WEBVTT - Boomerangs: Magic Sticks of Physics 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.320 Welcome to you Stuff you should Know from house Stuff 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:12.880 Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.119 Josh Clark. There's Charles W Chuck Bryant, and Noel Is 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.919 with us today. Yes, producing, Yeah, which makes it a 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.120 super special stuff you should know, a more here stute 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:25.319 stuff you should know. Yeah, that's right. Although old to 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:28.480 get a haircut, I know. He looks like a buddy 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.120 of mine from elementary school. Your elementary school for a 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.479 net a full beard. No, without he took away the 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.360 beard would be like any number of my friends from 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.840 elementary school. Yeah. There was always that one guy though 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.839 that had the early early facial hair. My you know, 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:47.919 jimsa Middle Eastern. He sort of had a little mustache 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.959 in like the seventh grade. I had a friend named 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.680 ron in Uh in elementary school. Man. He had like 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.280 a deep voice and like the mustache and everything. It 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.720 may have been fourth or fifth grade. Now he sells 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:06.560 steer is. Yeah, so obviously we're talking boomerangs, Chuck, that's right, 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:10.680 And um, if you associate boomerangs with Australia, there's actually 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:14.440 a pretty good reason for that. It turns out the boomerangs, 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:15.880 what do you think of a boomerang, which is kind 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.920 of like a crescent shaped stick that you throw and 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.600 it just comes back to you eventually and you catch 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.399 it and look at your friends and say pretty cool. 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.640 Huh yeah there, Like how do you do that? That 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:33.759 was most people think perfected in um by aborigines in Australia. 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.000 That's right. If you want to go back even further, UM, well, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.520 there's a couple of types of boomerangs. Well, there's many 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.880 types of boomerangs, but two main categories is one that 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:46.600 returns to you that you play with, and the one 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:48.200 that you go out and try and kill animals with 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.440 that does not return to you. UM. I call those 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.280 the sad boomerangs. Some people call him rabbit sticks rabbit 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.000 Oh no, I know, isn't that mean? But if you 0:01:58.040 --> 0:01:59.840 want to learn how to make one yourself, go to 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.960 um Survival Skills, the website the Hunting Boomerang. It's actually 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.800 it's pretty cool. This guy does. He makes he's he 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.680 shows you step by step how to make a boomerang 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.240 natural skills, I'm sorry skill. He just goes out in 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:18.560 the woods and finds like a kind of roughly boomerang 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:23.760 shape stick and then use it into like a functioning, 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.919 non returning boomerang is pretty awesome. Well, and that's what 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:31.520 people theorize is how the boomerang came about. Um Back 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.639 in Took Took's day, they would eventually learn to take 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:37.200 a club and beat an animal on the head. And 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.920 then maybe one of Took Took's rand was smart enough 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.120 to say, Hey, maybe if I throw this at the 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.480 animal from a distance, I won't scare them away, or 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.359 that animals faster than I can run, But I can 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.560 throw a stick faster than the animal can run. Let 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:53.520 me hit it in the head with the stick. That's right. 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.880 And so over time, just like with any early tool 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:01.359 um evolution, I guess you would uh find sticks that 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:05.160 flew better and further and further, and eventually they sort 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.240 of took the shape of a boomerang because of its 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.400 unique flying properties. Yeah, they figured out that like a 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.920 curved stick, well, you can aim it more easily and 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.320 it'll fly longer. So they started selecting for those kind 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.360 of sticks, and then they started making those sticks themselves, 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.280 like somebody from the Natural Skills website would. Yeah, the 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.560 two the the design of the two different branches made 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.280 it more stable. Yeah, and we'll get into the mind 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:36.800 bending physics behind a boomerang. Boomerangs, frankly, are magic sticks 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:43.000 of physics. They're almost they're almost it's almost impossible to 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.240 understand them, like what's going on? But we're gonna do 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.320 our best to explain it. And it's with a non 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:54.120 returning boomerang. It's kind of straightforward. It's the returning boomerang 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.640 that they say the Aboriginal Australians were the first to invent. 