And now the favored
animal
Cats are well known for their ability to
land on their feet given any situation. This is because
their bodies are specially designed to use their
rotational momentum to their advantage.
When falling cats use their very flexible spine
and lack of a fixed
collarbone to manipulate their rotation within the
bounds of their momentum, as shown in this picture
here.
Notice in the first image of the cat, it has
brought it's front paws in close to it's
head? That is the motion that is turning the
cat's face and upper torso towards the camera and
even further as can be seen in the second
image. This is because the cat, like the
figure skater, is reducing r about it's head
making it's top half rotate faster.
In the second image you see the cat beginning to
bring in it's back paws. Now that it's head
and torso are where they need to be it is time for
the lower half to follow suit. The cat
achieves that not only by bringing in the back
paws but also by letting the front paws reach out
further. This stops the rotation of the
torso and head, and starts the rotation of the
back end.
In the third image it is possible to see where the
cat is starting to stretch out it's back paws
again to stop it's derriere from rotating now that
it has reached the desired position.
Lastly, the cat prepares to impact the ground by
relaxing each leg to absorb the force of the
impact.
The cat is able to independently twist like this
because it's spine is so flexible.
|
