Whipcracking

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Whipcrackers from Traunstein, Bavaria

Whipcracking is the act of producing a cracking

performing art, a part of rodeo show in United States, a competitive sport in Australia
and increasingly popular in the United Kingdom, where it crosses boundaries of sport, hobby and performance.

Physics

The crack a whip makes is produced when a section of the whip moves faster than the speed of sound creating a small sonic boom. The creation of the sonic boom was confirmed in 1958 [1] by analyzing the high-speed shadow photography taken in 1927.[2][3]

Recently, an additional, purely geometrical factor was recognized: the tip of the whip moves twice as fast at the loop of the whip, just like the top of a car's wheel moves twice as fast as the car itself.[2][3]

A common explanation is to derive the behavior from the

conservation of momentum and some others are insufficient.[3]

Based on simulations, the high speed of the tip of the whip has been proposed to be a result of a "chain reaction of levers and blocks".[4]

In 1997,

paleontologists' research into the motion of dinosaurs, Nathan Myhrvold, a chief technology officer from Microsoft, carried out a computer simulation of an Apatosaurus, which had a very long, tapering tail resembling a whip. Basing on the reasoning described above, Myhrvold concluded that sauropods were capable of producing a crack comparable to the sound of a cannon.[5] However, in 2022 a more sophisticated model revealed that while some diplodocid dinosaurs could possibly have used their tails as whips, they wouldn't have been able to break the sound barrier. At that speed the caudal vertebrae of the sauropods at the posterior end would simply break.[6]

Shows and competitions

Goaßlschnalzen

Goaßlschnalzen, Goaßlschnalzn, Goasslschnoizen is translated as "whip-cracking", from the Bavarian word Goaßl (German: Geißel) for

coachwhip. In earlier centuries, the carriage
drivers used elaborate crack sequences to signal their approach and to identify them. Over time horse-drawn transport dwindled, but the tradition remained, and coaches practiced their skill in their spare time.

Today the Goaßlschnalzer ("whipsnappers") do concert performances, often as bands that include conventional musical instruments. Whipsnapping is also a traditional sport in Bavaria. There are many whip-cracking associations in Bavaria.

Aperschnalzen

pagan
meaning of "driving the winter away" by whipcracking.

British Whipcracking Convention

A British Whipcracking Convention is held every year for all skill levels. There are workshops for the differing skill levels as well as competitions and targets. The third convention was held in Aldersley Leisure Village, Aldersley Road, Wolverhampton on 14 July 2007.

Australian sport

In the latter half of the 20th century, attempts to preserve traditional crafts, along with a resurgence of interest in Western performance arts and the release of films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (in which the hero, Indiana Jones, uses a bullwhip as a tool), led to an increased interest in whipcracking as a hobby and performance art, as well as a competitive sport. Whip cracking competitions have become popular in Australia. They focus on the completion of complex, multiple-cracking routines and precise target work. Various whips, apart from bullwhips, are used in such competitions. The most common whip used in Australian competitions is an Australian stockwhip, a whip unique to Australia.

  • Target routines
    • target cutting
    • object wrapping
    • object moving/manipulation
  • Cracking routines
    • Cracking patterns
    • Cracking with two whips

In cracking routines, the judging criteria are the presentation and making audible cracks in prescribed moments.

See also

References

  1. ^ B. Bernstein, D. A. Hall, and H. M. Trent. "On the dynamics of a bull whip", Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 30: 1112-1115 (1958).
  2. ^ a b American Physical Society (2002) Whip Cracking Mystery Explained, 26 May 2002 Archived May 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^
    PMID 12059302
    .
  4. ^ Creating speed Oct 2016
  5. ^ "Dinosaur in Motion", Discover November 1997
  6. PMID 36482175
    .

Further reading

External links