Will I throw a standard glass beer bottle further (assuming all other variables variables are controlled) if it is empty or full?

Question

Will I throw a standard glass beer bottle further (assuming all other variables variables are controlled) if it is empty or full?

In: Other

Answer 1

Full, most likely. A source I found says that the average human’s arm weighs 5.3% of their body weight. For me, that would be just over 9 lbs (9.27).

If a “standard” bottle for you is 12oz, the weight of the beer would be about 0.77 lbs

Finally, the bottle itself would weigh about 0.4 lbs

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Now, regardless of whether the bottle is empty or full when you throw it, it will experience the same amount of air resistance, since that’s determined by its shape.

Since both the empty and full bottles will experience the same air resistance, the one that goes further will be the one that starts with the most energy when it leaves your hand.

So the question is, does the full bottle leave your hand with more energy or does the empty one?

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Going back to the weight figures I gave earlier, the difference in total weight being moved during the throw (arm + bottle + beer) between a full beer and an empty beer is only about 8%. This math is a little more tricky do do, but I don’t think an 8% increase is enough to significantly slow my arm down, meaning that the full and empty bottles would leave my arm at the same speed. Meaning that the full one would leave with more energy, meaning that it would go further.