Using
only a stopwatch and a sneaker, find an approximate value for sqrt{2}.
Source: M.Levi’s "Why Cats Land on Their Feet" (2012).
Drop your sneaker from one story up and time its fall: t1. Do the same from two stories up: t2. Say the height of a story is S, and the acceleration of gravity is g (9.8m/s^2, a value you do not need to know).
S = (1/2) g t1^2
2 S = (1/2) g t2^2
ratio the equations...
sqrt(2) = t2/t1
Using something similar and a little string to help make measurements, my college students got "g" to three decimal places! If you use two sneakers there is less walking. We used little weights.
Edited on March 24, 2021, 7:10 pm
two left feet (soln)
