Pick your skimming stones carefully..

Furryanimal

Furryanimal

Y gath o Gymru
Location
Wales
ezgif-4-2760d2d793.gif
It turns out that heavier, potato-shaped stones are better for skimming across water than the thin, flat stones that everyone spends hours searching for. Boffins say it’s because larger rocks can give a “super-elastic response”: they don’t bounce as many times, but because they press into the water more deeply and for longer, the resulting force often causes a single “mega-bounce” that launches the object further. “There’s this almighty leap out of water,” a skimming scientist from Bristol University adds. “It changes the game.”
the Knowledge
 

Furryanimal said:
​
It turns out that heavier, potato-shaped stones are better for skimming across water than the thin, flat stones that everyone spends hours searching for. Boffins say it’s because larger rocks can give a “super-elastic response”: they don’t bounce as many times, but because they press into the water more deeply and for longer, the resulting force often causes a single “mega-bounce” that launches the object further. “There’s this almighty leap out of water,” a skimming scientist from Bristol University adds. “It changes the game.”
the Knowledge
Click to expand...
Looks like it depends on one's definition of "better". :rolleyes:
 

I'm sticking with the flat stones. I've tried the potato shaped ones before, and I agree they can skip, but I've never been impressed.
 
During WWII theBritish worked on a dam busting bomb that would skip across the water like a stone In order to hit the dam. It worked tolerably well but only when the delivery was practically perfect. Seemed like a lot of efforts for not much result. There’s an interesting video about it on You Tube. The bomb was cylindrical in shape.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top