A physicist has put forth new ideas to the question of how best to keep dry when moving in the rain. Franco Bocci has asserted that both wind direction and a person’s stature figure into the answer. In most cases the general answer is to run as fast as possible, but the answer changes in a tailwind, or for the thin. What complicates the question is the human shape; for simplicity, previous attempts to crack the thorny problem assumed people to be thin sheets or upright, rectangular boxes. When Prof Bocci considered a more general case he found that the answer may depend on an individual’s height-to-breadth ratio as well as wind direction and raindrop size. Luckily there are a few generalisations in the analysis, to spare you having to calculate the cosine of the angle between your path and the wind direction. “Let’s say that in general, the best thing is to run, as fast as you can - not always, but in general,” the BBC quoted Prof Bocci as saying. “If you’re really thin, it’s more probable that there will be an optimal speed. Otherwise, it’s better to run fast,” he said. As for wind direction, in general, you should run as fast as you can unless the wind is behind you, in which case the optimal speed will be exactly the speed of the wind. The study has been published in the European Journal of Physics. Source: Indian Express
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
How to avoid getting wet in rain
A physicist has put forth new ideas to the question of how best to keep dry when moving in the rain. Franco Bocci has asserted that both wind direction and a person’s stature figure into the answer. In most cases the general answer is to run as fast as possible, but the answer changes in a tailwind, or for the thin. What complicates the question is the human shape; for simplicity, previous attempts to crack the thorny problem assumed people to be thin sheets or upright, rectangular boxes. When Prof Bocci considered a more general case he found that the answer may depend on an individual’s height-to-breadth ratio as well as wind direction and raindrop size. Luckily there are a few generalisations in the analysis, to spare you having to calculate the cosine of the angle between your path and the wind direction. “Let’s say that in general, the best thing is to run, as fast as you can - not always, but in general,” the BBC quoted Prof Bocci as saying. “If you’re really thin, it’s more probable that there will be an optimal speed. Otherwise, it’s better to run fast,” he said. As for wind direction, in general, you should run as fast as you can unless the wind is behind you, in which case the optimal speed will be exactly the speed of the wind. The study has been published in the European Journal of Physics. Source: Indian Express