Mosh Pit Math: Physicists Analyze Rowdy Crowd

[gunslingingbird]

Physics and heavy metal don't seem to have a lot in common, but Matt Bierbaum and Jesse Silverberg have found a connection. Both are graduate students at Cornell University. They're also metal heads who enjoy going to concerts and hurling themselves into Mosh pits full of like-minded fans.

About five years ago Silverberg took his girlfriend to her first gig. "Usually I would jump in the Mosh pit," he says. "But this time I wanted her to be safe and have a good time, so we stayed out on the side and watched things from there."

While he was watching, he realized that the motion of people in a Mosh pit looks kind of like molecules moving in a gas.

"It was basically just this random mess of collisions, which is essentially how you want to think about the gas in the air that we breathe," he says.

Geek meets metal. How cool is that? Check out the random Mosh pit generator at the end.

Story

 

[lurkingdirk]

 

[Jack Davenport]

Mosh pits always start with that one dude drunk out of his mind starting with the bumping of people that looks a little like Ellen Degeneres' stupid dance moves. When I see that starting I get the fuck out of the way.

 

[nightwanker]

By the way:

Who can show a picture of a Mosh Pit, especially spinning in the circle - photographed from top?!

 

[L3ggy]

 

[TheOrangeCat]

Metal math = awesome x awesome