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Monday, April 30, 2012
How one physicist beat a traffic ticket
When physicist Dmitri Krioukov was given a $400 (around £247) penalty fine for driving through a stop sign, he came up with a rather intelligent way of proving his blamelessness.
Appearing at a court in California, Mr Krioukov presented a math paper entitled “The Proof of Innocence”. To give a rough idea of the document’s content, here are a couple of sentences:
“Therefore we can assume that the deceleration was close to maximum possible for a car, which is of the order of 10 m/s2 = 22:36 mph/s. We will thus use a0 = 10 m/s2. Substituting these values of a0, xp, and xf into Eq. (8) inverted for t.”
Mr Krioukov wrote four pages of equations, graphs, formulas and a bunch of other things which only very, very intelligent people would probably understand.
However, in a nutshell he wrote that his car (A Toyota Yaris) was obscured by another vehicle (A Subaru Outback). When the physicist approached the stop sign; he slowed down beside the Subaru, came to a full stop, looked for hazards, and then drove on through.
As the officer was parked 100ft away from the stop sign and therefore, had an obstructed view of the incident, he was guessing Mr Krioukov’s angular velocity instead of his linear velocity...apparently.
After hearing his argument, and presumably understanding it, the judge agreed with Mr Kroiukov’s findings and overturned the ticket. However, she claimed the physics paper had nothing to do with the verdict and was instead based on the officer’s position.
Either way, I’m betting Mr Kroiukov was quite pleased with the outcome.
Appearing at a court in California, Mr Krioukov presented a math paper entitled “The Proof of Innocence”. To give a rough idea of the document’s content, here are a couple of sentences:“Therefore we can assume that the deceleration was close to maximum possible for a car, which is of the order of 10 m/s2 = 22:36 mph/s. We will thus use a0 = 10 m/s2. Substituting these values of a0, xp, and xf into Eq. (8) inverted for t.”
Mr Krioukov wrote four pages of equations, graphs, formulas and a bunch of other things which only very, very intelligent people would probably understand.
However, in a nutshell he wrote that his car (A Toyota Yaris) was obscured by another vehicle (A Subaru Outback). When the physicist approached the stop sign; he slowed down beside the Subaru, came to a full stop, looked for hazards, and then drove on through.
As the officer was parked 100ft away from the stop sign and therefore, had an obstructed view of the incident, he was guessing Mr Krioukov’s angular velocity instead of his linear velocity...apparently.
After hearing his argument, and presumably understanding it, the judge agreed with Mr Kroiukov’s findings and overturned the ticket. However, she claimed the physics paper had nothing to do with the verdict and was instead based on the officer’s position.
Either way, I’m betting Mr Kroiukov was quite pleased with the outcome.
Photo © Aidan.Morgan via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: California, Dmitri Krioukov, penalty fine, stop sign, Subaru Outback, Toyota Yaris
Monday, January 30, 2012
American woman set to battle the boys in Nascar
There’s to be no fooling around when the female racing sensation Courtney Force takes to the track in a Funny Car this year.
As the daughter of Nascar superstar John Force, Courtney has grown up with little else on her mind but breaking the mould as a professional racer.
As if the inspiration of achieving a podium place wasn’t enough, Force has also had to put up with the derogatory attitude of her fellow racers, most of whom are male.
Ms Force said, “Now I get my own 8,000hp, 300mph Ford, I can’t wait to start beating up on the boys.”
The first opportunity to step out of her dad’s shadow will come at the Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals in California, on the 9th of February.
This prestigious race has previously been won by Force’s teammate Robert Hight and Jason Line.
John Force said, “She’s kind of an extrovert, ready to attack and go after the boys, knowing they were going to beat her up. She’s ready.”
Ladies car insurance policyholders will be keeping their fingers crossed that Courtney Force and Formula One hopeful Danica Patrick will finally dispel the myth that women can’t reach the racing heights.
As the daughter of Nascar superstar John Force, Courtney has grown up with little else on her mind but breaking the mould as a professional racer.
As if the inspiration of achieving a podium place wasn’t enough, Force has also had to put up with the derogatory attitude of her fellow racers, most of whom are male.
Ms Force said, “Now I get my own 8,000hp, 300mph Ford, I can’t wait to start beating up on the boys.”
The first opportunity to step out of her dad’s shadow will come at the Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals in California, on the 9th of February.
This prestigious race has previously been won by Force’s teammate Robert Hight and Jason Line.
John Force said, “She’s kind of an extrovert, ready to attack and go after the boys, knowing they were going to beat her up. She’s ready.”
Ladies car insurance policyholders will be keeping their fingers crossed that Courtney Force and Formula One hopeful Danica Patrick will finally dispel the myth that women can’t reach the racing heights.
Photo © cole24 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: California, Courtney Force, Danica Patrick, Ford, Formula One, Funny Car, ladies car insurance, Nascar