Can Cows Really Not Be Tipped?

[cscott]

Anybody want to prove it?

http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scan0016bf.jpg

 

[dx]

I don't understand the proposition.

 

[cscott]

I don't understand the proposition.

Prove that the force is equal to $$\frac{mg\cos\theta b}{a + b}$$

 

[dx]

what force? Is this a joke or am i just not getting it.

 

[Pengwuino]

Uhm... for one... that does not look like a cows center of mass...

 

[Kurdt]

Define what a and b are.

 

[cscott]

Define what a and b are.

Look at the picture I linked!

 

[Kazza_765]

Wow, the thing that stands out for me is that they call this an actual study. They have Dr. Margo Lille from the zoology department and Tracy Boechler a student (I hope this wasn't her honours study). Surely it would have taken longer for them to type up Margo's quotes than it took her to come up with that equation.

Oh, was searching to see if she was a real person, found this.

Cows can be tipped: Just ask Calgarians.
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.html?id=cf76c41f-7f2f-4962-a258-3cb39e1ab450

 

[Moonbear]

I can tip cows, but then I have access to one of these:
http://www.shanksvet.com/html/mainfs.cfm?p=bovine


Maybe it's all about frame of reference...to the drunken kids trying it, the cow looks tipped?

By the way, what units are they using for the "length of lever" above and below the center of mass? The center of mass of a cow is not centered along their vertical height, and they might be about 1.5 m tall on a really big cow.

This site says it's possible as long as you have two people (and I suppose a willing cow...I'd suggest bringing ice and bandages along if you're going to try this...not too many cows are going to put up with it for long before kicking you in the head).
http://em-ntserver.unl.edu/Mechanics-Pages/Matt-Semke/The%20Statics%20of%20Cow%20Tipping.htm

Of course, the center of mass of a cow is also going to depend on whether they have their head up or down.

 

[Pengwuino]

Hell I know people who have personally tipped cows... who is this "researcher" and why does she still have a job.

 

[Moonbear]

Hell I know people who have personally tipped cows... who is this "researcher" and why does she still have a job.

Perhaps it came to her while she was drunk and contemplating cow-tipping. It also is greatly facilitated if you can yank a leg or two out from under the cow too.

By the way, it's not recommended that anyone actually go out cow-tipping. It's bad for the cows. They can get hurt falling, and when they are lying flat out on their side, they have difficulty breathing (the large stomach presses up against their lungs). If you want to have some country fun with cows, paint a grid on the field and play cow chip bingo instead.

 

[Pengwuino]

What exactly is so exciting nad great about cow tipping anyways.

 

[Moonbear]

What exactly is so exciting nad great about cow tipping anyways.

Nothing if you're sober, or when you live in a place with more entertaining things to keep teenagers busy.

 

[Cosmo16]

a friend of my girlfriend broke his hand cowtipping/ He told everyone he fell.