Why Do Boomerangs Come Back?
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- čas přidán 14. 09. 2015
- Learning to throw a boomerang properly takes a lot of practice. And aerodynamics.
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Sources:
ullagunga.com/UllagungaSampleC...
www.thenakedscientists.com/HTM...
hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/...
hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/...
www.popsci.com/article/technol...
I always thought they came back because I love and care about them.
hahahah
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back you know it was meant to be c;
+Cinnamon Toast "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, call Rothschild's Sewage and Septic Sucking Services."
+Cinnamon Toast If you love something, set it free. If it comes back you know it's a boomerang.
+Cinnamon Toast I do that but Nothing ever came back :'(
I threw a boomerang as a kid once and it didn't come back. Now i live in constant fear.
Aw shit
IvaNiftyChannel
That's because you throw it to hard.
Anukiv 😂😂😂
IvaNiftyChannel *boomerang comes back along with a green bird*
I use to have one. It's name is KARMA.
But can you imagine the surprise of the guy who found this out 20,000 years ago?
+Shawn Cormier he must have been related to the guy who wanted to drink cows milk.
+Shawn Cormier The first guy to find out about it didn't have time to be surprised because he died from being hit on the back of the head by a boomerang. His mate who saw it happen then took all the credit for it was both surprised and pleased though....
+Shawn Cormier he probably said "OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT IM CURSED FOR LIFE! *_DODGES BOOMERANG_* oh... I should sell this! >:)"
"Hm... hey, yo, Eric, come check this out. I think I finally figured out how to make this thing fly."
"Little busy, George. Aaron here's starving and Anne's out for the day."
Guy was like “yo wtf”
you could have just said "magic". no one would argue
+coldfire0007 Should have just said, "I'll get back to you on that..."
+coldfire0007 "air and science and stuff"
+coldfire0007 Well Arthur C.Clarke said "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", so presumably that means boomerangs are super-advanced technology. Eat that Boeing: you've been doing it wrong all these years.... ;-)
I'm a little more impressed with Sokka's skills now that Hank tells me it's more difficult than it looks.
Thats exactly what i was thinking
I built a new boomerang and having a hard time throwing away my old one.
don't worry, it will come back to you!
hahaha, that would be the problem. Funny though, the first time I heard that was in an older joke. One boomerang said to another that she lost her husband at the park. Her friend said (don't worry, he will come back to you)
lol never heard that one before
I once threw a boomerang and it didn't come back.. I now live in perpetual fear.
do you also sell that wood on your websites in a large version?
The real question is why isn't my dad
+Karl Marx I know how you feel bro... Had the same thing.
Years later when i asked my mom where he went she replied: "You know when we said your goldfish ran away but in reality we secretly flushed him down the toilet? well..."
+Karl Marx Sorry to break it to you but your dad died in 1838.
+Penny Lane no stupid he ran away like his goldfish
I have no idea how accurate that is
+Karl Marx Your mom probably didn't throw him at the right angle.
Sokka: Boomerang! You DO always come back!
Was looking for this as soon as I saw the title 😂
They answered my question!!! I can't believe I missed this episode.:O
Hey Patreon suppoter, don't get too exited buddy
Here's a question: why do smooth stones skim across water so well?
+Kezajaws
Well, surface tension makes the surface of water relatively stiff, assuming it's not waving. It's why doing a belly flop hurts so much. Cohesion of water molecules makes them pull down on the surface, flattening and stiffening it. Kind of like when you pull on a bedsheet from all four corners.
Flat stones smack against the taught water, making it bounce. Sharp stones don't work because they penetrate the water, causing it to ripple and lose tension, making the surface too loose to reflect stones.
Does that help?
Friction.
Inorganic Vegan
Yes, greatly. Thank you :)
But can you explain how a smooth stone is able to skim across a rapidly flowing river? It's possible-I've done it before.
Kezajaws
Well, it's likely you hit the peaks of waves and the plane of the stone was tangent to the surface of the water, enabling skipping.
+Kezajaws The stone bounces off the surface because, being flat, it has a large surface area hitting the water relative to it's mass. This means the deceleration force is large and applied quickly, so it stops going downwards before it penetrates the surface. It goes in a straight line because it's spin gyro-stabilises it and the same stabilisation keeps the flat surface facing the water.
It gets across the river because it's mostly flying through the air, only touching the water for brief moments during which the water doesn't move enough to affect it's path much. If the river was fast enough and/or wide enough, the stone would follow a curved path as all the tiny forces added up.
