How do you think my experiment will go?

Question

I have a piece of toast with butter on it that I taped to its back.
(it is well secured and butter side out) As we know the buttered side always lands down.
And cats always land on their feet.

As soon as my cat clams down I will drop my cat off my bunk bed and my brother will record it for youtube.

Answer 1

It depends a bit on how high the cat is when released from the point of landing.

More than about 18" and the cat is likely to succeed - forcing the butter side up event which normally never occurs.

If the cat is lower than about 18" (depends on cat size a bit) then the toast will will and the cat will indeed fail to land feet first.

You may therefore need to do several drop tests to find the changeover point. Naturally other people might well suggest that this would be an unreasonable test to do ;)

Mark

Answer 2

I tried this at age 14 using an Oak tree in the back yard. Taped the cats tail, thinking that was the cat's secret trick. Cat managed to get the tail free before he hit the ground. So, I re-did the experiment several times. At the end, the cat ran away and found another home. And, somehow, using the secret methods known only to cats, cursed me with a fantastic allergy to all cats. Be careful, the cat will have his revenge.

Answer 3

First, bread doesn't always land butter side down, they proved that on Mythbusters. Second, the cat is heavier than the bread, so it will land on its feet if the bed is high enough. Finally, that is a horrible thing to do to your cat to answer a question that could be easily answered by thinking it through rationally.

Answer 4

Your experiment will be a dud. Just like the both of you. Try to do a little more with your time.

Answer 5

It's called probability. Experimental... 50% chance it could and 50% chance it won't!