If while driving you place a envelope or piece of paper on an empty
passenger seat in your Vanagon, does it end up on the floor after a
few miles? I've noticed this phenomena in my van.

So I've done some tests. If I place a standard legal-size envelope at
the back of the seat, it will fall off the front after 18-20 miles of
Interstate driving. And this will happen with just about anything
relatively light.

But why? I mean the seat is slanted such that these objects are
actually defying gravity. And what is it about the vibrations of a
vanagon that causes the movement to always be towards the front of the
van? It's not braking/acceleration - this phenomena happens even if
you maintain a constant speed.

Enquiring minds want to know.

dan
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Dan Resler                         email: dresler@vcu.edu
Dept. of Mathematical Sciences
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA 23284-2014 USA