The Cheerios effect
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Ever notice how cereal tends to stick together in the middle of the bowl? Or it clumps to the edges. That makes it easy to eat, but why does it happen? It’s Okay To Be Smart explains the cheerios effect. Who knew there was so much science in a bowl of cereal?
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Additional references
‘Inverted cheerios effect’ returns physics to the breakfast table - NYTimes
Is it polite to discuss the fundamental forces of the universe at the breakfast table? The Cheerios effect — which described why those little O’s clump together on the surface of milk in your bowl — brought physics to morning meal times when it was identified more than 10 years ago. Now, scientists are extending that conversation over breakfast with “the inverted Cheerios effect.”
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Football physics: The "impossible" free kick
In 1997, Brazilian football player Roberto Carlos set up for a 35 meter free kick with no direct line to the goal. Carlos’s shot sent the ball flying wide of the players, but just before going out of bounds it hooked to the left and soared into the net. How did he do it? Erez Garty describes the physics behind one of the most magnificent goals in the history of football.
The physics of the "hardest move" in ballet
In the third act of "Swan Lake", the Black Swan pulls off a seemingly endless series of turns, bobbing up and down on one pointed foot and spinning around and around and around ... thirty-two times. How is this move — which is called a fouetté — even possible? Arleen Sugano unravels the physics of this famous ballet move.
Additional references
‘Inverted cheerios effect’ returns physics to the breakfast table - NYTimes
Is it polite to discuss the fundamental forces of the universe at the breakfast table? The Cheerios effect — which described why those little O’s clump together on the surface of milk in your bowl — brought physics to morning meal times when it was identified more than 10 years ago. Now, scientists are extending that conversation over breakfast with “the inverted Cheerios effect.”
Walking on water: Interfacial biolocomotion - MIT
Walking on water is one of the most striking feats in the natural world. The ability to do so has evolved independently throughout the animal kingdom, among over 1200 species of insects, spiders, birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals. Some insects spend their entire lives on the water surface; for other creatures, walking on water is a skill employed sparingly, often to avoid predators. Although various motives for walking on water are mentioned, this page focuses ere on how rather than why creatures do so.
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TED-Ed Best of Web are exceptional, user-created lessons that are carefully selected by volunteer teachers and TED-Ed staff.
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- Video created by Be Smart
- Lesson Plan created by Cynthia Silva