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.800 That is really difficult to grasp the physics behind. Yeah, 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.400 and the oldest non returning boomerang they found in Poland 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.200 from about twenty years ago. Yeah, that's surprising to me. 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.760 And what that was that far ago? Know that it 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.320 was in Poland? Oh, because I think of the boomerangs 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:19.680 exclusively associated with Oceania. Yeah not, Yeah, they were. They 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:22.080 were found in Native American tribes too, and stuff kind 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.800 of all over the world. So Australian Aborigines use something 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:30.800 called a kylie um exclusively for hunting at first, and 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.640 they think, and this is I think the netst thing, 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.960 because you certainly can't, you know, like find this out factually, 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:40.800 but they think that eventually they stumbled upon one that 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.279 kind of came back and they thought it was fun, 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.320 so they started throwing returning boomerangs. Yeah, because it's like 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.640 just to get their kicks, just for kicks. Because returning 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.480 boomerang you can't use for hunting well now, because if 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.960 you if you throw returning boomerang, can hit an animal. 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:58.680 If you hit the animal, it's not going to return 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.000 back to you. That's that, it's not real. That same 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:04.600 just cartoons everybody. So that's why there's two types. There's 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.680 ones that you brain an animal with and there's another 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.400 that you just throw around to impress your friends. That's right. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:14.159 And apparently though the Aboriginal Australians figured out how to 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:19.200 use returning boomerangs to hunt. They would put some nets 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:23.600 up in trees. They would throw the boomerang, the returning boomerang, 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.719 and then whoever was best at making like an eagle 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.240 or hawks call would make that call and it'd scare 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.360 all the birds because they'd see this thing flying here 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:34.760 a hawks call, and they fly into the nets and 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.320 the Aborigines would eat them. Not a bad idea. So 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:41.400 that's pretty much the history of boomerangs. Yeah, and they 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:43.920 you know, no one owns a patent on the boomerang. 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.640 There are many kinds of boomerangs that people have patented, 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.080 of course, but the original boomerang was just hey, this 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.760 was something we figured out on our own. It's like DNA, 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.480 it belongs to the ages, it belongs to the universe. 0:05:57.800 --> 0:05:59.640 So you're returning boomerang is going to be a little 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.480 lighter obviously, because you're not trying to kill a rabbit. 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.000 It's just for showing off. Yeah, and I've even you know, 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:09.680 they have the little uh um nerf versions for kids. 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:11.320 I had one of those when I was a kid, 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.120 the little uh three pronged boomerang, and those are kind 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.279 of fun. But if you look at videos of the 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:22.040 real deal, like large three foot wooden boomerangs, it's pretty 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.680 impressive to see. Like, you know, it's it's a tough 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:26.120 thing to do. You're not just going out there in 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.479 your first try and have to fly back to you. 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.840 There's actually like boomerang teams around the world. Yeah, us 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.000 boomerang team. Unless you're a wonder kin of course or natural, 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:36.760 I'm sure to do it you on your first time. 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.640 I'm sure it's happened before. Maybe this maybe want to 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.359 get a boomerang, By the way, did are you going to? 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.599 I don't know, maybe the boomerang team. What I'm hoping 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.240 is a fan makes handcrafted boomerangs and since oh yeah, 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.080 I hadn't thought about that, I'll bet we have at 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:56.360 least one boomerang maker listener, So send us to Yeah nice, 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.359 thanks Chuck. That way we can go out and perform 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.640 a little two man boomerang. Maybe we can cross them 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:08.320 and everything. So um the Again, the non returning boomerangs 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.280 are pretty straightforward. It's the returning boomerangs that are lighter, 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:15.480 and they're they're made to be more aerodynamic. And the 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:20.640 proper way to throw a returning boomerang is um to 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.920 hold it at a vertical angle, to hold it up 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.760 and down right, which is weird because if you ever 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:30.480 see somebody throw a boomerang, when it comes back, it's horizontal. 