Norwegian physicist Andreas Wahl is a daredevil of a scientist. He believes in the power of physics and isn’t afraid to literally put his life on the line to prove it.
To demonstrate how things rotate faster as they approach a central point, Andreas tied himself to the side of a building, 45 feet (14 meters) off the ground…and then released the rope holding him up, sending him plummeting towards the ground.
Did physics save him or did he have to be rushed to the hospital with several broken bones? Watch to see how his experiment unfolded.
That was intense, but obviously he was never in any real danger thanks to a fundamental property of physics called centripetal force, first described by Isaac Newton in the 17th century.
Had the rope snapped for some reason, he’d just have demonstrated another law of physics…