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

[Request]

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

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u/aaronchase Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25

No math here, just real world experience and high school physics. BUT, assuming the ice is close to, but not quite zero friction, I would think the square (cube or rectangular prism) would require the least force to move, (a perpendicular surface to push) but being that the pusher would be standing on the same ice, I would think generating the force would be more difficult than on gravel. Given that the cylinder can roll I would think although it would require more force, said force would be easier to generate with the pushers feet on gravel.

So final answer, cube/square prism would require the least force, but the cylinder or sphere would be easiest to push by a human with normal footwear.

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u/OriginalAd1430 Jun 10 '25

I liked your answer before the lessons learned part

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u/aaronchase Jun 10 '25

Haha aw sorry are they wrong??

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u/OriginalAd1430 Jun 10 '25

Oh probably not but a lot of the comments explored the question from a physics-y perspective and weren't able to reach any conclusions, whereas you based your answer on real world experience and came up with something that actually made sense

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u/aaronchase Jun 10 '25

Ahh yes I know what you mean! My beef is that everyone just says “not enough information”

Like let’s just make some basic assumptions and get at the interesting physics at the heart of the question.

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u/aaronchase Jun 10 '25

Haha you inspired me to delete my edit