Physics Of Giant Pumpkins

Pumpkins of the Atlantic giant variety can weigh more than 1,800 pounds. For a mechanical engineer with an interest in plus-sized fruit, like Georgia Tech’s David Hu, this raises an interesting physics question: How can the pumpkin get so big without breaking?

Credits

Additional footage, images: David L. Hu, Paul Richards, Alexander Alexeev Ryan Foss, Bill’s Big Pumpkins/ Quantum Petshop Documentary produced by Flora Lichtman

Meet the Producer

About Flora Lichtman

Flora Lichtman was the host of the podcast Every Little Thing. She’s a former Science Friday multimedia producer.