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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Gravity

Isaac Newton has a lot to answer for. The Gorse Fox innocently crawled out of bed, first thing this morning and stumbled myopically down the stairs to let the cat out. As he bent to undo the cat-flap, his mobile phone dropped from his pyjama jacket.

At this point gravity was in full control - no parachutes or other devices were deployed. Accelerating at 32 feet per second per second is plunged onwards - the distance being what it was (a couple of feet) the Gorse Fox was not concerned about the friction of re-entry, however, he was concerned by the instantaneous deceleration when the ceramic tiled floor brought an sudden end to the descent. His concerns were not without foundation (and nor were the ceramic tiles). Mobile phone screen has cracked every which way. This could be an expensive repair!

The Gorse Fox conjectures that if he had done this before Isaac Newton, though he's not sure the Samsung Galaxy S3 was available then, then the phone would just have hung there in mid-air for him to grasp and replace in the pocket. Gravity certainly has its drawbacks.

2 comments:

scobi said...

Now, I know how the modern working life is 24/7, but having your mobile in your pyjama pocket, that really is beyond the call of duty!

The Gorse Fox said...

Perhaps a word of explanation is warranted. The Gorse Fox does not wear a watch, nor have an alarm clock. He relies on his mobile phone to provide time-keeping duties. As he rises from the arms of oblivion he tucks the mobile phone into his pocket so both hands are free as he potters down the stairs to free the cat from confines of the house.