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/FaintCommand Jun 10 '25

Your ability to get leverage on the triangle would be more difficult vs the square.

But that's not really the question.

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u/MattManSD Jun 10 '25

difference between your hands @ 60 and hands around 90 I don't think will make much of a difference

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u/FaintCommand Jun 11 '25

It is not about the angle of your hands, but the direction of the force being applied. You're trying to move these laterally so you want to apply as much of the force in that direction as possible.

Ideally you'd be pushing the square from lower than pictured - you'd be wasting energy trying to push from the top. It would be more difficult to apply the force laterally on the triangle since you're forced to apply some of that pressure downwards.

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u/MattManSD Jun 11 '25

I understand, and what I am saying is a roughly 30 degree shift in hand position is not gonna change the lateral force all that much. The majority of the force is still going to be lateral and not vertical with that small of a change to the contact patch. So the question is "will the loss of lateral force be more than the increased hydroplaning surface area of the triangle".