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:34.000 It's horizontally oriented. Yeah, it kind of just lands very 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:37.840 softly like a helicopter. Right. The thing is is, it 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.800 goes from upright to horizontal in the midst of this 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.200 path and it comes back to you. And if you 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:49.280 stop and think about it like that makes zero sense whatsoever. 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.960 A non returning boomerang certainly doesn't do either. Of those things. 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.280 It's just the returning boomerang. And the whole reason behind 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.160 this is because of the design of the returning boomerang. 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:07.560 It's basically a two pronged propeller that's not attached to 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:12.040 anything that thanks to the force you give it and 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:15.080 it's rotation and a whole other bunch of stuff that 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:20.320 will get into it leans to the it falls to 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.200 the left, turns clockwise, and comes back to you. That's 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.960 if you're a right handed thrower with the right handed boomerang. 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.000 If you're a left handed person, you have to have 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:30.880 a left handed boomerang. It's a mirror image of the 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:34.160 right handed boomerang. If you try to throw a right 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.440 handed boomerang with your left hand, it's not gonna work out. 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:40.320 So well, I bet there's one person out there it's like, oh, 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.120 I had no idea. So we're gonna muster up our 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.360 courage and and get into the physics of the boomerang 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:55.920 right after this. Alright, chuck, here we go. All right, So, 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:57.680 I guess the first thing we should talk about is 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.080 a little bit about just the physical design of the 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:05.200 boomerang itself. The wings are slightly tilted, so it creates 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:08.080 what's called an airfoil, just like an airplane wing. Look 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.160 out your plane window there and you're sitting on the wing. 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.959 You're going to notice that the top of it is 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.080 rounded and the bottom of it is flat, and that 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.920 is going to give a plane lift and a boomerang lift. Right. 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:24.120 The the air going over the top of the wing, 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.880 because it's curved in like a tear drop shape. Um, 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:32.079 it picks up speed right, so the air speed is increased, 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.320 which means the air pressure is also increased. Well beneath 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.680 the wing it's flat, the air is just going through 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:41.560 like it's whatever, but the air pressure is higher, so 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.160 you have lower air pressure at the top, higher pressure 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.040 at the bottom. That means that you have left that 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.120 believe that it's Bernoulli's principle, is it? I think? So? 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:54.120 Show off? No, not really so. So that's that's the 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:57.080 whole thing behind both airplane wings, like you said, and 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:00.679 boomerang wings. Because again, if you if you really kind 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:04.640 of want to start to understand boomerangs, um, first of all, 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:09.280 do more research than just listening to this podcast. But secondly, 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.280 you have to think of the boomerang is basically two 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:17.120 airplane wings facing the opposite direction connected together. Okay, that's right, 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.920 and that forms essentially a propeller. Yeah, and uh, a 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:25.840 propeller is um. Well, it's it's basically, if you think 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.320 about a boomerang, it has an axis, just like a 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.720 propeller does, but the axis isn't there. That makes sense, 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.880 it's invisible. The propeller is connected to something because it 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:38.040 has to lift the helicopter propeller cause that's the lift 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.280 the helicopter, or if it's on the front of a plane, 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.240 it's gonna pull that plane forward and up. Um, which 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:47.280 is sort of a key we'll get to in a second. Um. 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:50.480 But it's the same principle. But a boomerang just has 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.760 an invisible access let's say. Okay, so it does, and 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.800 it's very important because at that axis, which you can 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.360 just imagine is in the center of the boomerang where 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:03.360 the two wings come together, that's the access of rotation 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.839 that the boomerang has. It's spin. Yeah, and this article 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.640 does a good job of pointing out that. You would think, 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.600 then if you just turned it completely horizontally like a frisbee, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:16.079 it would act like a helicopter propeller and just go up, yes, 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.720 straight up, or if you turned it completely vertically, which 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:21.280 is how you're supposed to throw it, it would just 