[NBLUG/talk] Totally OT, a physics puzzle...

troy fryman at sonic.net
Thu Jan 8 16:07:00 PST 2004


On Thu, Jan 08, 2004 at 02:25:40PM -0800, sms at sonic.net wrote:
> 
> So, sitting in a "Cisco Academy" class & looking at the semi-famous
> Cisco poster (of a breaker cresting over the GG Bridge), the student
> next to me & I disagreed about whether or not the bridge would survive
> such a wave.
> 
> One of us feels that the wave is so large & that fluid dynamics demands
> that such a large wave will be moving so fast, that it'll take down the
> bridge.
> 
> The other points out that it's *only* water, & will flow freely, & the
> bridge *is* built to flex; that it'll survive.
> 
> 
> Can anyone provide the physics to show why either (or both) of us are
> right, or wrong?

Ever been surfing?  Ever gotten your ass kicked by even a 6 foot wave?

I don't have the mad physics skillz to be able to prove it, but put me
firmly on the side of the bridge collapsing like so many Tinker Toys.

-troy



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