For some years now, I’ve been using roll-on deodorant instead of spray cans. I find it lasts longer while creating fewer stains on my t-shirts. The problem is that once the bottle is half-empty, the liquid takes forever to reach the ball when I turn it upside down.
At some point, I realized I could just keep the bottle upside down at all times. So now, whenever I grab my deodorant, the fluid is already on the ball, ready to fight the sweat.
In spaceflight, a gravity assist is a way of using a planet’s gravity field in order to accelerate a vehicle. By briefly entering a planet’s orbit, you steal a tiny, negligible fraction of its gravitational energy. As the planet and your spacecraft keep moving in different directions, instead of pulling you further in, the gravity field eventually “slingshots” the vehicle out of the planet’s orbit, thus speeding up your spacecraft.
But even down here on Earth, where gravity only points in one direction, it can still be of assistance.
My deodorant takeaway inspired me to turn other things upside down. An electronic device, for example, when I’m trying to pull a cable out of it. A bag of food which reveals its contents more easily if I flip it 180 degrees instead of slowly pouring it out sideways. Oh, and my body wash in the shower, of course.
Most recently, however, the most notable gravity assist helps me retrieve Pokémon cards from their so-called toploaders. A toploader is a rectangular card protector made from rigid plastic. It’s great for keeping cards from getting bent while storing them in a binder or mailing them to someone else. The problem is that, often, the cards won’t easily come back out. The gap at the top of the toploader is narrow, so it’s hard to pull it out with your fingers. If you try to bend the toploader and widen the gap too much, however, and you risk damaging your card. The answer? Gravity. Turn the toploader upside down, tap it on a surface a few times, and voilà, your card will slide right out!
I’m sure there are many more gravity assists for me to discover. Where are yours? Have fun finding out. There is little more satisfying than realizing your struggle was optional—and then letting nature do the work.
