Anyone who's ever done a belly flop into a swimming pool knows it ends with a blunt-sounding splat, a big splash and a searing red sting. What most people don't know is why.
Daniel Harris does. The assistant professor in Brown University's School of Engineering says the physics behind the phenomenon aren't too complex. What happens -; and what makes it so painful, he explains -; is that the forces from the water surface put up a fierce resistance to the body suddenly going from air to water, which is often still.
For the Journal of Fluid Mechanics study, the researchers set up a belly flop-like water experiment using a blunt cylinder but adding an important vibrating twist to it, which ultimately led them to counterintuitive findings. Related StoriesFor this experiment, the researchers dropped the cylinder repeatedly into still water and analyzed both the visual results and data from sensors embedded inside the cylinder.The results show that while the strategy can be effective, surprisingly, it doesn't always soften the impact. In fact, contrary to conventional thinking, sometimes the more flexible system can increase the maximum impact force on the body as compared to a fully rigid structure.
The researchers found the key was the springs: they have to be soft enough to gently absorb the impact without leading to more rapid vibrations that add to the overall force.
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