I kind of want to play with a boomerang now.
No Hank... It's magic
I've never had a boomerang come back to me. I feel unloved.
I'm from the future, get a helmet and a flak jacket.
Now all we need is the boomerang from the Legend of Zelda games. Whack an enemy with one, stun them and it still comes back. Repeat as fast as you'd like.
not to mention being able to hit multiple enemies at once in WW.
Had one made out of a good, hard plastic when I was a kid. Absolutely amazed me and it still does today how these work.
I don't need a GED now that Sci show has answered every shower thought I've ever had. Now, for my math homework.
Hi Hank, When I was a kid a Boomerang looked like the coolest toy! I wanted one so bad but my Mom thought I would break something or hit myself in the head with it,with good reason:P. I finally got one while on a trip up to a lake up in Michigan. I spent six dollars for it and thought that sending it flying out over the lake would be the safest place to play with it. I imagined all the hours and hours of fun I'd be having all summer with it.
The time came to try it out and I went out to the end of the dock on the lake and carefully checking the prevailing wind and making sure I wasn't going to sink any small water craft that might be in the vicinity,I threw the Boomerang! Not too hard and not too soft just like the man at the "Call of the Wild Museum had showed me.
I watched it fly with the intensity of a space launch, It flew away and while waiting for it to arc back towards me I momentarily lost sight of it then I heard the tell tale "PLOOP" and realized I had just paid six dollars to throw a stick into the lake!
I stood there for what seemed to me to be hours then my brother walked up behind me and said "Aw! That's too bad,so want to share my Army men? We can bury them in a sand castle" I said "Yeah, Ok" but for the rest of the trip I waited for that Boomerang to wash up on shore,Thinking back to what the sales display above the Boomerangs had said in bright red letters on a yellow lightning background "It Always Comes Back!" :P
Thanks Hank.
+Michael Pesavento That's a nice story.
+Unlurking Sentinel Hi Thanks:)
Why would you test it out over a lake like that?
+Daryl Joplin Hi Daryl, Yeah I know I should have thought more about it but I was afraid of hitting someone or breaking something:P
My Mom was a major worrier and I think it rubbed off on me.Thanks.
+Michael Pesavento my Grandpa gave us kids (6 and 8) one that was a real weapon, had a thin metal strip in the leading edge, like a ruler. But we were shown the wrong way to throw it-parallel to horizon. Danger forever averted.
THANK YOU for explaining the great mystery!
thank you for answering this question. i have always wondered this.
No wonder my wooden V didn't work in school.
+Ninterd2 Hi, What! You had a Wooden "V"? Oh! you meant a V shaped piece of wood, I thought you meant you had a..a...never mind;) Sorry! Thanks.
+Michael Pesavento Oh god, the splinters...
+conduit64 Hi, And the Wood Peckers!;) Thanks.
Heheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
+Mike Meyer
I had a boomerang joke too, but I forgot it... If you give me a few minutes, I'm sure it will come back to me.
Now Sokka will finally learn why Boomerang always came back. He did love science and reasoning after all.
Speaking of boomerangs, there's a guy on youtube called Victor Poulin who makes boomerangs.
+Anne Frank Hi, Why would you need more than one?:) Thanks.
Michael Pesavento ?
+Anne Frank Hi, It keeps coming back so why would you need more than one:) Sorry bad joke:) Thanks.
+Anne Frank ay gurl, were you born with roses in your eyes? Cause you're making me want to save you with some sort of time machine.
giantnardman
For you, yes. I've already wasted too many keyboard strokes on you.
You don't seriously expect me to point out your mistakes, do you?
Besides, it's all unrelated to the topic, so I won't play anyway.
Sokka uses Boomerang also
Do you even generate lift bro
I still love the ending song that Sci Show has. It's catchy! Great way to end a video with a dance!
So, what do you call a boomerang, that doesn't come back?
...
A stick
I was hoping you would say "my dad" but yeah that works
I forgot how to throw a boomerang...but then it came back to me 😏😎
Good video! Side note: that business of the advancing blade generating more lift that the retreating blade is also the reason for the fairly severe speed limit on conventional helicopters. As they fly faster, the blades on the advancing side of the rotor disc generate more and more lift, while those on the retreating side generate less and less, the net effect being that lift "migrates" across the disc to the advancing side. This generates a powerful rolling force which eventually exceeds the ability of the control system to fight it. The only was to go much faster with a rotorcraft is to either use some more exotic technology like co-axial rotors or stopped rotors, or to have the vehicle wholly or partially convert into a conventional plane, for example tilt-rotors or winged helicopters.
