The buttered cat paradox is a common joke based on the combination of two

adage A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...

s: * Cats always land on their feet. * Buttered toast always lands buttered side down. The

paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictor ...

arises when one considers what would happen if one attached a piece of buttered toast (butter side up) to the back of a cat, then dropped the cat from a large height. The buttered cat paradox, submitted by artist John Frazee of

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...

, won a 1993 '' Omni'' magazine competition about paradoxes. The basic premise, stating the conditions of the cat and bread and posed as a question, was presented in a routine by comic and juggler Michael Davis, appearing on '' The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', July 22, 1988.

Thought experiments

The buttered cat paradox has been highlighted as a paradigmatic example of a

thought experiment A thought experiment is an imaginary scenario that is meant to elucidate or test an argument or theory. It is often an experiment that would be hard, impossible, or unethical to actually perform. It can also be an abstract hypothetical that is ...

. Some people jokingly maintain that the experiment produces an anti-gravity effect. They propose that as the cat falls toward the ground, it slows down and starts to rotate, eventually reaching a

steady state In systems theory, a system or a process is in a steady state if the variables (called state variables) which define the behavior of the system or the process are unchanging in time. In continuous time, this means that for those properties ''p' ...

of hovering a short distance from the ground while rotating at high speed as both the buttered side of the toast and the cat's feet attempt to land on the ground. In June 2003, Kimberly Miner won a Student Academy Award for her film ''Perpetual Motion''. Miner based her film on a paper written by a high-school friend that explored the potential implications of the cat and buttered toast idea.

In humor

The faux paradox has captured the imagination of science-oriented

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s. In May 1992, the Usenet Oracle Digest #441 included a question from a supplicant asking about the paradox. Testing the theory is the main theme in an episode of the

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

strip '' Jack B. Quick''. The title character seeks to test this theory, leading to the cat hovering above the ground and the cat's wagging tail providing propulsion. The March 31, 2005, strip of the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

''Bunny'' also explored the idea in the guise of a plan for a "Perpetual Motion MoggieToast 5k Power Generator", based on Sod's law. In ''Science Askew'', Donald E. Simanek comments on this phenomenon. Brazilian

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brand Flying Horse released a 2012 award-winning commercial that simulates the recreation of this phenomenon, which is then used to create perpetual energy.

In reality

Cats possess the ability to turn themselves right side up in mid-air if they should fall upside-down, known as the

cat righting reflex The cat righting reflex is a cat's innate ability to orientate itself as it falls in order to land on its feet. The righting reflex begins to appear at 3–4 weeks of age, and is perfected at 6–9 weeks. Cats are able to do this because they h ...

. This enables them to land on their feet if dropped from sufficient height. A study at

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involving dropping 100 slices of buttered toast under laboratory conditions established that it typically lands on the floor butter-side-down as a result of the manner in which it is typically dropped from a table, and the aerodynamic drag caused by the air pockets within the bread. The toast is typically butter-side-up when dropped. As it falls, it rotates; given the typical speed of rotation and the typical height of a table, a slice of toast that began butter-side-up on the table lands butter-side-down on the floor in 81% of cases.

References

External links

* {{cite journal, date=16 November 1996, title=Feedback, journal=

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, issue=2056, url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15220568.300
Loopholes for the paradox
Butter Cats in popular culture Cultural conventions Humour Paradoxes Thought experiments about cats

Thought experiments

In humor

In reality

See also

References

External links