They explored the role of friction by covering fingers with different materials, including metallic thimbles to simulate the effects of trying to snap while wearing a metallic gauntlet, much like Thanos.įor an ordinary snap with bare fingers, the researchers measured maximal rotational velocities of 7,800 degrees per second and rotational accelerations of 1.6 million degrees per second squared. Using high-speed imaging, automated image processing, and dynamic force sensors, the researchers analyzed a variety of finger snaps. With the frictional properties of a metal gauntlet, they imagined it might be impossible. After collecting them all, he snaps his fingers and triggers universe-wide consequences.īut would it be possible to snap at all while wearing an armor gauntlet, the researchers asked? In the case of a finger snap, they suspected that skin friction played a more important role compared to other spring and latch systems. In it, Thanos, a villainous character, seeks to obtain six special stones and place them into his metal gauntlet. It posits that organisms depend on the use of a spring and latching mechanism to store up energy, which they can then quickly release.Īcharya and Bhamla felt a particular push to apply this framework to a finger snap after seeing the movie Avengers: Infinity War, released in April 2018 and produced by Marvel Studios. The framework seemed to naturally apply to the snap. In earlier work, Bhamla, Ilton, and other colleagues had developed a general framework for explaining the surprisingly powerful and ultrafast motions observed in living organisms. “It’s really an extraordinary physics puzzle right at our fingertips that hasn’t been investigated closely.” “For the past few years, I’ve been fascinated with how we can snap our fingers,” Bhamla said. Bhamla said the project is also a prime example of what he calls curiosity-driven science, where everyday occurrences and biological behaviors can serve as data sources for new discoveries. Their results might one day inform the design of prosthetics meant to imitate the wide-ranging capabilities of the human hand. The research was led by an undergraduate student at Georgia Tech, Raghav Acharya, as well as doctoral student Elio Challita, Assistant Professor Saad Bhamla of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Assistant Professor Mark Ilton of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. 17 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Using an intermediate amount of friction, not too high and not too low, a snap of the finger produces the highest rotational accelerations observed in humans, even faster than the arm of a professional baseball pitcher. Both media inspired a group of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology to study the physics of a finger snap and determine how friction plays a critical role. Today, that same snap initiates evil forces for the villain Thanos in Marvel’s latest Avengers movie. The snapping of a finger was first depicted in ancient Greek art around 300 B.C. Online Graduate Certificate in Data Science.
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