Gomboc-shop.com Website Review

„a shape whose impossibility might have been an elegant theorem, but whose existence may be much more elegant.” chandler davis. the 'gömböc' (pronounced: 'goemboets') is the first known homogenous object with one stable and one unstable equilibrium point, thus two equilibria altogether on a horizontal surface. it can be proven that no object with less than two equilibria exists. the stable equilibrium (s) if placed on a horizontal surface in an arbitrary position the gömböc returns to the stable equilibrium point, similar to 'weeble' toys. while the weebles rely on a weight in the bottom, the gömböc consists of homogenous material, thus the shape itself accounts for self-righting. the unstable equilibrium (i) the single unstable equilibrium point of the gömböc is on the opposite side. it is possible to balance the body in this position, however the slightest disturbance makes it fall, similar to a pencil although the study of the number and location static equilibrium points in rigid bodies dates back to the time of archimedes, one of the most fundamental questions on the subject has remained open until very recently. how few equilibrium points can a single solid object while there were strong indications that this minimal number should be 4, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, vladimir igorevich arnold, thought otherwise and suggested in 1995 that the minimal number may be 2. this speculation baffled many scientists as no one had ever seen an object with just 2 equilibrium points. ten years later, arnold’s theory turned out to be correct, as two hungarian engineers first proved the existence of such objects and subsequently built a physically functioning shape which they named the “gömböc.” the first functioning gömböc (with individual serial number 001) was donated in moscow, on august 20th 2007 by the inventors of the project to arnold on the occasion of his 70th birthday. here, upon receiving gömböc 001, arnold offered further