
Remember, the higher you are
the more stressed the icicle
and the more
likely you are
to suffer a
different kind of stress.
And now we briefly avert our
gazes from people doing stuff
wrong and focus on someone
doing something right.
Record breaking right.
Consider the
skydiver in freefall,
initially accelerating
to earth at a terrifying
32.2 feet per
second per second.
Imagine the relief when that
parachute finally pops open,
but what if they're not
wearing a parachute.
Like
Yasuhiro Kubo here going for a Guinness World Record title.
He'll be
freefalling from around
10,000 feet and attempting to
catch up with his parachute
attached to this canister.
The record is determined by
how long he waits
before jumping,
at 50 seconds
later off he goes.
♪
DALLAS (off-screen):
Well that was a relief, and a World Record.
Freefalling without a
parachute is one of the most
dangerous stunts imaginable.
Do not even
consider considering to consider to do it, ever.
Especially when even regular
skydivers have their off days.
Err, little help please mate.
Go on, you can do it, go on.
Great, thank you.
Alright, so how does a
skydiver fall fast enough to
catch up with a parachute thrown
our nearly a minute beforehand?
Well to find out we need to
swot up on terminal velocity
and air resistance.
As an object falls it collides
with trillions of tiny air
molecules, resulting
in air resistance.
As the object accelerates the
air resistance acting on it
increases until it matches the
force of the object's weight.
It's now at terminal velocity,
the maximum speed it can fall.
A larger surface area
increases air resistance and
so decreases
terminal velocity.
A smaller surface area
decreases air resistance
and so increases
terminal velocity.
A sky diver in spread-eagled
position hit terminal velocity
around 120 miles an hour
after about 12 seconds,
but for Yasuhiro
to catch up with his chute that is just too slow.
So which of our wannabe record
breakers has remembered how we
speed up our
terminal velocity?
Not these ones.
That is the complete opposite.
Their raft has a
large surface area,
thereby increasing
air resistance and slowing them down.
Okay, anyone else.
Yeah, that's
it, going upside down and reducing his surface area
decreases air resistance and
increases terminal velocity.
Trouble is, oh, woah,
it's very hard to control.
Oh, is that guy inverted too?
Yes, he was.
Once he's caught up with his
chute Yasuhiro needed to steer
himself into
position to grab it.
How did he do that?
Well skydivers can also use
air resistance to maneuver.
For example, by adjusting his
body shape this chap deflects
more air backwards,
which pushes him forwards.
Bullseye.
Somehow all of our
high flyers were fine,
but I think we should leave
the record to Yasuhiro.
Now can you guess what
scientific principle this free
runner is about
to demonstrate?
DALLAS (off-screen):
Did you work out the science he's about to show us?
Yes, it's angular momentum.
As he lands he pushes
back with his feet,
tipping the trash can.
This rotates him around
his center of mass,
giving him angular momentum
he probably didn't want.
Who ways
recycling can't be fun?
In 1956 race car mechanic,
Art Ingels, and partner,
Lou Borelli, took an old
lawnmower engine and fashioned
the very first go-cart.
They got about
two horsepower out of it,
but go-carts aren't all
about straight-line speed.
Races can be won and
lost on the bends.
Sometimes with a little help,
but when you've crossed the
line seconds ahead of the
rest it's a moment to treasure.
Selfie?
The secret to winning those
corners lies in not losing too
much speed or traction, and
the secret to that lies in
straight lining a bend.
Our driver decelerates as
he approaches the corner,
sweeping in from wide and
cutting across the apex of the
bend, before accelerating
out wide again.
This is called
straight lining a bend.
It maximizes the radius
of the curve he follows,
allowing him to
maintain a higher speed,
with less risk
of an understeer,
where the front
wheels lose traction,
or an oversteer where the
rear wheels lose traction.
Okay, visors down
and let's see who can
straight-line a bend.
Well he can.
Beautifully sweeping
in from wide,
tickling the apex and
accelerating out wide again,
maximum the radius and
protecting the lead.
Another one?
Yeah, not quite as good.
Approach the turn too tight
and straight lining that bend
is going to be hard.
So how about we take
it a little wider?
Err, yeah, not that wide.
An oversteer causes his rear
tires to lose traction.
A little corrective steering
later and now it's a massive
understeer.
Two for one.
Okay, we've got this.
Find the line,
maintain traction,
and he's stolen the lead.
Now defending a corner means
forcing your attacker to take
the worst possible route.
Yep, that was a bad one.
As our driver cuts in his
attacker is squeezed out and
oversteers significantly.
So it's like I said,
go-carts aren't all about
straight line speed.
The path to victory lies in
mastering the tightest of turns.
Admittedly that is
a little too tight.
For thousands of years the key
to engineering strength
has been down to a simple
shape, this one.
From the 4,000-year-old
pyramids of Giza,
to dad's bike.
Well, the frame anyway.
The triangle has been
recognized by engineers as the
strongest of all polygons.
Squares, rectangles,
pentagons, nonagons, decagons,
no shape is in better shape
than the mighty triangle.
Apply force to a square and
you can change its angles,
collapsing it even if
its sides don't fail.
This is true of all polygons,
except the triangle.
No matter how much
force is applied,
a triangle will not collapse
as long as its sides don't fail.
Systems of triangles,
like trusses,
are particularly effective at
transferring loads to their
supports, and squares and
rectangles can be reinforced
simply by adding cross
braces which, yep,
turn them into triangles.
