Trees transport water from roots to crown--a height that can exceed 100 m. The physics of tree hydraulics can be conveyed with simple fluid dynamics based upon the Hagen-Poiseuille equation and Murray's law. Here the conduit structure is modelled as conical pipes and as branching pipes. The force required to lift sap is generated mostly by…

In this paper, the time required for a tower block to collapse is calculated. The tower collapses progressively, with one floor falling onto the floor below, causing it to fall. The rate of collapse is found to be not much slower than freefall. The calculation is an engaging and relevant application of Newton's laws, suitable for undergraduate…

Albatrosses have evolved to soar and glide efficiently. By maximizing their lift-to-drag ratio "L/D", albatrosses can gain energy from the wind and can travel long distances with little effort. We simplify the difficult aerodynamic equations of motion by assuming that albatrosses maintain a constant "L/D". Analytic solutions to the simplified…

A novel method of localizing the direction of a source of sound has evolved in the auditory system of certain small parasitic flies. A mechanical model of this design has been shown to describe the system well. Here, a simplified version of this mechanical model is presented which demonstrates the key feature: direction estimates of high accuracy…