truth of simple machines

[AntonioLao]

In 300 BCE, Archimedes stated: “Give me a firm spot on which to stand, and I will move the Earth.” He was referring to one type of simple machines called the lever. Since his time, four types have already been discovered. These are the inclined plane, the lever, wheel and axle, and the pulley. Common name for the first is called ramp. Some historians believed that the Egyptian pyramids were built using the ramps while others believed by levering with help from the other types. However, all these simple machines share a common property for increasing or decreasing the mechanical advantage. This common property is the torque.

In physics, the torque is defined as the moment of a force, sometimes called the couple, that is two equal and opposite parallel forces applied to the same object but do not act in the same line. The result is a torque, the moment of which is equal to the product of the force and the perpendicular distance between them. On the other hand, moment of force is also defined as a measure of the turning effect produced by a force about an axis. An object will be in rotational equilibrium if the algebraic sum of all the moments of the forces on it about an axis is zero. The international unit (SI) of torque is newton-meter. In contrast, the SI unit of energy is also the newton-meter, but conventionally called the joule. The physical distinction between torque and energy is that the former is a vector product of force and distance while the latter is a scalar product of force and distance, assuming that both force and distance are vector quantities. However, at the infinitesimal region of the space-time continuum, the vector product of the primary force and the space-time metric can be defined as an infinitesimal torque and the scalar product of two infinitesimal torques can be defined as the square of energy, which is quantized and represents the true conservation of zero-point energies of quantum vacuum fluctuations.

[labelwench]

Caramel was rather disappointed that the contribution of her species was not included, as it is not recognized formally. She was rather insistent that I post this page, remarking that we would have been considerably longer in the evolving without the backing of the horse for thousands of years. As she may be correct, I concede her the point. Though you could likely rewrite the page, here is a summary of horsepower......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower

[AntonioLao]

Caramel was rather disappointed that the contribution of her species was not included

Physical laws usually are excuses for application to flesh and blood living creatures. If there is such biological process equivalent to the rotational motion of the torque then living things could live longer lives. On the other hand, the teeth are truly natural simple machines that help start the digestive process. An animal without any tooth could not survive for very long. This apply to both meat-eaters and plant-eaters. The process of chewing does use the mechanical advantage of torques.

[labelwench]

Physical laws usually are excuses for application to flesh and blood living creatures. If there is such biological process equivalent to the rotational motion of the torque then living things could live longer lives. On the other hand, the teeth are truly natural simple machines that help start the digestive process. An animal without any tooth could not survive for very long. This apply to both meat-eaters and plant-eaters. The process of chewing does use the mechanical advantage of torques.

The skeleton of the limbs of the horse is also structured to use torque to advantage. The lower limbs of the horse are prone to injury in part because of the heavy muscling of the hip and shoulder being transferred through several angles to the pastern joint, which roughly parallels the human ankle. Interesting to compare the size of this joint on both horse and human, as even though the horse has four limbs to our two, one will observe that each pastern joint carries more than double the weight of the human ankle, especially when one figures in the weight of saddle and rider. Speed events and jumping are equine sports with a significant rate of injury.

As you mention teeth, here is an excellent yet concise link on equine dentition.

http://www.hanne.com/teeth-anatomy.html

[AntonioLao]

It is a common belief that cats use the same torque physics to land on their paws when drop belly up. But I have not tried this with Bean Bag, the adopted name of the cat.

[labelwench]

It is a common belief that cats use the same torque physics to land on their paws when drop belly up. But I have not tried this with Bean Bag, the adopted name of the cat.

The thought had crossed my mind as to what you may have named the cat. 'Bean Bag', you say? Have you shortened that to Beebee for a call name, or another variant? Our black female with the flashlight tipped tail is call Minneau, after the soft little sound she makes in her voicing. Very soft-spoken and polite a creature, she is. I wonder how she came to be living out-of-doors for a considerable time, to get so thin and bedraggled as when she came to us? Ah well, she found us, and all are glad, just as Bean Bag has found you and you have been attending her well-being.

As for the physics behind how cats fall, here is one link:

http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae411.cfm

How does a cat land on its legs when dropped?

Asked by: Charles Yeung

Answer

Cats have the seemingly unique ability to orient themselves in a fall allowing them to avoid many injuries. This ability is attributed to two significant feline characteristics: A “righting reflex” and a unique skeletal structure.

The “righting reflex” is the cat’s ability to first, know up from down, and then the innate nature to rotate in mid air to orient the body so its feet face downward. Animal experts say that this instinct is observable in kittens as young as three to four weeks, and is fully developed by the age of seven weeks.

A cat’s “righting reflex” is augmented by an unusually flexible backbone and the absence of a collarbone in the skeleton. Combined, these factors allow for amazing flexibility and upper body rotation. By turning the head and forefeet, the rest of the body naturally follows and cat is able reorient itself.

Reports of cats surviving falls of several stories in height have coined the expression of cats having “high rise syndrome.” Like many small animals, cats are said to have a non-fatal terminal falling velocity. That is, because of their very low body volume-to-weight ratio these animals are able to slow their decent by spreading out – flying squirrel style. Simply put, animals with these characteristics are fluffy and have a high drag coefficient giving them a greater chance of surviving these falls.

[austintorn@aol.com]

Since buttered toast always falls with that face down on the floor, if you attach one to the back of a cat in the air and then drop the cat, the cat will not fall but will remain in mid-air since the two effect must ever fight it out.

[AntonioLao]

Have you shortened that to Beebee for a call name, or another variant?

No, I have not. It reminds me of my teenage sweetheart named BeBe who married someone else.

[labelwench]

Clockwise circle drawing is also referred to as 'torque' and and has some interesting correspondences. Unfortunately, the article I have linked to is a paid subscription, but I shall do more research when I have opportunity and see what more is available on these lines, as it catches my interest.

http://jcc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/28/6/730

Results have indicated a decreasing tendency to draw circles in a clockwise direction and an increasing tendency to draw them in a counterclockwise fashion with increases in grade. Blau labeled the developmentally less advanced, clockwise circle drawing as "torque" and further proposed that torque was related to psychological difficulties. The present study compared the direction of circle drawing for American students, Japanese living in Japan, and Japanese living in America. Results showed that with advancing grade, Americans increasingly drew in a counterclockwise direction, whereas the Japanese increasingly drew in a clockwise direction. Also, Japanese living in America showed a less pronounced tendency to draw clockwise circles across grades than Japanese living in Japan. The results suggest that circle drawing movements are a function of culture and education in learning how to write.

[AntonioLao]

the article I have linked to...

This article might be answering the same question as to why there are more right-handed than left-handed people. In the quantum domain of the electroweak interactions, chirality is a spontaneous broken symmetry. The Higgs mechanism for the origin of mass is also a spontaneous broken symmetry.