Dynamic Instabilities — Lesson 2

Dynamic instabilities arise when a system gains kinetic energy beyond a point where it can be controlled.

When designing cable cars, it's important to account for wind speeds to avoid dangerous conditions where the cable car swings wildly due to strong winds.

Tall structures like skyscrapers also need to survive strong winds and earthquakes. Accounting for their dynamic stability under these conditions is extremely important.

When a skier moves at high speed on a slope, it helps to skid sideways to dissipate some of the kinetic energy and control their velocity.

In this lesson, we cover dynamic instability and how it can impact several systems.

Lecture

Alternate video link.

Handout

Here are the accompanying handout slides for this lesson.