:-) :-)
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
On 10/30/2015 7:38 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
Not to worry. When the hair is all gone you could glue some leaves in
its place. You could even become a gorgeous redhead.
Chuck Norcutt
On 10/30/2015 12:08 AM, Jim Nichols wrote:
Hi Mike,
As a retired Aeronautical Engineer, I tend to notice the shapes of
things that blow in the wind. The maple leaves, at least from this
tree, are cambered slightly, with the red side having positive camber,
and vice-versa, as seen in this image:
http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Leaf.TIFF.html
This should affect the tumbling during the falling path, but I am
reluctant to offer a guess of the outcome. Height, wind, and other
variables would also contribute.
I choose to enjoy the colorful sight, not ponder things that would cause
me to lose the final few hairs on my head. :-) Thanks for looking.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
On 10/29/2015 9:11 PM, Mike Gordon via olympus wrote:
Fifty Fifty Moose and Chuck write:
On 10/28/2015 6:46 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
<<Well, it surely seems that 1/2 of them have fallen bottom side up.
FFM:
<<<<Odd that, coins seem to do the same thing. :-)
Are you both really so sure falling Sugar Maple leaves are
statistically equivalent to tossing a fair coin? Many aerodynamic and
structural variables affect their falling one side up or the other,
but they all start in one orientation perhaps skewing the
distribution. Haven't you observed some floating down in calm
conditions remaining red side up? A stiff breeze would likely
randomize the falling
but under calm conditions is it not reasonable to hypothesize a slight
preponderance of the red side up? So how to test: Perhaps mark off
a fixed area and count all the leaves in each orientation.
A back of the envelope 2X2 table (df thus=1) would dictate a chi
square of about 3.9 to assure p<0.05 testing for a 45/55 distribution
vs 50/50. That would take roughly 400 leaves. Leaf morphology
changes a bit with water availability and especially light and further
changes with advancing cold. How that affects aerodynamics and
tumbling, I don't know.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1002007109003013
I can see this morphing into a Ph.D. thesis or better yet a project
for a kid or grand kid.
Fifty-five, forty-five, Mike
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