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.160 go side to side. But it doesn't do either one 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.920 of those things. No, and it doesn't. And the reason 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:31.680 why is because if you turn on an air airplane 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:36.840 propeller or a helicopter propeller rotor, it's it starts from 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:41.320 a stationary position and just starts spinning, exactly the the 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:45.200 boomerang doesn't start from a stationary position. It starts spinning 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.800 along that central axis. And it's also thrown. Yeah, it's 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.240 got that forward momentum already exactly. So it has now 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.360 because you threw this thing. You threw it and it 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.600 started spinning around its own axis. But you also gave 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.959 it that forward momentum, which is linear momentum, which means 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:07.080 that it's now spinning around two axes. That's right, Okay, 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:11.800 this is is this gyroscopic procession. We're close, we're almost there, 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.760 and we get there chucked because of these two axes. 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.200 So consider this. So the thing is just spinning around. 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:20.719 You've just thrown in. Its upright at a vertical it's 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.880 vertically oriented to the earth, and you throw it, and 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.120 when you throw it say it has a spin around 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.079 that imaginary axis in the middle of the boomerang or 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:36.040 at that point at like twenty kilometers an hour. Okay, 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.760 because in Australia koter exactly well. Plus also I read 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.560 a Japanese paper on this. That's what they use and 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.720 it makes sense. Um, And but you threw it that 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.240 that that energy your arm transferred to it when you 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.640 threw the frisbee to which gave it its linear momentum. 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.960 Say that's making it move through space at a hundred 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:01.440 kilometers per hour. Okay, that's right. So as the things spinning, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.280 whatever blade is at the top of the of the 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:09.040 spin is going in the direction that you threw it, right, 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:11.440 and you threw it at a hundred miles an hour, 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.080 and it's spinning at twenty kilometers an hour. That means 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:17.480 that that top blade is spinning at a hundred and 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.280 twenty kilometers an hour. You said miles. But yeah, we 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:26.400 get it, Okay. I'm like, I'm just just barely hanging 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.200 on here. The bottom one, though, is going in the 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:34.600 opposite direction, so you're it's actually moving at twenty or 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.520 eighty kilometers per hour. So the top is a hundred 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:41.959 and twenty. The bottom one is working in the opposite direction, 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.480 so it's going eighty kilometers per hour. But these things 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:49.280 are attached to the same thing, so this difference actually 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:54.760 creates a difference in air pressure to its vertical orientation, 0:13:55.400 --> 0:14:00.000 which creates torque, which tilts it. Now we've entered gyros 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:04.160 copic procession. Yeah, and I think I precession. I think 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:06.160 I sort of said it like procession, but it's within 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.480 e Yeah, it's like what gives Earth seasons. Yeah, that wobble. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.920 The spin is another part of a very important part 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:15.480 because when you throw it, and we'll get into exactly 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:17.200 how to throw it here in a bit, but you 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.000 want to give it a good wrist snap to give 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.640 it as much spin as possible. Uh. And the spin 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.480 is gonna be determined basically the rate of spin by 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.360 a few things. The length to the wings, um, you know, 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.640 if they're these huge wings, it's the spin isn't going 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:31.960 to be as great, Uh, the angle that they're joined, 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.840 and the amount of force applied by you the thrower. 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.080 And just like a gyroscope, which if we really wanted 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.280 to torture ourselves, we should do one on gyroscopes. Man, 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.240 that would be melt. My brain would melt. Yeah, I 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:47.400 just my brain didn't process that stuff well. But um, 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.840 like a gyroscope, it's gonna have more stability the faster 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.040 it spin. So that's why you want that good risk snap. Yeah. 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.280 And the reason why it has more stabilities because so 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:59.760 that torque, that pressure that that's being created by that 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.320 difference in air pressure. Um, that forces being pushed down 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:09.800 is actually stabilized throughout the spin of the boomerang. Right. Yeah. 