The Plight of the Spoon Washer
We’ve all experienced it at least once in our lives—you’re washing the dishes and then all of a sudden, while washing a spoon, you find yourself soaked. It occurred to me that the water from this interaction would act similarly to a projectile, creating a parabolic flow of water through the air. So, I asked my dad to place a spoon underneath the tap (Which later got upgraded to a ladle), and I photographed the water. To no surprise, the water followed a parabolic arc through the air. This arc can be explained by treating the path of the water as the path of a projectile. In any projectile, a parabolic trajectory is followed due to the forces acting on the object. The only significant force acting on a projectile is gravity, causing the object to accelerate downward at a constant rate. Because no significant horizontal forces act on the object, it moves horizontally at a constant rate. And, since the object's vertical motion is quadratic in nature, the object follows a parabolic trajectory. In the case of flowing water, the same rules apply—the water accelerates downward and has no significant horizontal forces applied to it, resulting in a parabolic trajectory being followed which is uniquely easy to observe.
Finn Radner
Description
Essay Title: The Plight of the Spoon Washer
Category: Contrived
Photo Number: 6199
School: Dedham High School
Teacher Name: Amanda Harnden