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Physicists’ advice on how to swing high at the playground

Models and laboratory swings show the precise motions needed to maximize movement.
A young female play hard in the swing with a blue sky at her background.

The most efficient movements differ depending on whether a swinger is already soaring or has only just started swinging. Credit: Getty

Everyone knows how to push higher and higher on a playground swing, even without any outside help: simply lean back and raise your lower legs at just the right time. Physicists have now modelled this behaviour in greater detail than ever before1.

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Nature 616, 415 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01029-6

References

  1. Hirata, C., Kitahara, S., Yamamoto, Y., Gohara, K. & Richardson, M. J. Phys. Rev. E. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.107.044203 (2023).

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