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The Hula - Hoop is one of the most famous miniature in history , but the science behind it has gotten little attention . Some of us are master hurler , while others ca n’t manage more than one spin . So how do Hula - Hoops keep from falling down as they are whirling , and why are some of us well at it than others ?
Modern Hula - Hoops are credit card rings you twirl around your body by go your rose hip . This swivel motion is like to that seen in the Hawaiian dance known as the hula ( hence the name ) .
Successful twirling needs synchrony with the hoop orbit and the body’s gyrating movements.
There is grounds of humans doing Hula - Hoop - like twirling " as far back as 500 B.C. , " saidOlivia Pomerenk , a doctoral candidate in math at New York University . It show up again and again " in a myriad of cultures as a phase of recreation , spiritual ceremony , or exercise . "
consider the activity ’s long history , you might think it " has been canvass to death at this point , but it actually has not , " Pomerenk told Live Science . Until recently , enquiry into Hula - Hoop twirling was generally bound to two - dimensional models of a twirl ring , " rather than the full 3D system , " she mark . As such , this prior work could not answer how Hula - Hoops can keep from falling .
In a 2024 study release in the journalPNAS , Pomerenk and colleagues adjudicate to investigate this head - whirl question .
Successful twirling needs synchrony with the hoop orbit and the body’s gyrating movements.
" Our lab tends to gravitate towards these quirky , seemingly simple system , " Pomerenk said . " Many problems we canvass , when line , evoke the reaction , ' Wait , how has no one solved that already ? ' This Hula - Hoop problem is no different . "
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To shed light on the enquiry , Pomerenk and her colleagues created miniature robot Hula - Hoopers . They 3D - printed plastic items that were about 6.7 inches ( 17 centimeters ) marvellous and number in a variety of shapes , such as piston chamber , cone and hourglass . Then , they made the shapes reel with a motor to whirl around ring about 6 column inch ( 15 cm ) wide-eyed and used computer software program to analyze high - speed video recordings of the ensue bm .
Hula-Hoop twirlers do better when their bodies have the right slope and curvature.
The researchers found that stable twirling of the hoop around these robots was potential given a range of whirling apparent movement or bodies . For static twirling to occur , you must initiate off by throw the basket with a sufficient amount of speed in the same direction as your torso ’s gyration . After that stage , centrifugal forceand the rubbing from pealing can keep the hoop twirling stably .
However , continue the basketball hoop up againstgravityfor a significant amount of prison term is more difficult . Ideally , " the body must have ' hips ' to provide the right angle for pushing up the hoop , but also a ' waistline ' with curve to hold it in place , " said study senior authorLeif Ristroph , an applied mathematician and data-based physicist at New York University .
These finding suggested that masses with hourglass shapes may be natural hoopers . However , " we hope no one strike our results to signify that they can not Hula - Hoop because of their body shape , " Ristroph order Live Science . " We guess everyone can , and perhaps unlike form might take a picayune extra attempt or a strategy different from what we investigated in our experiments . "
The finding not only help to excuse a familiar but poorly understood activeness but may also point to a salmagundi of lotion involve " transforming one type of motion to another , or suspending and put object without the need to grapple or grasp them , " Ristroph articulate .
For instance , with just a slight twitch of their body , a near Hula - Hoop baton twirler can send a hoop flying around in fully grown range , Ristroph mark . This could inspire novel ways of " harvest home or recovering get-up-and-go from oscillation , " he explicate .
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Another potential app might take controlling object without actually holding them , Pomerenk said . For instance , the bailiwick present a relatively simple way to control the vertical side of a birl basket along a eubstance without grasping it .
" If you may hoist something up or move something down in a control personal manner without ever actually throw it in a traditional sense , this could be utile in robotic gripping — for lesson , hold one or several item , or even perhaps in efficiently enthrall items vertically in a factory or construction setting , " Pomerenk say .
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