Hi Hank, I was also wondering How did all these different cultures from different times and from disparate places discover this technology independently of each other?
It seems like an unlikely scenario. Does the Boomerang shape or the air foil effect appear in this form anywhere in nature? Thanks.
I was hoping to see more demonstration lol ah well. Good show SciShow
Ever have one of those moments where you're just like, "Humanity, what the hell were you on to make this work?"
thank you brother..for giving me another way to play boomerang I have never tried it before..I really like seeing it boomerang when it is thrown it will come back I am very excited to see it thank you for giving me the guidance👍🤗
well explained!
one of my high school teachers used to build boomerangs, and he once took us to the baseball field to try them, it was awesome 😃
Thank you wery much.
watching this video is getting me thru quarantine...
if you throw them just right they will come back to the point of release , hover above you and then descend slow enough you can put one hand above and below, then bring hands together and voila. I was on student exchange to Aus in '74 and some buds and I picked up throwing rangs and got the skill down in one day of several hundred throws.
awesome question!
IIRC part of the point of them coming back in terms of usage was in case you missed your target. Either aiming in such a way that if you miss it comes back to you, or so that it might hit something on the return arc. With the education I have now as compared with what I had watching Avatar when I was younger, I realize that if it hits something, it ain't coming back, but is my above idea plausible or attested?
The original boomerang was 4 winged, and had more wings to make it fly straighter and farther, but since a 4 winged boomerang can come back very easily, it must have been amazing when the Aboriginal tribes saw the thing come back. The returning aspect is very useful; boomerangs were used to knock animals out of the sky, like birds. If you miss, then the rang comes back to you, where as other hunters were busy looking for all their arrows.
Hank you are my absolute favorite
I was never able to catch my boomerang; it was always coming back to me way too fast. Don't want to Sherlock myself...
Why do people cry? Do we have any good idea about that? Also, do other animals cry? Would love a video on this if you have the time.
+Sketchy Fella its a distress signal
+Sketchy Fella You could be in luck, Mental Floss posted a video about this 2 days ago, and Hank produces that... /watch?v=RZgn6kfaJP8
+Tom Nickols was about to say xD
Answering the real questions sci show
What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back?
A stick.
How does an auto darkening welding lens work. How can the light hit the lens and make it go dark before the light passes thru. So it's faster than the speed of light?
question: What is the purpose of returning boomerangs? It seems weird that they would just be for show. Are they supposed to hit something and then return (like in cartoons)? If so, wouldn't hitting something screw up its path? or are boomerang throwers so skilled that they can factor in hitting something and still have it return reliably? Inquiring minds want to know! edit: wikipedia makes me think they exist for sport? any input would be appreciated.
remraft Pls answer this
+remraft I think it's in case they miss?
The aboriginal people used them because they looked like birds of prey so they would scare other birds to catch in nets.
+Wallace Cox oh, that makes sense & is awesome! clever too, I feel like I would never have come up with that.
they're also just for fun
Why when you have removed a piercing does it not heal correctly (pit/mark) ? TIA
At 1:11 : So how do planes fly upside down?
Yes, yes. XKCD.
+Eamon Burke
Because aerodynamics is kinda complicated. It is entirely possible to build an aircraft with wings that aren't aerofoils at all.
+Execute1313 Your answer funny because the xkcd that was referenced categorized possible answers. There was one labelled "wrong" and it says: "It's ... complicated. And we need to move on."
+Eamon Burke I was thinking the same thing
+Eamon Burke If the plane is slightly inclined, its angle of attack with the wing surface against the air will simply push air downwards due to the slope. This is usually a larger effect than the lift from the Bernoulli principle, at any appreciable speed.
+Eamon Burke special wings are made. instead of the back of the wing being angled down it would be in the middle and a mirror of itself like a sidways teardrop. it requires more thrust to get the same lift though.
I love how we are understanding more and more about physics and can theorise a warp drive but we still dont fully understand lift
Triple finned boomerangs work better and they use slight twists in the ends to give you a larger or small turning circle. I got one made of a dense foam that that holds the twists on the ends
When I was at cubscout day camp in 4th grade there was a professional boomerang instructor, and when he threw the boomerang, he missed catching it, and it nailed some kid right in the face. It was like a big wooden one too.
