Falling Cat - Rotation with zero net angular momentum.

AI Thread Summary
Cats can rotate in free fall without violating angular momentum conservation, as demonstrated in an animation linked in the discussion. Real-life footage and additional videos illustrate this phenomenon, including a zero-gravity experiment showing rapid spinning. A talk at MIT further explores the mechanics of feline rotation during free fall. The community suggests compiling this information into a FAQ for future reference. Overall, the discussion highlights the intriguing physics behind a cat's ability to right itself while falling.
A.T.
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I made an animation to explain how cats can initiate rotation and turn around during free fall, without violating the conservation of angular momentum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGusK69XVlk

Some footage of real cats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua4Gh_4XdwQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHhXbOhK_hs

A talk at MIT dealing with the falling cat at time 20:30:
http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/l...cle-smarts-stability-translation-and-rotation
 
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Well done. Somebody add some text and make this a FAQ so that we clink to it in the future.
 
Thanks. Here some more videos on this:

This one in zero-g starts a bit mean but at 0:12 you can see the cat spin up very fast and make several full turns within a few seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIokQ36rbA

Probably the first attempt to show how a cat does it. But the frame rate is much to low to see anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wA3If87UhA
 

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