Topple

The standard class 12 physics problem - You have a wheel and a box on top of it. You apply some force on the wheel. What happens to the box? It topples following an angular path.

I experienced the topple effect on Sunday. I was sitting on two wheels instead of one, (my bike) and instead of applying force to move forward, force was applied in reverse direction aka speedbreaker. Suddenly my head which an instant back was about 5 feet above the ground was resting on the ground. In lay man terms, this whole thing is called as falling down from bike. No major injuries - only small bruises at elbows.

There was a time when everyday there wold be bruises on my elbows and knees. Falling down everyday was like a scheduled activity on my calendar. And here i am, watching blood coming out and seeing how quickly clotting takes place.


I had always wondered what happens when people are in an accident. In movies, to give special effect, they slow down the scene and give reactions from different angles. It looks great there. I wonder if people also feel the same way - Do senses operate at higher precision levels when you are in an accident?

The answer in my case is big no. I had no idea what happened in those milli seconds when the vertical distance of 5 feet was covered. I was top one instant and on the floor in the next one.