Can You Swim Faster In Syrup Or Water?

[beeseven 0]

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

The answer? Neither, according to a recent experiment at the University of Minnesota. The experiment answers an old debate between Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens. Newton said that the more viscous a liquid is, the slower an object's speed through it. Huygens said that viscosity doesn't matter. The explanation for this by those who did the experiment is that although there is more friction and drag through the syrup, you are able to apply more force to pull yourself through it than the water.

[BOAW 0]

ahhh w.e i cant imagine it who cares about wut they sed lol it just doesnt make sense...they dont tell u y thou...they just have experiments with it...n ima swimmer =D syrup wud just b too hard to push urself through...too dense water is much easier hah

[Razor 0]

ahhh w.e i cant imagine it who cares about wut they sed lol it just doesnt make sense...they dont tell u y thou...they just have experiments with it...n ima swimmer =D syrup wud just b too hard to push urself through...too dense water is much easier hah

But like beeseven said..because you can apply more pressure to it...you can pullyouself along....without being aware of this information and not knowing that there is no difference...i would hav epresumed that you would swim faster in syrup because its more solidic.....if you know what i mean...but because of it being more solid..it would probably drain your energy faster because of the fact that you have to push through it with greater force and you would need to move faster to keep up above the surface probably..... Edited February 12, 2006 by Razor (see edit history)

[DogEater008 0]

well. it make sense. .because if you have more friction.. means you will get more kenetic energy from your stroke... since your body size remain controlled.. so then you would be able to go through syrup faster... ahaha. .i found this is pretty interesting.. sounded very simple.. but it takes century for people to figure it out.. AHAH.. and the funny part is how they dumpped all those crap in the swimming pool.. and trying to the city that it is safe to drain them down the drain. .AHAHAH. .takes too much work for just one simple experiment....

[Plenoptic 0]

lol Now how about the question of swimming in Jello. I bet that would be fun. Who would have thought there would be a debate over whether you can swim faster in syrup or water, i see how it would be the same. You get a better push through the syrup and get a better push and in water you don't get pulled as much back as you all said.

[terminal2k 0]

damn, and I was going to enter the syrup swimming olympics :huh:who decided they should test this? and who did they sucker in to be their syrup swimming test subject, they would have been in a sticky situation......

[FLaKes 0]

I cant imagine how it would be to drown in syrup. What if you accidently swallow a bit? imagine how you would open your eyes afterwards, all sticky. Though it is a fun experiment that probably has people thinking, how on earth can people think that they can swim on syrup as fast as they can swim on water?

[ongnoai 0]

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
The answer? Neither, according to a recent experiment at the University of Minnesota. The experiment answers an old debate between Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens. Newton said that the more viscous a liquid is, the slower an object's speed through it. Huygens said that viscosity doesn't matter. The explanation for this by those who did the experiment is that although there is more friction and drag through the syrup, you are able to apply more force to pull yourself through it than the water.

Say, I'd love to compete with a shapely young lady in a swimming pool full of syrup. I'd gladly let her win just for the the fun of seeing her get out of that mess... and take a hard look at her!

Never thought of that!

Cheers

[arza1 0]

what a weird topic. i can just imagine the guy that thought of the question of whether you can swimfaster through syrup or water. he is some guy at some college in some door. smokin weed trying to figure out a expeiriment for his science exam that involve girls rolling around in syrup.

[Damen 0]

This was also featured on brainiac. A British show now on G4.Syrup clearly lost the fight, but it was odd that I was iffy on which on. Physics back both theories up.Nice find.

[kyleai 0]

The title for this really threw me off at first. When I started to read it I understood more and it does make sense. Although, I don't think we'd be faced with the dilemma of a guy trying to race someone in a tub of syrup with another guy in water. It would make for some interesting entertainment though! LOL

[heavensounds 0]

Yeah that is a good point..in sirup it is harder to move around but you can pull yourself better, because the substance is more dense! However the question that poses to me is:Are the easyness of moving through the more liquid water and the better chance of pulling yourself on in more viscous sirup IN CORRELATION?? I mean what is the outcome...- because if stuff is too dense you can't move around at all and water is for sure faster- the next thing is how much energy you waste if you sweem around in sirup???

[Evolke 0]

But can you imagine trying to actually swim in syrup? How horrible would it feel coming up for a breath doing freestyle? Syrup would cover your mouth and your nostiles, you'd probably have to stop to clear your airways to try and breathe!

[sylent 0]

Yeah I figured it would be the same in relative comparison .. viscosity and friction vs. drag etc.Thats an interesting post though.

[joeblogg 0]

that is a weird question lol. i wouldn't have thought of that but know that it is asked i would say water. syrup seems thicker and heavier than water. but what are the facts?