[HN Gopher] Behind the ballistics of the 'explosive' squirting c...
___________________________________________________________________
Behind the ballistics of the 'explosive' squirting cucumber
Author : PaulHoule
Score : 50 points
Date : 2025-07-17 20:20 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (phys.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (phys.org)
| lolc wrote:
| Great capture and it's funny to read the "possible applications"
| section when you know humans just love watching slow motion
| exploding things.
| firesteelrain wrote:
| Wild how evolution landed on 53deg as the ideal launch angle.
| Nature's own ballistics optimization.
| fsckboy wrote:
| 53deg is very close to a 3-4-5 triangle
| firesteelrain wrote:
| Evolution meets Euclid.
| abeppu wrote:
| > The experiments also revealed that the fruit stem straightens
| up during ripening, creating an average 53deg angle that is
| close to the theoretical perfect angle of 50deg that would
| maximize shooting distance.
|
| I recall from school that distance is maximized for a ballistic
| path when the angle is 45deg. See e.g.
| https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/football-projecti...
|
| Did someone get confused while writing this article or is there
| some reason why the optimal angle would be different in this
| situation?
| crubier wrote:
| 45deg is optimal if you neglect air drag on the projectile
| Sharlin wrote:
| > speeds up to 29 miles per hour and reach shooting distances up
| to 12 meters.
|
| My brain hurts.
|
| But I learned a new word: mucilaginous.
| temp0826 wrote:
| This reminded me of the South American "dynamite tree" (Hura
| crepitans, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hura_crepitans ),
| which wikipedia says launches seeds from its exploding fruits
| at 160 mph, up to 100 ft away! A pretty menacing tree actually,
| its trunk covered in huge thorns and it has a poisonous sap.
| accrual wrote:
| Wow. We really have it good considering most trees don't fire
| projectiles at us.
| EUSSR wrote:
| "That's no cucumber, that's a trap" That's what she said.
| x______________ wrote:
| Some time ago, I grew clover in flower pots at the office and
| noticed one day that there were seeds stuck on the window pane.
|
| Further observation revealed that clover flowers used a similar
| yet opposite mechanism to squirting cucumbers featured in this
| article. The seed pods would form and then dry out, and the
| dryness would form a tightness in the seed pod that upon touch(or
| given enough time and dryness), would burst out propelling its
| seeds far away from the plant.
|
| While some seeds would stick to the window, I can only assume now
| that this is the seed itself clinging to other surfaced as
| another propagation method that I've not fully understood.
|
| Comparing this experience to the article and the squirting
| cucumbers, I can imagine that the liquid used in this mechanism
| would only be useful to heavier seeds, as the added weight would
| hinder any 'dry' spread process.
|
| This is only my immediate thoughts but it seems that evolution
| and time have figured out this concept long ago! Cool stuff!
|
| (edit: typo)
| sMarsIntruder wrote:
| I know it's not the point, but:
|
| > 29 miles per hour and reach shooting distances up to 12 meters
|
| Clash between Metric and Imperial is still alive.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2025-07-20 23:01 UTC)