Undergraduate Math Club

Rebecca Jiang
The Falling Cat Problem

Monday, April 22, 2019 - 5:15pm
Malott 532

Abstract: A falling cat tends to land on its feet, if given enough time, even for non-upright, non-rotating initial conditions. This poses an apparent paradox. The cat has access to no external torques, and therefore angular momentum is conserved and zero during the cat’s fall. How can the cat flip itself over?