The Physics and History of Punkin Chunkin
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Pumpkins play an important role in our fall holidays. A member of the gourd family, pumpkins are carved up to create Jack-o-lanterns for Halloween and play a starring role in the delicious pies we all love to eat at Thanksgiving feasts. As much as people enjoy carving and eating them, they also love to throw, or “chuck,” them. In fact, launching pumpkins into the air has evolved into a sport of sorts. Might sound pretty simple, but there’s some serious science and engineering behind the sport of chucking pumpkins, and Punkin Chunkin covers every angle from growing special, aerodynamic pumpkins and determining the perfect pumpkin’s mass to the mechanics of the air cannon and the physics of catapults.