Why do we get shivers down our spines when we hear fingernails scratching on a chalkboard?
Hay Hank
Im not so sure you got your explanation of lift correct.
The bevvled top and flat bottom means the air has to travel further over the top side of the airfoil, this makes the airless dense meaning there is more air pressure under the airfoil than above, pushing the airfoil upwards.
im not sure where your description of how a wing works comes from but it is not one i have ever heard before.
unless the physics of flight have changed since i learnt this in school.
My youngest brother bought me a hunting boomerang during his trip through Australia. But it's far too pretty to throw away in the middle of the city, so I never noticed it not returning. My other brother bought a 'sports' boomerang, and that one does return. It does take a while to get the knack, though.
I had one from Oz when I was a kid, it broke into two on her maiden voyage 😅
Thank you for explaining how airplane wings work as a consequence of the 3rd law of motion and not that ridiculous explanation about a pressure difference. I think this is a first.
Now I'm gonna have Tie Me Kangaroo Down going through my head all freaking night!
I love throwing my boomerang!
Magic
how does the second wind work?
Booming baby.
Yeeah!
OMG IS THIS HANK GREEN AAAA I KNEW I SAW U SOMEWHEREEE
finally a explanation humanity can rest now
The Landing in neighbors yard thing... Yeah, that's me. lol
The ad I saw for this video was Hank Green. I was confused when the ad ended and the real video started because I thought I already was watching the real video...
I forgot how to throw a boomerang, but then it came back to me. It's just like riding a bike, or playing with your wii
MAGIC
Its in the flick ah da wris!
Now I want a boomerang
neat! if you have a chance to talk about prions more, that would be fun.
I had a couple boomerangs as a kid. The best I ever got was to have it land kind of near me.
This is why all my friends are boomerangs
A friend of mine had a boomerang years ago. Wish I'd had a chance to throw it.
Dear SciShow; why do I get a twitch on the left of my nose and left eyelid when I have a lot of stress? And how do I stop it?
Usually a magnesium deficiency. Or dehydration. If you still want to know 5 years later.
I was literally wondering about this yesterday. wtf.
I made a boomerang that came back, I was so happy :3
this was in my news feed as i had "mules are so half ass" running through my head
"i forgot how to throw a boomerang, but it came back to me..."
Hey Hank, this video and the discussion of airfoils made me think that it'd be awesome to see a video about how sailboats work! I'd really love something that I could show to people to describe the science behind it, and it'd be awesome to see sailing get more time in the spotlight as a sport.
Magic, got it.
nice :D
Oh, I was going to ask another interesting question about boomerangs but now I've forgotten. Oh well, it'll come back.
Once as a kid I got a boomerang. I couldn't get it to work, so I went inside and read about boomerangs from an encyclopedia. Then I went back outside and threw it to my shinbone. Ignorance is bliss.
I have a question. I read a few days ago that if you through a Boomerangs in space it will return back to you again. So, is that correct? And if it does. How does it get back again with no air?
It is amazing how humans sometimes develop technology without knowing the science of how it works as it does.
ty bruva
Well, the torque induced doesn't directly make the path curve. It's the gyroscopic precession, which makes another torque 90 degrees away from the first, which curves the path.
oh please we all know it's magic
These things must be pretty good, even Batman uses them
Was hoping for a video example :(
Why the torque is inwards ?
Hank you missed one point about how lift is created. You got the part about the down wash but you miss the part about Bernoulli's Principle making a high and low pressure areas on the bottom and top of the wings.
+Justin De Rooy They are two views on the same thing. (Except Bernoulli isn't always valid while Newton essentially is)
yes
Because they love you
My dad would take my brother and I to the park to teach us to throw boomerangs. I just remeber it being really really hard both it technique and when they would hit you.
what if they bevel the wings so that the lift on each wing is in the opposite direction.
+mos ab If the original boomerang was designed for a right handed thrower it would make the boomerang for left handed throwers.
1:02 am couldn’t sleep till I knew how this works.
i have to watch this video for school lol
So Link must have some serious skills, then.
First time I got a and threw a boomerang was when I was 6. I was so happy to finally get one. So I aimed and threw the boomerang as best as I could in my front yard. It crashed into the roof of my house and shattered..... like my heart did. I went inside and turned on the Nintendo and never came out again.