1038: Fountain

Fountain

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Title text: Implausible, did you say? Sorry, couldn't quite hear you from all the way up heeeeeeeeere!

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Explanation

This comic is about how it's considered implausible to "fly" by positioning an umbrella over a water jet. However, with a powerful enough jet of water, a strong enough umbrella, and a sure grip, such an event is physically plausible, although you'd risk ripping your arm off.

The title text emphasize that Cueball did reach a high altitude.

The only mystery here is: A safe landing.

Transcript

[A wannabe Mary Poppins heads to a fountain with three massive water jets while holding an umbrella.]

[Cueball splashes through the pond.]

[Cueball gets to one of the jets.]

[Cueball opens up the umbrella.]

[Cueball swings umbrella into water jet stream.]

Cueball: WHEEEEEEE!

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Discussion

A pulley and a rock do this pretty well too, although it's a wee bit dangerous. What with the falling rock and all. Davidy²²[talk] 07:07, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

The military method of rescueing personnel consists of an plane snagging a balloon attached to the person. If the line is long enough, the rescue is safe, for any speed of aircraft! Quite a thrill! --DrMath 05:41, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Can someone post a link to the principle at work here? 108.162.216.13 02:31, 16 August 2015 (UTC)

Why the heck isn't it Beret Guy who's doing this? Nitpicking (talk) 00:07, 26 September 2021 (UTC)

Any idea where we can find fountains like this? Not that I'd go try it or anything. Just wondering, for science. 108.162.245.31 18:37, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

It's a pretty weird fountain - a real one would cut off above the umbrella, not below it. Wonder if Randall did that on purpose. OtherJay (talk) 08:41, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

I've tested and umbrellas did not work as parachutes. RIP Cueball.--[insert signature here] (talk) 01:03, 25 March 2025 (UTC)

There are two complexities not covered by the current description. The first is the force will decrease at higher altitude since the water jet slows down with gravity, which is easy to model with basic physics. The second is the force depends on whether the water stops when hitting the umbrella or whether is bounces off and is redirected downwards. --2600:4040:99D4:8B00:14A1:D035:B0B4:2394 17:18, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
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