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Stability
© Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
Here are two triangles on a
table. The left one is perfectly balanced on its point. Why does it fall over,
while the other one does not? Theoretically it is balanced, but the smallest
mistake, or breeze, or vibration topples it. Let's topple them both, and see
what happens (right). The one that was delicately balanced fell, and its center
of mass moved downward. It lost energy. In physics, we learn about energy.
Things tend to lose energy, go downhill (see The Second
Law of Thermodynamics). The right one had to be pushed over. At first, its
center of mass went upward (it gained energy), then finally it went downward.
We had to supply energy to that one, to topple it over. Then it fell the rest
of the way. So, the more energy it takes to tip something over, the more stable
it is, and vice versa.
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