Monday, February 16, 2026

Why office chairs have 5 legs - a trade-off

An interesting deep-dive on how the office chair was optimized over time, including physics formulas and interviews with the designer of the most popular office chair ever. 


2:39 increasing the number of legs increases how far off-center your weight can be before it tips; but 4:07 going from 3 to 4 legs adds 33% more construction material for 41% more stability - more legs becomes a diminishing trade-off. 

With 4 legs, when on an uneven surface, 6:22 your center of mass sits right on the edge of 2 stable positions, rocking between each. With 5 legs, the tipping-point to another stable position is further away from the center of gravity. 

Interesting aside - factories that made nitroglycerin had one-legged stools so workers wouldn't fall asleep. 

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