![]() ![]() "We learned very interesting things from a pebble point of view, but nothing from a Gömböc point of view," says Domokos. Inspected 2000 beach pebbles in the hope that one mightīehave like a Gömböc. On a holiday to a Greek island he and his wife collected and So he took what for a mathematician is a drastic measure. Domokos tried hard to construct a Gömböc mathematically, to prove it does exist, but initially he failed just as miserably as Gömböc unbelievers failed to prove its non-existence. Should it exist, a name: he called it a Gömböc. These included the Hungarian Gábor Domokos who gave this object, Slowly came around to the idea that such an object might exist afterĪll. Many tried to prove the result, but failed. Mathematicians naturally assumed that there isn't a three-dimensionalĬonvex and homogenuous shape with just one stable and one unstable point ofĮquilibrium. Something similar seems to be true in three dimensions, so Having one stable and one unstable equilibrium point would make impossibleĪn ellipse has two stable and two unstable points of equilibrium. There is a rigorous proof for this fact which shows that To do this, you'd have to flatten the end of theĮllipse out in some way, creating another stable equilibrium in the You can get some intuitionĪs to whay that is by trying to get rid of one of the unstableĮquilibrium points of the ellipse. That has just one stable and one unstable equilibrium point? TheĪnswer is "no". Uniform throughout without bulges or weights) Its long "side" and two unstable ones at its ends.Ĭan you find a two-dimensional shape that is convex (it doesn'tīulge inwards) and homeogeneous (the material it's made of is An ellipse, which is a bit like a length-wiseĬross-section of an egg, has two stable equilibria in the centres of ![]() Ones at the centres of its sides and three unstable ones at itsĬorners. A triangle has three of each, again three stable It also has four unstable equilibrium points at Stable equilibrium points, the centres of its sides: if you trap the squareīetween two vertical glass plates then you can balance it at those points. What combination of equilibrium points can an object have? It's easier to Points around the egg's body on which it balances robustly are called ![]() "unstable" because the egg will fall over at the slightest nudge. "Equilibrium" because you can balance the egg on them and The two tips of the egg are known as unstable equilibrium The slightest disturbance will make it topple With a lot of skill youĬan also balance it on one of its two ends: it's not easy and if you manage, You can nudge it,īut as long as you don't do it too hard it will settle down again. ![]() You can put it down on its side, it will rollĪround a little but eventually come to rest. So what are Gömböcs and what makes them special? Even now, Gábor Domokos, one of their discoverers, reckons that in some sense they barely exists at all. Until quite recently, no-one knew whether Gömböcs even existed. It looks like an egg with sharp edges, and when you put it down it starts wriggling and rolling around with an apparent will of its own. Your browser does not support the video tag.ĭirect link What's this? Read on to find out.Ī Gömböc is a strange thing. ![]()
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