# This has got to be physically... difficult **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065 "2003-04-30T02:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/1 "2003-04-30T02:55:32Z")
Seriously. Let me give you a moment of backstory, we have an electronic dart board- the kind with the hard, rounded plastic tip darts, and Me, and almost everyone who’s used it is terrible at it, it would take quite a while to count all the dart-tip sized holes in the wall within a foot of the board (and yes they do stick in the wall) Well, one time I completely and utterly botched a throw and was off by… well, about 5 or 6 feet to the left, I don’t know what happened to me, I’m still amazed I could screw up that bad and it was by far the worst throw I’ve ever made, I go over to where my dart was sticking out of the wall, and pull my dart out to notice that, maybe one centimeter from where it hit was another hole, just up and to the right, now the chances of someone else throwing that terrible but still hitting in almost the same spot I did are slim enough that I just figured it had to have bounced out some how and back in, it made sense, it was flying to the left, I assume arcing downwards at least a little, it hits, goes down and to the left just a little, and sticks, except, that doesn’t make much sense when I think about it – anyway, my question was, what probably happened here, and if I could be right, how would that work? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/2 "2003-04-30T03:05:12Z")
I don’t see how it’s possible. The dart would have had to bounce out due to an elastic collision with the wall, perhaps, then _reversed_ direction again in midair and hit the wall again. Impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/3 "2003-04-30T03:24:35Z")
This is about the same thing that circles through in my head, yet I still walk over to the wall and just noticed something I hadn’t before, it shows signs of moving! I wish I had somewhere decent to put pictures up so I could explain this better, but on another glance it does look like it came out and made a small point, or rather, a trianglular shape sticking out from it pointing at the other hole, I’d be happy to send someone a picture if they particularly wanted, but, I thought I ought to throw that in there. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/4 "2003-04-30T03:25:26Z")
Maybe if you had a small black hole in the wall… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/5 "2003-04-30T03:27:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ender\_Will \* > \*\*Maybe if you had a small black hole in the wall… \*\* That’s ridiculous. If he had a black hole in his wall, eventually it would swallow the whole wo… ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/6 "2003-04-30T03:32:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ender\_Will \* > \*\*Maybe if you had a small black hole in the wall… \*\* Oooo, that could cause a small problem, but I wonder… did we pay extra to have that thing installed? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/7 "2003-04-30T03:35:29Z")
Well, depending on what it’s made of (plaster?), you could have knocked a chip out of the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/8 "2003-04-30T03:37:25Z")
I’m not sure what its made out of, its a typical house, drywall, I suppose ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/9 "2003-04-30T03:43:42Z")
I understand the Warren Commission faced a similar conundrum. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/10 "2003-04-30T03:53:36Z")
Oooh… the Magic Dart. I like it. 😃 Anyway, you’re equally likely to hit _any_ point on the wall in front of you given a completely wild throw. At a guess, you’re right-handed, as are most of your friends, so your throws will `pull’ to the left if you aren’t careful. That statistically knocks out indentations on the right side of the dartboard, so you have half of the total field left to work with. It isn’t that odd at all. ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/11 "2003-04-30T03:59:23Z")
Good point Derleth, but, its not in the middle of the wall, I should’ve mentioned this I suppose, but its got only a few feet to the right of it and 10 or so on the left, and mine was very, very off, some might’ve hit over there, but I’m pretty sure there are no other holes that far away, and the proximity is a bit of the confusion as well ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/12 "2003-04-30T04:03:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crakmine \* > \*\*Oooo, that could cause a small problem, but I wonder… did we pay extra to have that thing installed? \*\* Obviously not enough, or else they would have put it behind the bullseye. Oh, and I’m voting for a second crappy throw making the other hole. There’s no way a plastic dart could penetrate drywall, bounce off of something, and then stick into drywall again. Even if it did happen, the empty hole would be deeper than the hole the dart ended up in. What does the evidence suggest? -lv ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/13 "2003-04-30T04:10:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LordVor \* > \*\* > > Even if it did happen, the empty hole would be deeper than the hole the dart ended up in. What does the evidence suggest? > -lv \*\* Allow me to further investigate hole depth… What would’ve been the ‘first’ hole is, in fact, quite a bit deeper, compartively, making this a little stranger, but thats something I hadn’t looked at before ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/14 "2003-04-30T04:24:11Z")
Hmmm, does the dart tip fit all the way into the ‘first’ hole? Perhaps, if the dark could have sunk to the (forgot name of part of the dart that the tip screws into, so I’m going to call it the ) collar, the collar could have bounced off the drywall with enough velocity left over to make another attempt at tipping in, but there would then likely be a larger circle around the first hole… -lv ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/15 "2003-04-30T04:29:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LordVor \* > \*\*Hmmm, does the dart tip fit all the way into the ‘first’ hole? Perhaps, if the dark could have sunk to the (forgot name of part of the dart that the tip screws into, so I’m going to call it the ) collar, the collar could have bounced off the drywall with enough velocity left over to make another attempt at tipping in, but there would then likely be a larger circle around the first hole… > > -lv \*\* No, no. This is all wrong. There would be no way for the dart to suddenly change direction in midair and hit the wall a second time. Once it bounces out of the hole, what on Earth could make it hit the wall again? ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/16 "2003-04-30T04:32:54Z")
No visable size difference in the holes, and the tip doesn’t go all the way, or rather, it doesn’t go to the point where it starts getting wider ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/17 "2003-04-30T04:37:38Z")
Unless there’s a gravity field behind the wall, there’s no way in hell that dart’s gonna bounce anywhere but towards the floor. Trust me on this. Or, don’t. Try to make it bounce back to the wall. Try to make a small rubber ball hit the wall twice without you throwing it at the wall twice, instead of hitting the wall and then hitting the floor. It might go nose-up into the floor (assuming a standard dart shape to influence how it turns in the air), but there’s no way on Earth, Hell, Mars, or Venus it’s going to reverse direction in midair and hit the wall twice. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/18 "2003-04-30T04:42:13Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally said by **Jerry Seinfeld** _ > > Newman, Kramer, if you’ll indulge me. > > According to your story, Keith passes you and starts walking up the ramp. Then you say you were struck on the right temple. The spit then proceeds to ricochet off the temple, striking Newman between the third and forth rib. The spit then came off the rib, turned and hit Newman in the right wrist causing him to drop his baseball cap. The spit then splashed off the wrist, pauses,- in mid air mind you- makes a left turn and lands on Newman’s left thigh. > > That is one magic loogie. [http://membres.lycos.fr/tnguym/Scripts/TheBoyfriend1.html](http://membres.lycos.fr/tnguym/Scripts/TheBoyfriend1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Crakmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Crakmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crakmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/19 "2003-04-30T04:42:53Z")
I know it doesn’t make sense, and that its really, really impossible, but not the way it looks, besides, maybe it didn’t change direction, maybe it ‘skipped’ across the wall(you know, like a stone), if I threw it at a terrible enough angle ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065/20 "2003-04-30T05:00:20Z")
The only reason skipping stones skip is because gravity keeps drawing them back towards the bloomin’ water. That’s it. There’s no magic, just gravity. There is no force on Earth to draw the dart back to the wall. Hence, no bounce or skip or on-wall tapdance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-has-got-to-be-physically-difficult/172065.md?page=2)