[math-fun] How does a dull spoon manage to cut a stringy piece of meat
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg
With difficulty. Ithankyew. WFL On 1/16/17, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
Fred Lunnon, ladies and gentlemen. He'll be here all week. On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 9:37 PM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
With difficulty. Ithankyew. WFL
On 1/16/17, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
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Even weaker after that. WFL On 1/16/17, Allan Wechsler <acwacw@gmail.com> wrote:
Fred Lunnon, ladies and gentlemen. He'll be here all week.
On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 9:37 PM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
With difficulty. Ithankyew. WFL
On 1/16/17, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
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There may be an IgNobel Prize awaiting the intrepid researcher who amasses some experimental results on this. (Many variables to play with: dullness, stringiness, slipperiness, ...) Jim Propp On Sunday, January 15, 2017, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
Even weaker after that. WFL
On 1/16/17, Allan Wechsler <acwacw@gmail.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
Fred Lunnon, ladies and gentlemen. He'll be here all week.
On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 9:37 PM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
With difficulty. Ithankyew. WFL
On 1/16/17, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;> https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
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On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg
No one took this question seriously, but I claim the phenomenon needs explaining. It definitely requires some friction with the bowl: Just now I had it work improbably well on a piece of meat, yet fail on a tenderer but slipperier partially stewed tomato in the same bowl. OK, on to the next quotidian mystery: For years I've worn the same pair of https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/fd205dcf-4974-49eb-b2d2-6166402bc2b3_1.ecc95c276... (only with five pairs of grommetoids instead of four). Possibly coincident with replacing the original laces with Kiwis several weeks ago, a strange phenomenon has emerged: Despite two different lacing patterns, the right lace creeps rightward an inch or two per week, until it is so lopsided as to drag on the ground. This time, I'm going to mirror-image the disparity. Prior to this, both shoes were coming untied, until I modified the knot. The left shoe doesn't creep. Nor has any other shoe in my experience. The creep is sufficiently insidious that I can't tell if it's while I'm walking or tying. --rwg
Velcro. WFL On 4/27/17, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg
No one took this question seriously, but I claim the phenomenon needs explaining. It definitely requires some friction with the bowl: Just now I had it work improbably well on a piece of meat, yet fail on a tenderer but slipperier partially stewed tomato in the same bowl.
OK, on to the next quotidian mystery: For years I've worn the same pair of https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/fd205dcf-4974-49eb-b2d2-6166402bc2b3_1.ecc95c276... (only with five pairs of grommetoids instead of four). Possibly coincident with replacing the original laces with Kiwis several weeks ago, a strange phenomenon has emerged: Despite two different lacing patterns, the right lace creeps rightward an inch or two per week, until it is so lopsided as to drag on the ground. This time, I'm going to mirror-image the disparity. Prior to this, both shoes were coming untied, until I modified the knot. The left shoe doesn't creep. Nor has any other shoe in my experience. The creep is sufficiently insidious that I can't tell if it's while I'm walking or tying. --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
From: Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg
No one took this question seriously, but I claim the phenomenon needs explaining. It definitely requires some friction with the bowl: Just now I had it work improbably well on a piece of meat, yet fail on a tenderer but slipperier partially stewed tomato in the same bowl.
I did express concern about your diet. Tomato skins are tough. The gold standard for a perfect knife blade is one that with a light touch will cut a tomato skin. I've not found any standard measurements for muscle fiber strength. The usual measure of tenderness relates to compression. Presumably you are twisting and tearing the fibers with rotational force.
OK, on to the next quotidian mystery: For years I've worn the same pair of https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/fd205dcf-4974-49eb-b2d2-6166402bc2b3_1.ecc95c276... (only with five pairs of grommetoids instead of four). Possibly coincident with replacing the original laces with Kiwis several weeks ago, a strange phenomenon has emerged: Despite two different lacing patterns, the right lace creeps rightward an inch or two per week, until it is so lopsided as to drag on the ground. This time, I'm going to mirror-image the disparity. Prior to this, both shoes were coming untied, until I modified the knot. The left shoe doesn't creep. Nor has any other shoe in my experience. The creep is sufficiently insidious that I can't tell if it's while I'm walking or tying. --rwg
Does the left lace creep forward when you are in Australia? Hilarie
(The horse is still twitching.) Easy proof this phenomenon has everything to do with the hardness of the bowl: Try cutting instead against the inside of a paper (technically cardboard) Chinese takeout box. It's practically impossible. --rwg On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 2:26 AM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg
No one took this question seriously, but I claim the phenomenon needs explaining. It definitely requires some friction with the bowl: Just now I had it work improbably well on a piece of meat, yet fail on a tenderer but slipperier partially stewed tomato in the same bowl. --rwg
[Chop]
Got it: Bunching! To review, you can sometimes cut a tough slice of meat (say) with a dull spoon rubbing it against the side of a glass bowl. Bizarrely, it feels almost like the bowl is cutting the meat. Cutting requires very high pressure = force/area. A sharp knife works because this area is very small. Replace the knife by a dull spoon, and you would seem to be wasting your time. But, as you saw back and forth, the normally inadequate pressure along the bottom of the cut is boosted by a bunching effect toward the leading edge of the spoon, which is *not* sliding like a knife blade in the bottom of the cut! The high cutting pressure is due to bunching (created by friction) over a very short interval. —Bill On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 10:29 AM Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
(The horse is still twitching.) Easy proof this phenomenon has everything to do with the hardness of the bowl: Try cutting instead against the inside of a paper (technically cardboard) Chinese takeout box. It's practically impossible. --rwg
On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 2:26 AM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
while sliding back an forth against the inside of a slippery bowl? --rwg
No one took this question seriously, but I claim the phenomenon needs explaining. It definitely requires some friction with the bowl: Just now I had it work improbably well on a piece of meat, yet fail on a tenderer but slipperier partially stewed tomato in the same bowl. --rwg
[Chop]
participants (5)
-
Allan Wechsler -
Bill Gosper -
Fred Lunnon -
Hilarie Orman -
James Propp