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.280 Like if you're going super fast on a bicycle and 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.880 you take your hands off the handlebars, you're gonna keep 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.560 going straight. If you're going like super slow, you're gonna 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.920 start wobbling around, right exactly. Um. The thing is is 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.680 that pressure, that force of torque is constant, so it 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:30.680 eventually because I think procession is if you're throwing with 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.240 your right hand, procession always comes on in a counterclockwise motion. 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:39.800 The torque turns, It turns the boomerang to the sides, 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.880 which is why it eventually comes back around to you horizontally. 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.120 That's what lays it down, and it also brings it 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.040 in an arc that forms a circular path that comes 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:53.960 back to you. It's all gyroscopic precession. And it's because 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:59.040 the boomerang, this little simple stick that's basically one crescent 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:03.360 shaped piece of wood, turns into a gyroscope that that 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:08.200 turns on three axis all at once. Yeah, all on 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.240 one throw. And so it goes from straight it goes 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.720 from stationary being straight up and down to spinning and 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.600 curving around an arc back to you at a hundred 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:22.920 kilometers an hour, all because you tossed it correctly. Yeah. 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.000 And the the design, I mean, there are many, many 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.960 different designs of boomerangs. Um, Like I said, they can 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:32.320 have two wings, three four, you can look like crawl 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.880 and and have blades attached to them. Because there is 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.160 something called a battle boomerang. Yeah, um man, that's that 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.840 seems dangerous. Yea, it seems totally dangerous. I'll bet you 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.880 can find that at like a head shop somewhere next 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.800 to like a dragon pewter statue or something. You're probably 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.000 the deal you can bind together for cheaper. Um. Some 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:53.880 of them do. Some of them have what's called turbulators though, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.600 which are can be a little bumps and pits on 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:59.000 top which can increase the lift even more. And uh, 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:02.360 I read an interview with one boomerang builder, and he 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:04.760 was like, you can't. You know, I'm sure like NERF 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.520 can with their their you know, soft ones, but like 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.240 a true large three ft wooden boomerang, he said, you 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.879 can't computerize these and build them like they kind of 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.919 need to be handcrafted and thrown and then tweaked and 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.119 then thrown so you get it just right. And I 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.600 saw um one of the U S Boomerang team guys 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.719 demonstrating on video and he just put like a rubber 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:30.119 band on his two I guess adjust it. So that 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.600 makes sense, yeah, because you know, like if you're if 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:35.080 you have a ceiling fan or something like that, you 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.000 can add weights or something to stabilize it. That kind 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.480 of thing. Yeah, Or when you get a when you 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.080 get your tires and start installed in your car, you know, 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.800 they put those little on those lead weights they to 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.240 uh what's it called align it? Yeah, to align it 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.600 they put on that machine and if it's wobbling, they'll 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.280 add the little weights. Yeah. I thought they thought there's 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.320 a wizard in back. You're always in the waiting room 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.920 drinking coffee and reading, browsing thelar making executer dragon statutes. No, 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:04.360 it's kind of cool Actually, I think it's kind of cool. 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.359 It's really kind of nerdy to watch your tires get aligned, 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:09.919 to put it on the machine and spin it, and 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:11.600 it's really kind of just like this, and they look 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:13.520 at it and if it's if it's wabbling at all, 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.240 they know exactly where to tap on these little weights, 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.600 because yeah, you don't want your tires to be the gyroscope, 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.679 not at all. You don't. That makes for unsafe driving. 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.800 Uh So I guess we should after this message break 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:38.360 teach you how to throw a boomerang. All right, you've 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.520 got your boomerang. You're out in the field or on 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:44.399 the beach. Beach is gonna be tough because wind is 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.840 one of the forces that are going to act on 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:51.560 that boomerang. There are five forces nervous force of gravity, 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.520 the force caused by that propeller motion, the force of 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:59.880 your throw, uh, force caused by uneven speed of the wing, 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.800 and then the wind. And the guy that I watched 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.960 throw on on YouTube um said that he liked to 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:10.399 throw on with a slight breeze in his face. And 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.240 he said that that Um, it depends on the angle 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:15.320 at which you're going to release it, though, depending on 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:16.760 how the wind, and there's a lot of trial and 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:20.679 air involved, and it's yeah, apparently you you want wind. 