MinutePhysics
Footnote †: Unstable Equilibrium
2017 • E6 May 18, 2017 3m
This video is a footnote for the video about the ring around the earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xSPlQUejd8
Essentially, a ring around the earth is in unstable equilibrium, so it would stay put, but then fall one way or the other as soon as any asymmetry (even thermal or quantum fluctuations) developed.
Essentially, a ring around the earth is in unstable equilibrium, so it would stay put, but then fall one way or the other as soon as any asymmetry (even thermal or quantum fluctuations) developed.