Water Parabolas

Published by patrick honner on

It’s not easy to see, but at the right is a picture of the famous water parabolas at the Detroit Airport.  The parabola certainly is a favorite among the fountain designer.  I wonder why?

Upon closer inspection, I’m not sure it’s a parabola!  Check out my attempt to find the equation of this parabola using Geogebra.

And here is a lovely video of the water feature in action:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSUKNxVXE4E


patrick honner

Math teacher in Brooklyn, New York

2 Comments

dhc · July 22, 2010 at 10:53 am

The water appears to be solid, almost like a plastic tube.

    mrhonner · July 22, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    Yeah, it looks like a solid, bent cylinder. Or maybe a twisted cylinder. I wonder what kind of device streams the water like that?

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