Bottle flippingis the act of throwing a plastic bottle, typically partially whole of liquid, into the air so that it rotates in an attempt to land it upright on its base or cap. It became an international trend in the summer of 2016, with numerous videos of people attempting the activity being posted online. With its popularity, the repetitive thuds of multiple attempts have been criticized as a distraction and a public nuisance. Parents and teachers have expressed frustration at the practice, resulting in water bottle flipping being banned at several schools worldwide and many people calling for the practice only to be performed in private.[7]

Flipping a water bottle

History

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The concept of bottle flipping was seen in a stunt on the game showMinute to Win Itin 2010.[8][9]

But in 2016 aviral videoof teenagerMike Senatoreflipping a water bottle at a talent show atArdrey Kell High Schoolin Charlotte, North Carolina popularized the activity.[10][11][12]

Description

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Water bottle flipping involves taking a plastic water bottle that is partially empty and holding it by the neck of the bottle.[6][10]Force is applied with a flicking of wrist, with the bottom of the bottle rotating away from the person.[6][10]If performed successfully, the bottle will land upright.[10][11]Alternatively, the bottle may land upside-down or on its cap. Doing this is significantly more difficult than flipping a bottle so it lands upright.[13]The amount of fluid in the bottle greatly influences the success of the feat, and it has been shown empirically that filling the bottle about one-third of the way improves the rate of success.[6][10]The type of water bottle also plays a role; for instance, the brandDeer Park Spring Waterhas been noted to make the task easier due to its unique hourglass shape with a third divot.[11]

The feat is often performed with disposable plastic water bottles due to their availability. Still, other containers can be used as well.[1][14]The bottle flip is often combined with thedabafter a successful flip as a part of the trend. The complex physics behind the activity incorporates concepts offluid dynamics,projectile motion,angular momentum,centripetal force,and gravity.[6][15]In 2018, a group of students and professors from the Netherlands developed a minimal model of the water bottle flip involving conservation ofangular momentumand, most importantly, the redistribution of mass along the bottle. The model estimates that the best-filling fractions for water flipping lie in the range between 20% and 40%.[16]

Multiplemobile appshave been created to recreate the activity; the app "Bottle Flip 2k16" was downloaded 3 million times in the first month of its release.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abTate, Allison Slater (6 October 2016)."Why water bottle flipping craze is getting on parents' last nerves".TODAY.Retrieved9 October2016.
  2. ^Becker, Hollee Actman (4 October 2016)."Bottle Flipping Is Annoying Parents Everywhere".Parents.Retrieved9 October2016.
  3. ^Gabriel Samuels (5 October 2016)."'Bottle flipping' craze takes over internet and gets banned in schools ".The Independent.Retrieved9 October2016.
  4. ^Mele, Christopher (14 October 2016)."Bottle-Flipping Craze Is Fun for Children but Torture for Parents".The New York Times.Retrieved15 October2016.
  5. ^Russell, Lacey (24 October 2016)."Bottle flipping: It's driving parents crazy".CNN.Retrieved26 October2016.
  6. ^abcdeArnett, Dugan; Rao, Sonia (30 September 2016)."Bottle flipping becomes the rage with middle schoolers".BostonGlobe.Retrieved9 October2016.
  7. ^[1][2][3][4][5][6]
  8. ^"Game Show Newsnet | Minute to Win It".gameshownewsnet.Retrieved12 July2024.
  9. ^"Minute to Win It – Games – Stick the Landing – NBC Site".11 June 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 11 June 2010.Retrieved12 July2024.
  10. ^abcdeMatthews, David (26 May 2016)."Here's How to Perfect the Water Bottle Flip, the Teen Meme of the Moment".Fusion.Archived fromthe originalon 23 July 2016.Retrieved9 October2016.
  11. ^abcJones, Jonathan (25 May 2016)."Seen water bottle-flipping guy's viral video? He shares secret to trick".charlotteobserver.Retrieved9 October2016.
  12. ^McDermott, Maeve (26 May 2016)."Watch the simple water bottle flip that dominated teen's talent show".USA TODAY.Retrieved9 October2016.
  13. ^"Extra."Instructables.Retrieved16 February2017.
  14. ^Picard, Caroline (6 October 2016)."Water Bottle Flipping – Bottle Flip Challenge Drives Parents Crazy".Good Housekeeping.Retrieved9 October2016.
  15. ^Rosenblat, Josh (26 October 2016)."The complex physics of that viral water bottle trick, explained".Vox.Retrieved9 October2016.
  16. ^Dekker; Eek; Flapper; Horstink; Meulenkamp; van der Meulen; Kooij; Snoeijer & Marin, Alvaro (2018). "Water bottle flipping physics".American Journal of Physics.86(10): 733–739.arXiv:1712.08271.Bibcode:2018AmJPh..86..733D.doi:10.1119/1.5052441.S2CID51917517.
  17. ^"Lightning in a virtual bottle".The London Free Press.26 September 2016.Retrieved12 October2016.
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