Why Cats Land on Their Feet : : And 76 Other Physical Paradoxes and Puzzles / / Mark Levi.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Levi, Mark,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2012]; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (208 p.) :; 104 line illus.

Ever wonder why cats land on their feet? Or what holds a spinning top upright? Or whether it is possible to feel the Earth's rotation in an airplane? Why Cats Land on Their Feet is a compendium of paradoxes and puzzles that readers can solve using their own physical intuition. And the surprising answers to virtually all of these astonishing paradoxes can be arrived at with no formal knowledge of physics. Mark Levi introduces each physical problem, sometimes gives a hint or two, and then fully explains the solution. Here readers can test their critical-thinking skills against a whole assortment of puzzles and paradoxes involving floating and diving, sailing and gliding, gymnastics, bike riding, outer space, throwing a ball from a moving car, centrifugal force, gyroscopic motion, and, of course, falling cats. Want to figure out how to open a wine bottle with a book? Or how to compute the square root of a number using a tennis shoe and a watch? Why Cats Land on Their Feet shows you how, and all that's required is a familiarity with basic high-school mathematics. This lively collection also features an appendix that explains all physical concepts used in the book, from Newton's laws to the fundamental theorem of calculus.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. Fun with Physical Paradoxes, Puzzles, and Problems -- 2. Outer Space Paradoxes -- 3. Paradoxes with Spinning Water -- 4. Floating and Diving Paradoxes -- 5. Flows and Jets -- 6. Moving Experiences: Bikes, Gymnastics, Rockets -- 7. Paradoxes with the Coriolis Force -- 8. Centrifugal Paradoxes -- 9. Gyroscopic Paradoxes -- 10. Some Hot Stuff and Cool Things -- 11. Two Perpetual Motion Machines -- 12. Sailing and Gliding -- 13. The Flipping Cat and the Spinning Earth -- 14. Miscellaneous -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Index