Why does a toy shovel drift away from the shore?
- by Jaakko Moisio
- 30. syyskuuta 2021
![Toy shovel on shallow water](/media/filer_public_thumbnails/filer_public/33/05/3305f7b1-d496-45a0-90d8-28b955fdcdcc/shovel.jpg__120x120_q85_crop_subject_location-600%2C314_subsampling-2.jpg)
Why do floating objects, such as plastic toys, eventually drift away from the shore instead of staying close to it? Let's find out with a computer simulation and a quick pen-and-paper calculation.