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.199 I couldn't figure out what the deal is with this, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:28.160 but um it somehow helps the boomerang move. But you 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:30.879 have what's called an angle of attack, and that's basically 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.800 how you orient yourself to the wind. The winds blowing 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:38.840 in your face, you should turn and face. You don't 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.080 want your shoulder now being hit by the wind, because 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.360 that's ninety degrees. He turned a little bit to the right, 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.920 so probably about like forty five degrees, and that's what 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.879 you throw too, So you're throwing at an angle to 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.520 the direction the wind is coming in. Yeah, but this 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:55.040 guy kind of worked it out like he threw the um, 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:57.639 you know, he kind of measured the wind. Uh, you know, 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.959 did the old finger test. Yeah, and he said, I'm 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.000 gonna angle myself a little bit to the right and 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:04.919 I'm gonna throw it. And he said, and it should 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.960 land just in front of me. It went behind him. 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.359 And he was like, well, I was wrong, so I 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:12.160 didn't have a good wind measurement, so let me angle 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.080 a little bit more, and sure enough, the thing came 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.359 right back to him. Nice. So it all depends on 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.280 what angle against the wind that you throw that thing, 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:27.040 Bob say, Oh man, I can't stand that guy, really, 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:32.200 Bob Seeker. Yeah, I don't have anything against him, honestly. Yeah, 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:34.320 that old time rock and roll song. I just turned 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.600 that a song. That's his first piano keys. Yeah, I 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.960 hate that song. Yeah, but overall I think Bob Seekers. Okay, 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:42.840 he seems fine. He's a he's a working man. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.959 turned the page baby. Oh yeah, I don't like that 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.240 song either. I guess it's like against the wind, like 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.400 a rock Oh. I hate that song, Hollywood Knights. That's 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:54.720 a terrible song too. You hate Bob Seeker, No, but 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:57.600 I don't mind against the Wind. Surely there's other Bob 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.640 Seekers songs outre Bob, get in touch with us and 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:04.080 introduced me to your catalog. That would be great if 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.879 he was a listener. Actually, he's just got a single 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:10.160 tier doing on his cheeks. All right, So where were 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:12.400 we we are? All right? You're gonna hold the boomerang 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.080 with the V with the elbow pointing towards you and 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:18.920 the V pointing out away from you, and again up 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.879 and down. It's vertically oriented. Yeah, vertically orient but at 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:25.440 a slight tilt, like you don't want it completely straight 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:27.640 up and down, but you're not throwing it like horizontally 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.359 Like no, no, you're not gonna get very far that way. No. 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:33.840 Actually it does go up and then comes back down 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:37.080 in a loop. It basically does totally do something. Yeah, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:41.240 but interesting. Yeah, the thing is it's kind of dangerous, 0:21:41.240 --> 0:21:43.000 so you don't want to mess around with it. Yeah, 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:44.680 I mean we should point that out. These things are 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:46.920 you know, heavy and made of wood and they come 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:49.879 you know you're throwing it hard. Well yeah, I mean 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.840 let's cut to the chase. Apparently when you throw a 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:57.880 frisbee or a boomerang, which are virtually interchangeable in my mind, 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:01.120 but they're really not not at all. Um, you want 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:03.439 to keep your eye on it at all times, and 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:05.720 if you ever lose sight of it, you don't look 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:09.760 around for it. You need to go take cover, cover 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:13.560 your head and shout heads up and get everybody else 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:15.399 to cover their heads too, because that thing can come 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:18.080 back and collock somebody. Yeah, and that's if you haven't 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:21.640 thrown it right. Like when I've seen the correct boomerang toss, 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:25.199 it lands like a helicopter. Um, you know, straight up 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:27.400