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So it's like that old picture of the grass straw driven through the telephone pole by nothing but hurricane wind? The flimsy straw could do it simply because o
by Brian_K_White 5y ago
So it's like that old picture of the grass straw driven through the telephone pole by nothing but hurricane wind?
The flimsy straw could do it simply because of how fast it was moving. The strength of the straw doesn't matter, simply it's mass, moving that fast, carries itself through, ie the leading edge is not being pushed from behind like a nail, more like a bullet with a string attached?
Setting aside the simplification, that probably the mass of the rest of the straw does play some part not absolutely zero, is that a reasonable way to conceptualize it?
- chemeril 5y agoYes, that's reasonable. By the time the jet hits the target the explosive provides no motive force whatsoever: it's purely a momentum game.
- foucalt-apathy 5y agoAre you certain that a hurricane can blow a straw through a telephone pole? I hadn't heard of this phenomenon and was interested. I was unable to find a good source. According to this article, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association thinks it's not possible: https://www.livescience.com/39270-tornado-straw-into-tree-wood.html https://www.livescience.com/39270-tornado-straw-into-tree-wo... (Alternative explanation in the article: the tree twists during the hurricane, cracks temporarily open, and debris gets stuck in the cracks.)
- Brian_K_White 5y agoThe picture (perhaps multiple but at least one) was a piece of hay poked right through a telephone pole, in the aftermath of some kind of storm. Not a tree. It was shown in grade school in the 80s or late 70s.