The physics of carnival games

 Carnival games are well understood to be a scam. They appear deceivingly easy as there are several physical manipulations to ensure few winners at each game. One of the most common and contrived games is the knock over milk bottles game. Three metal bottles are arranged in a pyramid formation with one stacked over the other two. The secret of the game is that these opaque bottles have different weights and weight distribution to complicate the game. When the game operator demonstrates the game, he arranges the bottles so that the heavier one is at the top and two lighter ones are at the bottom. This makes it so that the bottles on the bottom have less inertia, thus taking less force to knock all of the bottles down with any swift hit as inertia and mass are proportional. It also alters the center of mass, putting it in the middle. As we know, the center of mass is where the object will topple down the easiest and in the middle is where the majority of people will aim. However, when it is arranged for the participant, the game operator will  configure the bottles with the lighter one at the top and the heavier ones at the bottom. This makes the bottles have more inertia and makes them very difficult to knock over, postulated by Newton’s first law. Additionally, the center of mass will be further to the bottom, so in order to win, aim for the very bottom of the bottom most milk bottles with enough force to knock it over.

for more carnival games that manipulate physics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_ZlWJ3qJI&ab_channel=MarkRober