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The Eberly College of Science is the home of the basic biological, physical, and mathematical sciences at Penn State. We are proud to be a vibrant scientific community that has emerged as a premier center of education and research. We are proud of our students, our alumni, our staff, and our faculty. We are the Penn State Eberly College of Science and we are making a difference in the world.
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The researchers examined how much force is required to maintain an object's movement through grains.
Physicists Find that Size Matters When Initiating an Object's Movement Through Grains
16 September 2008 —A team of Penn State physicists has discovered that the size of grains, such as sand grains, under which an object is buried is important in determining the force required to begin raising the object. No one, until now, has discovered how much force is required to initiate an object's movement through grains. The result may be useful for engineering foundations for objects to be anchored in sandy soils, such as power-line towers, or for designing industrial mixer blades, such as those used in pharmaceutical processing. The team's paper is published this month in the journal Physical Review Letters.
"We found that less force is needed to lift an object that is buried beneath small grains than is needed to lift an object that is buried beneath larger grains," said Peter Schiffer, associate vice president for research and a professor of physics at Penn State. "Basically, if you are buried alive and you have to push open a coffin lid, it’s better to be buried under fine-grained sand than under pebbles," he said.
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This page was last updated on 12 September 2008
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