Mister Eclectic (howeird) wrote,
Mister Eclectic
howeird
  • Mood: aggravated

Resonance

While vegging out last night, I saw a Mythbusters bit on Tesla's resonance theory. The idea being that if you hit the resonant frequency of a structure, you can shake it dramatically. The boys failed - because they didn't have a clue what a resonant frequency is, or how to calculate it. The big fail was trying to shake the old Carquines Bridge with a rapidly vibrating piston.

Guys, the resonant frequency of a bridge is very very low. You are never going to reach it with a 6-inch piston flailing away at hundreds of Hz. Also, bridges are designed to dampen resonance behavior, because if they are not, then this happens:



I usually enjoy Mythbusters, but this episode was so full of suck it hurt.
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