20 Dec
2010
20 Dec
'10
4:02 a.m.
Fred Lunnon wrote:
There's little light to be cast by screw theory here. Exactly the same analysis applies as to bicycle spokes --- or rather cartwheel spokes, since fingers act as struts (in compression) rather than ties (in tension). Picking up a slippery sphere requires (at least) 7 fingers. WFL
What? Wouldn't four fingers, positioned at the vertices of a regular tetrahedron, suffice to hold a sphere in position? Or three, if you allow gravity to assist. Sincerely, Adam P. Goucher