Is this real or fake? If real, how is this possible?

[simms]

http://www.break.com/index/awe...thpick-fork-trick.html

 

[her209]

I don't even have to watch video to tell you it's real.

 

[Aluvus]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2125768&enterthread=y

 

[soydios]

i'm not sure that the fire would stop at that exact point on the toothpick, but the balancing is real, because the center of gravity of the forks is on the rim. same principle as this: http://www.physics.brown.edu/p...lids/demos/1j2022.html

 

[911paramedic]

My grandmother used to yell at my grandfather for doing that because it bent the tines up, lmao.

 

[Alistar7]

It's fake, those are not even forks they are spoons. You have been lied to yoar whole life...

 

[gingerstewart55]

Originally posted by: soydios
i'm not sure that the fire would stop at that exact point on the toothpick, but the balancing is real, because the center of gravity of the forks is on the rim. same principle as this: http://www.physics.brown.edu/p...lids/demos/1j2022.html

If you notice, he used a metal cup, so naturally the toothpick would quit burning exactly at the point it did.....the metal, when the burning toothpick reached its rim, instantly transferred the heat away from the toothpick outward into the mteal.....faster than the toothpick could sustain combustion, which is why the burning quit.

Bet if you used a glass tumbler, the toothpick would keep burning and the trick would fail.

 

[Hyperlite]

seems like a lot of work to burn half a toothpick

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: gingerstewart55

Originally posted by: soydios
i'm not sure that the fire would stop at that exact point on the toothpick, but the balancing is real, because the center of gravity of the forks is on the rim. same principle as this: http://www.physics.brown.edu/p...lids/demos/1j2022.html

If you notice, he used a metal cup, so naturally the toothpick would quit burning exactly at the point it did.....the metal, when the burning toothpick reached its rim, instantly transferred the heat away from the toothpick outward into the mteal.....faster than the toothpick could sustain combustion, which is why the burning quit.

Bet if you used a glass tumbler, the toothpick would keep burning and the trick would fail.

Just tried it with a glass tumbler, worked fine

 

[mordantmonkey]

center of gravity.
also the weight of one half of a toothpick has almost no bearing on the balance of two metal forks.

 

[jagec]

Repost, it's real, and the reason the fire goes out has more to do with lack of oxygen than anything else. Those painted toothpicks don't burn very well when they're surrounded by air, when you hold them against something that blocks the flow of air, they stop burning entirely.

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: jagec
Repost, it's real, and the reason the fire goes out has more to do with lack of oxygen than anything else. Those painted toothpicks don't burn very well when they're surrounded by air, when you hold them against something that blocks the flow of air, they stop burning entirely.

It works fine with unpainted toothpicks too. Any normal toothpick doesn't burn very well, and will work fine

 

[Phokus]

title: 2 forks, 1 cup


Yeah, i had my finger on the "X" of my firefox browser just in case :shocked:

 

[MyThirdEye]

This is a really cool trick that I cant wait to try at a party

Made me lol

 

[E equals MC2]

wow

 

[5to1baby1in5]

If you bend the forks back more, you won't even have to burn the toothpick.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: soydios
i'm not sure that the fire would stop at that exact point on the toothpick, but the balancing is real, because the center of gravity of the forks is on the rim. same principle as this: http://www.physics.brown.edu/p...lids/demos/1j2022.html

It's been a while since I took physicals, and I realize that this is real, but I don't understand how the forks don't fall, if all of the weight is outside the cup...

Anyone care to explain or demonstrate?

 

[ManyBeers]

Why does he burn the toothpick? The forks were balancing fine before he lit the toothpick on fire.

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: ManyBeers
Why does he burn the toothpick? The forks were balancing fine before he lit the toothpick on fire.

Because it looks cooler? With the other end of the toothpick there it looks like a quarter inch of wood is holding up two forks, when you burn it off it looks like NOTHING is holding up the two forks. It's simply some showmanship.

 

[Brainonska511]

It doesn't fall because the center of mass is below the balancing point. I saw my physics professor do something similar when we were learning about torque and center of mass.