The physics of the lasso


How does a cowboy manage to form a flat loop when spinning a lasso in the air? and why are the "tricks" he does with it so difficult to execute? are two typical questions that arise when one observes such tricks or even tries them himself. We tackle these questions using a mechanical approach seeking to reveal the mathematical scaffold upon which the so called "art of trick roping" is built.

Brun, Pierre-Thomas, Neil Ribe, and Basile Audoly. "An introduction to the mechanics of the lasso." Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Science 470.2171 (2014): 20140512.

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