We owe the mighty
triangle so much.
Because of it, huge cranes can
hoist thousand tonne weights,
factories, stadiums and
stations can bear vast roofs
without supporting columns.
And the legs of this child's
swing set can easily hold the
weight of these, err, adults.
Unlike the rotten
beam at the top.
So how do you strengthen
an entire structure?
Well trusses like these roof
supports are a system of
connected triangles
that transfer the weight of the roof to the walls.
MAN: This is
either going to work
or it's not.
DALLAS (off-screen): Now I'm
hopeful because there is yet
another triangle, making
your ladder very sturdy.
See, the ladder's
completely fine.
MAN: Boy, that hurt.
DALLAS (off-screen): Now
rectangular structures,
like a wardrobe, can be
reinforced by inserting a
cross brace to form triangles.
This wardrobe. Yeah,
that's just a rectangle.
So the force of the
impacts have no trouble
altering its angles.
Still it's much
easier to pack up now.
Good work lads.
But remember, even a triangle
is only as strong as its sides.
So as a tornado
tears through Russia,
even a gantry that can support
hundreds of tonnes in weight
has its limits.
DALLAS: The inventor of
the first outboard motor,
French electrical
engineer, Gustave Trouve,
was also responsible for
the first electric vehicle,
the portable
electric safety lamp,
the endoscope and the
light-up ballet dress.
In short, the
man was a genius.
But thanks to the simplicity
of Gustave's outboard motor
you don't have to
be a genius to use one.
The outboard motor,
distinguishable from the
inboard in that it sits
outside the body of the
vessel, can be rigged to very
small lightweight boats,
giving them a high
power to weight ratio.
So with all that
power in your hands,
wouldn't it be
good to understand a little of the science?
As propeller blades rotate
they accelerate a column of
water backwards, producing a
reaction force that thrusts
the boat forwards.
The propeller can be moved
left or right to steer.
It could also be angled
up, called tripping up,
which raises the bow, reducing
hydrodynamic drag when at
speed for greater
efficiency, or angled down,
called trimming down, which
lowers the bow into the water,
giving the hull
more stability.
Just watch out for your depth.
Exactly how and when you
alter the direction of thrust
through trimming is
a science in itself.
Trimming up raises
the bow, reducing drag for efficient planing.
MAN: Or not.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yeah, or not.
MAN (off-screen): Ooh.
DALLAS (off-screen): When in
a boat with a high power to
weight ratio it's best not to
slam the throttle on and off.
MAN (off-screen): Ooh.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Okay, onto steering.
And where better to learn
than dinghy derby practice,
where boats can race upriver
and over 50 miles an hour.
And now for a textbook 180.
Ah, I've not read
that textbook.
One dramatic change
of thrust direction,
one massive increase
of drag at the side,
leading to two damp sailors.
Reverse propeller direction
to thrust backwards, nice.
Trim up, keeping that
prop clear of the bottom,
loving your work, sir, and to
finish, a little showboating.
Classic.
Drop your prop in extremely
shallow water and your boat
may stop, but you might not.
But once you've perfected
thrust and trim control
you can move onto
more advanced skills.
Like diving.
The humble baseball,
more complex than it looks,
comprising of an outer
layer of leather,
several layers of yarn,
two types of rubber and a
cushioned cork center.
Its mass gives it
lots of momentum.
Okay, lots of
momentum not always ideal,
so a safer option
might be this.
Plastic, hollow, lightweight,
its kinder on your furniture.
And harmless fun for kids.
WOMAN: Nice shot.
DALLAS (off-screen):
But not for mums.
Alright, so plastic balls,
not 100% pain free,
but with whole tournaments
across America dedicated to
this variant of baseball a few
extra hours backyard batting
for junior could
yield a future star,
provided they first complete
their homework on velocity,
momentum, angles and vortices.
Some plastic balls are
perforated and spinning them
can allow air to
rush into the holes,
creating vortices inside
that can curve the ball,
making it harder to hit.
Being hollow, the ball
also has a lower mass than a
regular baseball, so he needs
to strike with a lot more
velocity for it to gain
sufficient momentum and fly far.
And striking
underneath the ball,
so it launches at
around 25 degrees also helps maximize distance.
Therefore the balls' lower mass
means they're safer for kids
and beginners, and thanks
to those internal vortices
curving the ball
is child's play.
You just have to
know how to pitch it.
This is not how to pitch it.
MAN: I'm not going to
try to hit you though
I'm going to go to your
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): Face?
With that excessive amount
of velocity and therefore
momentum they really didn't need
to bother with a curve ball.
Because he didn't
see that coming.
That's it, nice fast
swing, plenty of momentum,
but for distance you'd also
want to aim a little higher.
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen): Yeah,
a bit higher than that.
You're looking for
that 25 degree angle.
MAN: Ah.
DALLAS (off-screen): It was
closer to minus 25 degrees.
Yeah, that's more like it.
A high velocity swing and an
angle closer to 25 degrees
means even his hollow plastic
ball is heading for the stands.
Now let's see if we can
launch it into next door.
Oh, yeah, not, not quite.
The achievements of science in
this century alone are really
quite staggering.
We've detected water over
30 million miles away on Mars,
we've grown
functioning human organs,
and discovered that 68% of
our universe is composed of a
mysterious dark energy,
but we're still not quite sure
why people do this.
♪
♪
Captioned by
Cotter Captioning Services