This physicist tied himself to the side of a building then went plunging toward the earth - here's why he lived
To prove a basic property of physics, Norwegian physicist Andreas Wahl tied himself to the side of building 45 feet off the ground:
At first, the weight was secured to the building.
NRK Viten on YouTube
NRK Viten on YouTube
When Wahl's colleagues released the weight, both he and it started to fall. Wahl fell straight under the force of gravity, but the weight - because it was placed at a distance from Wahl - traced an arc through the air, just like a swinging pendulum.
The weight underwent what Isaac Newton first described in the 17th century as centripetal force - the force that makes a body follow a curved path. In this case the force was the tension from the cable.
As the force of gravity pulled the weight down, tension from the cable pulled it toward a central point - the pipe. This induced an arc, which you can see below:
NRK Viten on YouTube
After a couple of wraps, the weight stopped Wahl's fall just a few feet above the ground.
NRK Viten on YouTube
Therefore, don't try this at home. Leave this sort of thing to the physicists.
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