Fairy Tale Physics: Myths and Legends Explained
Stephanie Peatling in Sydney, for National Geographic News, December 30, 2005
Poor Rapunzel. Not only did she get locked up in a tall tower, but she literally risked her neck by allowing a prince to climb up her hair.
Such dilemmas had long bothered Sue Stocklmayer, director of the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS) at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Stocklmayer resolved to do something about it, so she and fellow CPAS staff member Mike Gore, a retired professor, channeled their frustrations over fairy tale physics into a traveling science show.
Rapunzel's conundrum is one of the highlights of the show.
"We ask how it is that Rapunzel didn't lose her skull, given the weight of what she's [supporting]," Stocklmayer said.
"You might notice some of the enlightened [storybook] artists have cottoned on to this and show her wrapping her hair around something, like a bedpost, first.
"A small object"-such as a cooped-up princess-"can bear a lot of weight if the connecting device [her hair] is wrapped around something."
The prince is then technically hanging on to the bedpost rather than Rapunzel's scalp.
"So long as Rapunzel wraps her hair first, then the prince and she are Ok," Stocklmayer said. "So in her case, yes, it could happen."
About That Golden Egg
The scientists combed through the works of beloved authors, including Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, to choose which fairy tales to feature.
The story "Jack and the Beanstalk," for instance, provides material for explaining structural physics.
In the show Gore uses toilet paper rolls to demonstrate the strength of the story's enormous beanstalk.
The brown cardboard tube at the center of the roll is quite flimsy, he points out to the audience.
But if several rolls are stood on end in a single horizontal row, a plank of wood placed on top of them can hold a man's weight without collapsing the cardboard.
"About six of them will hold my 85 kilograms [187 pounds]," Gore told the audience before hopping on top to prove his point.
A giant plant stalk consisting of several hollow stems wound around each other should therefore be able to support a nimble climber.
The same theory of using hollow cylinders is commonly applied to bridge building, where the structures can provide substantial support while keeping their own weight to a minimum.
Bringing a gold-laying goose to life, meanwhile, requires a bit of Newtonian physics.
"What if a goose really had to lay a golden egg?" Stocklmayer asked.
"When they lay a regular egg, it comes out quite soft so they can squeeze it out. But gold is obviously hard [by comparison]."
According to Newton's Third Law of Motion, every action requires an equal and opposite reaction.
"If you assume the golden egg is three kilograms [seven pounds], then the laws of physics dictate that when the goose ejects the egg it would have to move in the opposition direction to the egg but with equal force," she said.
The industrious goose would therefore shoot away from its egg with the same coniderable amount of force required to lay the egg.
"We use a steel ball bearing and a mechanical hen, and that's exactly what happens," Stocklmayer said. "The audience loves it."
The Magic of Demonstrations
The pair has presented their hour-long fairy tale show at numerous science festivals along Australia's east coast and even as far as the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland.
They hope using the fairy tales will help audiences around the world relate to the experiments and gain a better understanding of science concepts.
"One of the things that really concerns us about the public discussion of science is that it's not [usually] in the context of people's everyday lives," Stocklmayer said.
"We wanted to make it entertaining and easily relatable and thought fairy tales were a good vehicle."
The scientists stress that the show is not about ruining the romance of these children's tales but about making science more alive for teenagers and adults.
"There's plenty of science there, but it's also important that we do demonstrations," Stocklmayer said. "We couldn't do anything that was just us talking, because that would be boring."
The pair also note that, despite the traditional association of fairy tales with toddlers, their show is geared to an older crowd.
"You could do it for [young] children, but you'd have to be very careful to maintain the magic of the fairy tale. With adults you can take a few more liberties," Stocklmayer said.
The shows are proving extremely popular, and the pair are already eyeing their next target: nursery rhymes.
Poor Rapunzel. Not only did she get locked up in a tall tower, but she literally risked her neck by allowing a prince to climb up her hair.
Such dilemmas had long bothered Sue Stocklmayer, director of the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS) at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Stocklmayer resolved to do something about it, so she and fellow CPAS staff member Mike Gore, a retired professor, channeled their frustrations over fairy tale physics into a traveling science show.
Rapunzel's conundrum is one of the highlights of the show.
"We ask how it is that Rapunzel didn't lose her skull, given the weight of what she's [supporting]," Stocklmayer said.
"You might notice some of the enlightened [storybook] artists have cottoned on to this and show her wrapping her hair around something, like a bedpost, first.
"A small object"-such as a cooped-up princess-"can bear a lot of weight if the connecting device [her hair] is wrapped around something."
The prince is then technically hanging on to the bedpost rather than Rapunzel's scalp.
"So long as Rapunzel wraps her hair first, then the prince and she are Ok," Stocklmayer said. "So in her case, yes, it could happen."
About That Golden Egg
The scientists combed through the works of beloved authors, including Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, to choose which fairy tales to feature.
The story "Jack and the Beanstalk," for instance, provides material for explaining structural physics.
In the show Gore uses toilet paper rolls to demonstrate the strength of the story's enormous beanstalk.
The brown cardboard tube at the center of the roll is quite flimsy, he points out to the audience.
But if several rolls are stood on end in a single horizontal row, a plank of wood placed on top of them can hold a man's weight without collapsing the cardboard.
"About six of them will hold my 85 kilograms [187 pounds]," Gore told the audience before hopping on top to prove his point.
A giant plant stalk consisting of several hollow stems wound around each other should therefore be able to support a nimble climber.
The same theory of using hollow cylinders is commonly applied to bridge building, where the structures can provide substantial support while keeping their own weight to a minimum.
Bringing a gold-laying goose to life, meanwhile, requires a bit of Newtonian physics.
"What if a goose really had to lay a golden egg?" Stocklmayer asked.
"When they lay a regular egg, it comes out quite soft so they can squeeze it out. But gold is obviously hard [by comparison]."
According to Newton's Third Law of Motion, every action requires an equal and opposite reaction.
"If you assume the golden egg is three kilograms [seven pounds], then the laws of physics dictate that when the goose ejects the egg it would have to move in the opposition direction to the egg but with equal force," she said.
The industrious goose would therefore shoot away from its egg with the same coniderable amount of force required to lay the egg.
"We use a steel ball bearing and a mechanical hen, and that's exactly what happens," Stocklmayer said. "The audience loves it."
The Magic of Demonstrations
The pair has presented their hour-long fairy tale show at numerous science festivals along Australia's east coast and even as far as the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland.
They hope using the fairy tales will help audiences around the world relate to the experiments and gain a better understanding of science concepts.
"One of the things that really concerns us about the public discussion of science is that it's not [usually] in the context of people's everyday lives," Stocklmayer said.
"We wanted to make it entertaining and easily relatable and thought fairy tales were a good vehicle."
The scientists stress that the show is not about ruining the romance of these children's tales but about making science more alive for teenagers and adults.
"There's plenty of science there, but it's also important that we do demonstrations," Stocklmayer said. "We couldn't do anything that was just us talking, because that would be boring."
The pair also note that, despite the traditional association of fairy tales with toddlers, their show is geared to an older crowd.
"You could do it for [young] children, but you'd have to be very careful to maintain the magic of the fairy tale. With adults you can take a few more liberties," Stocklmayer said.
The shows are proving extremely popular, and the pair are already eyeing their next target: nursery rhymes.