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arXiv:2106.08238physics.pop-ph

Beer Mats make bad Frisbees

Johann Ostmeyer, Christoph Schürmann, Carsten Urbach

Early discovery. Linked by one identifiable commenter. This paper is outside the main ranking; a mention is not an endorsement.

Abstract

In this article we show why flying and rotating beer mats, CDs, or other flat disks will eventually flip in the air and end up flying with backspin, thus, making them unusable as frisbees. The crucial effect responsible for the flipping is found to be the lift attacking not in the center of mass but slightly offset to the forward edge. This induces a torque leading to a precession towards backspin orientation. An effective theory is developed providing an approximate solution for the disk's trajectory with a minimal set of parameters. Our theoretical results are confronted with experimental results obtained using a beer mat shooting apparatus and a high speed camera. Very good agreement is found.

arXiv comments
4 videos in ancillary files
Journal reference
Eur. Phys. J. Plus 136, 769 (2021)
DOI
doi:10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01732-1
Subjects
physics.pop-phPopular Physics hep-phHigh Energy Physics, Phenomenology physics.class-phClassical Physics

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Linked by 1 identifiable commenter in 2 comments across 2 threads, from Jun 2021 to Dec 2021. Found in 1 HN submission from Jun 2021 to Jun 2021. Open submission discussions.

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Discussed in comments2 threads

  1. Richard Feynman – Session IV (1966) 1 comment

    • One of my collaborators recently wrote a paper about why beer coasters make bad frisbees. https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.08238

      evanbView on HNParent context

  2. Physicists show that flying beer coasters will flip 0.45 seconds into flight 1 comment

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