If I know a bump is coming while I’m driving and I hold my cup up high it doesn’t spill. But if I leave it in the cup holder or even hold it around my stomach area, it will spill. I know it’s a physics thing but I never took physics. What causes this?
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You’re using your arm as a shock absorber, even if you don’t realize it.
As you go over the bump, you’re lowering then raising your hand so that the cup stays at close to the same height. Because the cup isn’t really changing height, its the same as if it never went over the bump to begin with. The lower you have the cup, the harder it is for you to do that.
For one: the lower the cup, the less room you have to lower your arm. But the higher you hold the cup, the more you can just let your elbow bend, which is something it can do naturally without you really needing to think about it. The lower you hold the cup, the more you need to rotate your shoulder to keep the cup at the same height, which is a much more complicated movement that requires a lot more thought to do.
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