The Controversial Physics of Curling - Smarter Every Day 111

I have been asked many times if sweeping speeds up a rock and the proper response I was told and that I give is NO, it can't increase the speed but it can reduce the rate of de-acceleration and therefore keep the rock straighter or travel further or both

I never though of curling as interesting until you made this video. Made me think a lot about a bunch of similar phenomenon. You might be interested to know the same effect occurs in ping pong - I know this because I play a lot. You get curvature/lift in the direction of spin - even up and down. When I realized this, it made me look up why it happens in ping pong. Its called the Magnus Effect, and it occurs in a lots of sports - baseball, tennis, soccor, etc. Theres even boats that maneuver using the effect, they are called Rotor Ships (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_ship)." rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_ship).</a> I've played ping pong for years and always had an intuitive understanding of why it happens, but it wasn't until this video that I researched it. Turns out Veritasium as a short video on the subject. <a href="http://youtu.be/23f1jvGUWJs" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/23f1jvGUWJs</a> I wonder if something similar could be taking place here - pressures may be generating "lift" to dictate movement rather than surface friction. Grinding down the pebbling with the sweeping maybe just lets some of the pressure escape - reducing the effect. I think you normally need higher speeds or surface areas to have this effect take place, but maybe the greater weight of the iron against the thin layer of fluid produces enough pressure to make it happen. Let me know what you think, I'm curious if it makes sense to someone like you who actually knows more about fluid dynamics.

Another excellent video! Thanks Destin

Hey Destin, are you doing the motion graphics in your videos yourself? If so, what are you using to do them? Are you familiar with what other YouTubers are using?

Science is even better when we don't know exactly what's going on. It only means that we are going to learn more in the future! Thanks for all your efforts, keep up the good work.

It was kind of hard for me to internally justify this spend when i get NatGeo and animal planet and all that stations in a packet for 5 euros on TV. but i am glad i finally made the choice because you rock much harder than all the dudes with sticks poking at alligators together :D

Chris K

You just made curling so much more interesting, keep up the videos destin, I love your enthusiasm for everything!!

Thomas Bellingham

So glad I got in before the 03.18 deadline. I want to win that trip to tour Space X so bad!!! I *WILL* be going to outer space one day, just waiting for that price to drop under $500k or so. :) Thank you for all you do Destin -- people like you keep my faith in humanity!

That would of course be pretty amazing, maybe I could even take you for a spin in a glider ;)

Lukas

Awesome Tanner. I didn't know this terminology until you just explained it to me. Thanks for that.

Smarter Every Day

Thanks Sunny, I really appreciate this! I would love to know from your perspective which works best for you as a user!

Smarter Every Day

Buckle down man. Pay attention and do your best.

Smarter Every Day

What if I could come visit Karlsruhe again?

Smarter Every Day

I'm working on a synthesis paper right now, which is basically where you take two perspectives and display them in your paper. Then you take the truth from both thesis's and make a synthesis (a new thesis from both). You pretty much did that here and now I understand how to do my paper much better. Thanks Destin!

That would be awesome. You have been to Karlsruhe before, and flew with the AKFlieg Group. I am also a glider pilot in a club in a neighbouring city, but now I live in Karlsruhe to study Electrical Engineering. I loved to see you fly in a glider!

Lukas

Destin, thanks for trying both subbable and patreon. I already sub'bed some folks (cpgrey etc), so i decided to try patreon for your stuff. I do like that I pay per video. Thanks for being willing to take risk -- being a content creator -- and I hope that the world will support you in it.

Sunny Gulati

I am working up to it. Have to finish MTH 112 due to my inattentiveness the first time around in college. You and the other youtube channels, along with a few games, have helped me continue my education better than most colleges.

Start with Trig. It's the most useful math I've determined. Thank you very much for subscribing and supporting. I'll keep in mind that you want the chats to be awesome! Who knows, maybe I'll bring a chicken.

Smarter Every Day

Danke Lukas! I appreciate that. I hope to visit your country again VERY soon.

Smarter Every Day

Haha, they're so entrenched in their way of thinking I'm not sure they'll ever be able to see it the other guy's way. It's really interesting to see it play out. Thanks for your support Mike. I appreciate it.

Smarter Every Day

I can't say I completely understand it myself. I still haven't played, but I really want to!

Smarter Every Day

Thanks man!

Smarter Every Day

This video made me a subscriber. The choice was hard between Subbable and Patreon, but the 'fireside chat' idea is what drew me to this. Thanks for the continued education. I hope to be able to understand all the math you throw up in the videos within a few years.

