Balance a Stick on its End on a Finger/Mistake
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Source Work
1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles:
- The Puzzles:
- Henry van Etten
- $113$
- Henry van Etten
Mistake
- How can a stick be made to balance securely on the tip of a finger?
The solution is given as:
- Force the tips of three knives into the stick, so that the knives hang well below the finger.
- The centre of gravity of the entire arrangement will then be below the fingertip and will be stable.
Correction
You do not actually need as many as $3$ knives.
$2$ will do just as well.
In fact, any number of knives, as long as the points at which they are forced into the stick form a regular polygon, can be used.
Sources
- 1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Henry van Etten: $113$