Before telecasting game and TikTok , the reality spent its idle time pluck up rocks to skip across a trunk of water . Seeing how many time a Harlan Stone could skip before go under tender a high degree of personal satisfaction . But what if everything we screw about skip rocks was wrong ?
A new study published inProceedings of the Royal Society Asheds some Modern light on this seemingly frivolous practice . concord to expert at the University of Bristol and University College London , prefer for a bulkier John Rock may hand over more spectacular results than the level Oliver Stone normally selected .
Using a numerical model , the paper examined how stones move across a liquified surface depending on their mass and curvature . If a stone is bulky but retains a curve on its bottom , it may perform better than you ’d expect , in effect bouncing off the water and launching itself into the aura . It ’s counter - visceral to the normal preference for thin , flat Edward Durell Stone .
“ If you ’ve catch a heavier rock’n’roll , you could get a super - elastic reply , where you get a unmarried mega - bounce rather than lots of little leap , ” Dr. Ryan Palmer , atomic number 27 - author on the paper , toldThe Guardian . “ There ’s this almighty jump out of the H2O . ”
The rock ’s curved bottom depresses into the body of water more profoundly , which speedily leave in the water press the rock back up with sufficient military unit to get it some airtime .
flavourless stones arestill superiorfor the number of skips , as a bulkier tilt wo n’t have much momentum . ( Skippingrefersto the number of saltation before a stone sinks ; skimming is the length . ) But when they do skim , they ’ll in all likelihood make a with child impression . While you could prefer for larger , potato - shaped rocks , bulky , well-endowed one are best for maximum bounce .
While the practice session may seem meaningless , that ’s not quite the subject . Such examinations can help shed light source on hard-nosed issues , like how airplane or other bodies might set down on water .
[ h / tThe Guardian ]
