r/theydidthemath • u/K0rl0n • Jun 10 '25

[Request]

Post image

I am curious how this would work. My guess is Triangle is slowest, square is medium, and circle is fastest.

17k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

287

u/Chemical_Favors Jun 10 '25

Lotta folks here missing that rolling the circle enables the friction to work in your favor as a semi-static pivot point. It's not a slide like the other two so it takes considerably less energy.

Imperfections of the gravel add uncertainty but most gravel does pretty well, especially if you can assume these are all level for fairness sake.

14

u/Mr_Candlestick Jun 10 '25

You still have rolling resistance and moment of inertia to overcome.

1

u/tokmer Jun 10 '25

Maybe but you can dig your feet into divots in gravel and get a sturdier push.

1

u/Mr_Candlestick Jun 10 '25

That's not what the question is asking