Here's an experiment you can do at home.
MATERIALS:
2 bricks
some string
a ladder
1 crowd
[1] Take a brick and suspend it about 5 feet above the ground from
a string that is just strong enough to hold the brick without breaking.
Now gather your crowd around and get up on a ladder and drop another
brick right smack on top of the suspended brick.
(You will probably need more string to aim the dropped brick -- and
clearly the suspended brick cannot be supported from above. And if you
are a teacher, your class can be the crowd)
[2] Now climb down from the ladder and explain to the crowd that
the stationary brick did not slow the dropped brick AT ALL. And that
stronger string would have no effect on that result, nor would more
suspended bricks, even if there were 147 of them.
[3] Report back here.
If my hypothesis is correct the crowd will decide that you are either a
comedian / comedienne or out of your mind. If, however, you succeed in
convincing the crowd, then you are ready for ...
[4] Apply for a Nobel Prize.
|