Posts by mbonsma@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AckR4OCjXfLu9mSYfA by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:23:07Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
We've all been there: it's puzzle time, but once you dump out the pieces and start laying them flat, you realize you don't have enough space on your table. Join me as we use physics to find out ✨HOW BIG A TABLE YOU NEED FOR YOUR JIGSAW PUZZLE ✨https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2312.04588#SciComm
(DIR) Post #AckR4QKxc37alsK9lQ by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:24:26Z
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This work was a pandemic collaboration between me and the brilliant Kent Bonsma-Fisher, with assistance from our toddler and cat. The result, in his words, was "the cleanest dataset I have ever collected." Today our results are public on #arXiv!
(DIR) Post #AckR4SOvwFUJAmCMEa by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:24:41Z
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TL;DR: an unassembled jigsaw puzzle takes up an area that is the square root of 3 times the area of the assembled puzzle, or about 1.7 times the assembled area. This is *independent of the number of pieces*.
(DIR) Post #AckR4UHCxwUqzObDTE by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:25:50Z
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We derived a theory with a "spherical cow in a vacuum" approach: we approximated each puzzle piece area as a circle, then calculated the area of the circles packed together. Our prediction: the unassembled area is sqrt(3) times the assembled area. Then we took data.
(DIR) Post #AckR4W5aE8O0bvAxd2 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:27:18Z
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We built 9 puzzles across a variety of total sizes and with piece numbers ranging from 9 to 2000. We laid out all the pieces flat, trying to be realistic by not paying much attention to how they were arranged and not spending time trying to get them closer together.
(DIR) Post #AckR4Xq3ip9m2Lvai0 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:27:49Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
The results were the most incredible agreement between theory and data I've ever seen in over a decade of being a physicist. I think I gasped when I saw this plot. Without any fitting, our simple theory *very accurately* predicted the unassembled area of all these puzzles.
(DIR) Post #AckR4ZiKkWAJqyKRwe by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:28:37Z
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We were surprised that the unassembled area didn't depend on the number of puzzle pieces. The intuition is this: if you have a small number of large pieces, the gaps between pieces are big, but this is multiplied by a small total number of pieces, and vice versa for small pieces.
(DIR) Post #AckR4bY7vRBnXtZKJU by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2023-12-12T01:28:52Z
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So there you have it: you'll need a puzzle table just under twice as big as your assembled puzzle in order to not resort to the box lid or that random side table. Grab a puzzle and impress your relatives this holiday season with your predictive powers!
(DIR) Post #Ai223wWHE7rgWjms3U by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-05-19T00:05:25Z
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There are times when you walk or bike somewhere that the hostile infrastructure makes you feel like a fool and a chump. Exhibit A, me waiting 20 minutes for a bus, trying to nurse my baby while standing at a bus stop with no shade or seating. But there are other times...
(DIR) Post #Ai22ONsPDxOZAGsvx2 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-05-19T00:11:12Z
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@clive especially when the bus comes very intermittently 😫
(DIR) Post #Ai2AIB4mhZpxMRE6k4 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-05-19T00:09:07Z
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There are other times when you walk or bike somewhere and you feel like a genius, a god among mortals. Rolling up to the back door of the Ontario Science Centre from the Don Trail is one of those times. Free prime parking, skipping the shuttle line, gorgeous trail, smug level off the charts
(DIR) Post #Al0LQerdq6Snr73Qhs by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-08-15T21:05:57Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
If you drive, then everyone you see on the street who is not driving - walking, rolling, cycling, taking transit - is doing you a personal favour by not making your traffic worse. You're welcome!
(DIR) Post #Ampny5Z3D3Bi3Iwra4 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-10-09T13:49:01Z
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Biking is such a pleasant, human way to get around. On my way to work today I said good morning to a friend I passed, admired all the other baby seats on bikes, and had a short conversation with a woman wearing a cool embroidered jacket. It must be so lonely to drive everywhere.
(DIR) Post #AmvM7K4uZ8ejBTQdlY by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-10-11T21:55:34Z
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A parable. When you go under the Bloor viaduct, only sometimes do you see a train. A certain disappointed kid might say, "The train tracks are always empty!" It's true, they are. And yet, that train moves half a million people every day, more than any of Toronto's highways.Do not be deceived by the visual magnitude of traffic. When it comes to moving people, the train and the bike lane win.
(DIR) Post #AnLbCGTGSdwxijGgme by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-10-24T20:30:58Z
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4-year-old woke up this morning asking to go to the Science Centre. We explained that we can't because it's closed."Why?""It needs to be fixed and the government doesn't want to fix it.""What is the government?"10 minutes later he's written a letter to Doug Ford.
(DIR) Post #AnZUiANGMyCcYemjnk by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-10-31T16:27:11Z
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Took the ol' train to a meeting this morning and got to do the funniest thing ever: blow the train whistle at a car stopped in the bike lane
(DIR) Post #AoEERoOUUPrZ3zmTDs by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-11-20T04:13:11Z
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I have removedthe bike lanesthat were inthe roadand whichyou were probablyusingto get to workForgive methey were delicious so crunchyand so cold
(DIR) Post #AoSKZ5YHhlMnWI9Jq4 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2024-11-27T01:45:01Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I will be driving around with this every time I opt for a car instead of our bike - starting today, with my son's music lessons in Leaside. Both of us would rather bike!
(DIR) Post #AvzzoA0fNlrqODWD20 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2025-07-10T17:58:01Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
"The new bike has opened up the city to us in a new way! It's so great! I'm never late to work anymore, because it only takes me 15 minutes now! I seriously only regret we didn't get it earlier!" -my friend after one month of cargo bike life
(DIR) Post #AzLvXRm7VdMTD6YlM0 by mbonsma@mastodon.social
2025-10-18T20:46:36Z
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Today at a kid extracurricular another parent said, "we were so excited to come last week and we got in the car and one of the tires was flat! So we couldn't make it." So I'm reflecting once again on how car dependency reduces options even for people with cars. Taxis, car share, and transit exist and make great backups for car trouble, but many people never even consider them.