Advice on Hanging Pictures - Fred Bloore
26th October 2002
When you hang a picture like a school photograph, where the width of the picture is much larger than its height, it tends to fall to a crooked position (see picture below). However, when you hang a picture like a portrait of the head, where (usually) the height of the picture is larger than its width, the picture tends to hang straight. Why is this? This presentation explores the physics and geometry of hanging pictures.