Electrical cables, garden hoses and strands of holiday lights seem to get themselves hopelessly tangled with no help at all. Now research initiated by an undergraduate student…has resulted in the first model of how knots form. The study..investigated the likelihood of knot formation and the types of knots formed in a tumbled string. The researchers say they were interested in the problem because it has many applications, including to the biophysics research questions their group usually studies.
The experimental set up consisted of a plastic box that was spun by a computer-controlled motor. A piece of string was dropped into the box and tumbled around like clothes in a dryer. Knots formed very quickly, within 10 seconds. The researchers repeated the experiment more than 3,000 times varying the length and stiffness of string, box size and speed of rotation. They classified the resulting knots.
Rather than getting just a few types of knots, Smith and Raymer got all the types that mathematicians had enumerated, at least up to a certain complexity level. The longer the string, the greater was the probability of getting complex knots.
Details of the experiment are fascinating.
Next task: discover how clothes hangers multiply in closets?
I hope they can solve this problem and apply it towards ipod headphones.
“Next task: discover how clothes hangers multiply in closets?”
I’d also like them to figure out if clothes hangers always get tangled together on purpose. I’m sure they do.
Whaddya mean, hangers multiply? In our closets we’re always 1 hanger short.
The first law of cabling states “If there is anything the cable tangle on or in , it will”
Hopefully this will lead to some kind of amazing technological breakthrough that will make the space behind my TV less of a horrible painful death trap.
I’m knot impressed.
This is complete bullshit! Everyone knows that the Knot Fairy shows up each night and weaves all of your cables into a huge mess. If I lay any cables close together, I can practically guarantee you that the next morning they will be hopelessly tangled.
Is this what they mean by “string theory”?
WOW, string theory..
Just gonna wait for this to show up on NUMB3RS….
J/P=?
I cant wait for string theory to work out Harmonic conjoining…
THAT would be cool.
Insted of forcing things APART or joining, we use harmonics to Join and separate…
Guess I can’t type a ? instead of a “-“. Go figure. I’ll blame it on Escher.
#6 hhopper –
That’s because you don’t leave a nickel next to the cables for the Knot Fairy to collect. Its a form of ‘protection’ racket run by the Cosa Knotstra. 😉
Cheers
What gets me is when you are carrying something heavy the power cord will always snag on something causing you to (almost) drop it.
On the other hand if you were sliding down a steep hill which ends in a cliff and had a power cord in your hand guaranteed the power cord will not snag anything and you’re going off the edge.
What is that?
Cheers
Jerome K. Jerome (of Three Men in a Boat fame) once said that if you put a piece of string on the floor and left the room it would immediately tie itself in knots. True of course, we’ve all noted this at some time in our lives
BubbaRay – That drawing makes my hair hurt.
#14
Its called the law of the MEAN nature of unanimated objects 😉