Can Cats Fly? Examining the 9 Lives Theory

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the whimsical idea of whether cats can fly, specifically examining the humorous notion of strapping buttered toast to a cat to test the theory that cats have nine lives and always land on their feet. The conversation includes theoretical implications and humorous experiments, touching on concepts of gravity and observational outcomes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests an experiment involving strapping buttered toast to a cat and dropping it from a height to see if it would hover, questioning the impact of the cat's three legs.
  • Another participant references a previous thread related to the experiment but does not provide details.
  • A participant humorously speculates about the outcomes of the experiment, suggesting that the person conducting it might experience physical mishaps.
  • There is a mention of an "anti-cat" that would fall upwards, introducing a playful theoretical perspective.
  • Some participants express that no one has been able to complete the experiment and record results, comparing it to dangerous experiments involving cyanide.
  • Discussion shifts to the properties of cyanide, including its smell and taste, with some participants sharing anecdotal information about chemical safety and historical references.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally engage in playful speculation and humor without reaching a consensus on the feasibility or outcomes of the proposed experiment. Multiple competing views and humorous takes on the topic remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes humorous and theoretical elements that may not align with practical physics. There are unresolved assumptions regarding the nature of the experiment and the implications of the "nine lives" theory.

musicmad_91
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As we have all been told cats have nine lives and ALWAYS land on there feet just the same as toast 9 times out of 10 lands butter side down.

Using this theroy what would happen if i was to strap a few pieces of buttered toast buttered side up on to the back of my physics teachers cat, Tigger? would it hover when i dropped it from say a 50ft building? and would the fact that Tigger has only three legs make any difference??!?

:smile: :confused: :smile:

Please help me i have wondered this for a while!

xxx
 
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The experiment is being set up, as per a previous thread. Can't remember which one.
 
hey, would you be able to find out which thread for me? I am new to this physics forums!

xxx
 
The dirac cat would certainly fall down, feet first. However, an anti-cat would fall up, toast first, and so nothing is observable.
 
musicmad_91 said:
As we have all been told cats have nine lives and ALWAYS land on there feet just the same as toast 9 times out of 10 lands butter side down.

Using this theroy what would happen if i was to strap a few pieces of buttered toast buttered side up on to the back of my physics teachers cat, Tigger? would it hover when i dropped it from say a 50ft building? and would the fact that Tigger has only three legs make any difference??!?

:smile: :confused: :smile:

Please help me i have wondered this for a while!

xxx
In theory, the person attempting to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat would have one eye land lens first on the floor and the second eye hit lens first into the ceiling.
 
BobG said:
In theory, the person attempting to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat would have one eye land lens first on the floor and the second eye hit lens first into the ceiling.
In theory? That sounds more like what would happen in practice if one were to attempt to test the theory. :smile:
 
Moonbear said:
In theory? That sounds more like what would happen in practice if one were to attempt to test the theory. :smile:
In practise, no one's been able to complete the experiment and record the results. Yeah, it's worse than the "what does cyanide taste like?" experiment.
 
thanks guys been waiting for replys for ages!
xx
 
  • #10
Gokul43201 said:
In practise, no one's been able to complete the experiment and record the results. Yeah, it's worse than the "what does cyanide taste like?" experiment.

Smells and tastes of almonds very mildly, I thought everyone knew that? That's why chemists waft things over their nose, explicitly to forgo the need to taste their experiments, or so I was told, I'm sure making moonshine with the water distilling still was an exception though:smile:

Basically get a load of Scientists to smell the liquid/vapour until someone identifies its odour. Tasting should be reserved only for those who like dicing with death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide

Appearance and odor

Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless gas with a faint, bitter, almond-like odor. Nearly 40 percent of the population is unable to smell hydrogen cyanide. This seems to be genetically determined in a complex fashion[1]. Sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide are both white powders with a bitter, almond-like odor in damp air, due to the presence of HCN formed by hydrolysis:

NaCN + H2O → HCN + NaOH
 
Last edited:
  • #11
Schrödinger's Dog said:
Smells and tastes of almonds very mildly
Don't know about the taste, but the reason "cyanide smells like almonds" is that in fact, almonds smell of cyanide (possessing small amounts of it).

Similar backwards applied attributes are frequently used with chemicals like hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell), esters (fruity odor), acetic acid (vinegary smell/taste), etc.

These references always remind of the 'frailty' lines from Hamlet and Twelfth Night.

[Hamlet]Hamlet:Frailty, thy name is woman.

<structurally similar to what I call a backwards attribute>

[Twelfth Night]Viola: Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
For such as we are made of, such we be.

<beautiful, ain't it?>
 
  • #12
Someone taste some cyanide, so we can know for sure :wink:

Thanks for the info. I figure that almonds contained cyanide, composing the thread, I wonder how many you'd have to eat to kill yourself?

Ah subjects for my next and final experiment :biggrin:

Shakespeare is always beautiful, I expect we talked backwards back then as a hang up from the origins of our language, the French language for example is repleat with backwards talk. Should be three blue colours surely.:smile:
 

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