Floating sledgehammer using physics! 😮 #shorts #TAMU #DrDawson

A wooden board with a rope attached to it is connected to another wooden board by a hinge. The board without the rope is fastened to a table while the hinge and the board with the rope is set off of the table. The position of the hinge and the board will cause the board to fall due to a torque induced by gravity. We can prevent the board from falling by adding a heavy sledgehammer, without having the sledgehammer touch the ground, the table, or the wooden board that is fastened to the table. The sledgehammer is only allowed to touch the rope and the board that the rope is attached to. By positioning the sledgehammer properly, a torque is created in the opposite direction of the torque caused by gravity. This keeps the board from falling.

This demo was presented by Dr. Dawson Nodurft at Texas A&M University ‪@tamu‬.

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