Comments by "John Berry" (@user-ud6ui7zt3r) on "Testing the US Military’s Worst Idea" video.

  1. There are two reasons why the 'rod' that they drop keeps tumbling weird... • ultimately, an object always wants to rotate about the axis associated with the object's largest moment of inertia. Guess what? When the 'rod' tumbles end-over-end, that is exactly what it is doing (i.e. rotating about its largest moment of inertia); and • think of the 'rod' as the board of a teeter totter. When an equal weight is present on both ends of a teeter totter, the teeter totter board assumes a horizontal pose, with the Center of Gravity of the teeter totter at the center of the board's length. The same is true for the 'rod'. Just like a teeter totter, the 'rod' wants to ultimately assume a horizontal pose, with the 'rod's Center of Gravity at the center of the 'rod's length. Also remember that the 'rod' is falling through a uniform air resistance. In order for Veritasium's 'rod' to work better, they should probably find a way to make the 'cylinder' rotate rapidly about its axial center (much like a bullet exiting from a rifled gun barrel.) Tail-fins would be a good idea, too.
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