How can this possibly work?
HERE

STOP CHUCKING PHYSICS AT ME!

It am alien hammers, obviously.

(is embedding disabled in the QOTW? probably for the best, actually)

edit: here's a picture of it! OMFG!


( chart cat has an itch, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 14:54, 14 replies)

Physics!
Levers give me the horn.
(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 15:26, closed)

It looks far less plausible
in your image than it does in the vido.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 15:31, closed)

Looks eh?
How odd - I looked at that and nothing struck me as amiss at all.

(Maybe the camera angle is not ideal though.)

(Maybe one thing: I'm unsure how owning a neon-ruler can help a fictional character stop wildfires.)
(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 15:32, closed)

You could beat out very small fires
with that ruler, before they destroy a hundred acres of forest.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 15:38, closed)

one half of a suspension bridge
but inverse

innit?
( spimf ™ is whoever you want him to be, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 15:50, closed)

Yes but,
he's fictional you see?

Maybe fictional fires.

More like a balanced cantilever bridge but yeah.
(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:03, closed)

How DOES it work?
Seriously, someone explain this to me!
(ScousersPet, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:14, closed)

Hmmmm...
From the shadows, the ruler and hammer look as though they're right next to the wall, so the board appears to be in an impossible position. The ruler also seems to have been digitally manipulated - the edges are a bit ragged, and it doesn't have the usual space between the ends and the scale itself. I call shenannigans!
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:17, closed)

"Help smokey prevent wildfires" Isn't that in The Simpsons?
Who can help prevent wildfires? Me or You?

You - Wrong, the correct answer was "Me" meaning "You"
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:26, closed)

I've seen this trick
in a Johnny Ball book ("Second Thinks").

Hurrah for physics!
( benryves Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good!, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:43, closed)

is this because
the head of the hammer is much heavier than anything else, so the centre of gravity is near it?
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:51, closed)

It's pretty simple, actually.
The center of gravity for that entire rig is directly below the end of the ruler as it's on the shelf.

Looking at it, it's obvious that the head of the hammer is the heaviest bit. The moment created by the head of the hammer pulling downward due to gravity is substantial- so it's closer to the pivot point, which is the end of the ruler on the edge of the shelf. The combined moment of the handle, the ruler and the string, applied farther out, balance the moment of the head. If you look at it from the standpoint of M-rxF it's pretty intuitively obvious.

Then again, I took Statics in engineering school...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Tue 8 Jul 2008, 16:53, closed)

*died all dead and stuff*
DEMONS.

(like physics)
(TheSnark oh, c'mon, like you didn't see me coming, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 19:11, closed)

What's even weirder...
is Apeloverage's sensible reply *falls off chair*
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Thu 10 Jul 2008, 14:42, closed)