Gömböc

Common card · No. 241754

A gömböc (Hungarian: [ˈɡømbøt͡s]) is any member of a class of convex, three-dimensional and homogeneous bodies that are mono-monostatic, meaning that they have just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium when resting on a flat surface. The existence of this class was conjectured by the Russian mathematician Vladimir Arnold in 1995 and proven in 2006 by the Hungarian scientists Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi by constructing at first a mathematical example and subsequently a physical example. The gömböc's shape helped to explain the body structure of some tortoises and their ability to return to an equilibrium position after being placed upside down. Copies of the first physically constructed example of a gömböc have been donated to institutions and museums, with largest one being presented to the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

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