Videos like this are exactly why I became a Patreon yesterday. It's obvious you put a lot of thought into them, and try to explain things equally well to people who understand physics, and to those that don't. As a student I don't have much to give, but I think that supporting you is worth every penny. Greetings from Germany, and thanks for your videos!

Lukas

(new patron) Wow. Who knew? So: two competing hypotheses. How will "they" (whoever they are) determine which hypothesis is correct? It's gotta be the coolest YouTube channel ever, b.t.w. : )

Mike Arst

Thanks Josh, this is huge! I hope you're happy with the perks choices!

Smarter Every Day

So glad to see you on this site! I think your videos are great and I'm so happy to be able to directly support what you're doing.

Josh A

I'm in for $1/vid :D I love all of your videos

I had never understood the game of curling until now. Thanks Destin!

Kinetic Energy is lost all the way down the sheet. If you are at the house a swept rock will be going faster when it reaches your position. It's my southern speech that threw that off. You are of course correct.

Smarter Every Day

Chelsea thanks so much for saying this! I'm glad someone can support curling as much as I do. Every time I watch it my mind was boggled about what exactly the brooms were all about, how the people are able to scoot around and avoid the other rocks etc. Only support if it's something you want to do. I still plan on making content to the best of my abilities regardless. The goal here is just to get help. Thanks again!

Smarter Every Day

So glad you made this video! Curling was the only Olympic winter sport we watched and we were so intrigued! Your video made it even more so! I just want to take a moment to thank you for making these videos! I don't always pick up on every little thing, but you always make things more interesting and bring things to light that I've never even thought of! As soon as the hubby gets home this evening I will discuss with him the options of supporting you! I would be very sad to lose your channel. Thanks again, Destin, to your and your family!

Chelsea Watson

Destin - loved the curling video, having taken this up some time back myself I am also intrigued by it. There was one thing you mentioned which I have to question however. You said sweeping can make the stone go faster? I find that confusing but can see how it would make it go a. further and b . slow down less quickly but actually go faster I am not sure about. Also there is a maximum amount of revolutions that create the most turn / curl of the stone. Throwing with no handle (no curl) can make the stone weave down the ice and is not what you want. Also too many revolutions get the stone to go much straighter and not to curl at all. People shave also tried to explain to me that the reason it curls is because the edge on one side is turning faster in the direction of the turn than the back edge which causes the curl. Anyway - enough of that. Like the post and will be looking out for similar "smarter every day" releases. Thanks

Awesome Michael, thanks for that. I really appreciate it.

Smarter Every Day

Roll Tide?

Smarter Every Day

Thank you very much Felipe! Dude, there's nothing to feel guilty about. I do what I do for free, and I would do it if no one watched. It's just part of who I am. That's the beauty of this funding model. It's based solely on goodwill!

Smarter Every Day

HaHa. Well, most people would be pushed over the edge by the possibility of going to Space X.... but then again most people don't test rockets on a daily basis like you do....

Smarter Every Day

I have been watching your videos pretty much forever. Great content, solid science (!). Definitely a fan, and you're from Alabama! w00t!

I've been watching your videos for quite a while now but never got around to donating. My guilt finally got the better of me today. Sorry it's not much, but for what it's worth I absolutely love your videos and I hope you never stop putting them out. You're making the world a better place!

The decision of how much to support via Subbable and Patreon is a hard one! With the "bank" concept on Subbable you can theoretically get any perk eventually. With Patreon the really cool perks are only available if you sign up for a higher pledge level...not a easy decision Destin!

Logan

I love seeing Huntsville and other nearby places in your videos Destin. Alabama really can be a cool place to learn. You earned my support.

Thanks for your support Tyler!

Smarter Every Day

It is! I did all this research but I've never had an opportunity to play. Can you imagine how much much i'd like to play now?

Smarter Every Day

this was so stinkin' cool! just became a patron!

Tyler Palmer

You've made curling seem completely intriguing and interesting, loved it! Your conclusion about the vertical velocities is really interesting: - If the sideways velocities of the two stones are equal (and one can assume the ice below them are similar), then they'll have equal friction and should travel identical distances vertically too. So when you hit two stones, you should always end up in the vertical middle of the segment these two stones define. - When you shoot a stone, it will hit other stones, which will in turn hit other stones, etc. and the total vertical displacement of all the stones should sum to zero! So you can measure how much all the stones except one moved vertically and guess where the last stone is!

This video is fantastic! One of hardest explanations made so easy to understand! Thank you Destin!

Cole Palmer