What's the µ of Candy?

Whoo-hoo! Halloween! Lots of littles in costumes thrilled at the prospect of free candy. It's magical.

And then there's COVID. Boo COVID. Bad pandemic. Bad!

So being the responsible grandpa that I am... I'm fighting back - in a socially responsible way.

Part of that means staying socially distant. I can do that AND still see all the ninjas, princesses, super heroes and such.

Sure, it's low tech - but it delivers the goods (literally). 2 meters of 4" (10cm) PVC at a 45° angle.

It could have been less steep if we were only giving out Snickers bars, but we also have M&M's. Those pesky little bags have an incredibly high coefficient of friction (µ) in the tube.

Yes. I really did spend 30 minutes dropping candy down the tube trying to figure out how low of an angle I could use and consistently launch those M&M's. Guess I won't be sitting as much as I thought.

This project isn't done but it made me laugh - so I thought it proper to share the funny. Why, yes. My neighbors do think I'm odd.