Moving in circles--a rather unnatural motion that occurs all
the time in nature and around us--is simply due to the centripetal force
that pulls you in towards the center. However, we often get confused
by the mysterious "centrifugal" force that seems to push us to the outer
edge of a circle when in fact the centrifugal force does not exist
but is a trick of our perception of our natural inertia!
Mr. Durante Spins the Monkey!
Here our intrepid
student teacher, Mark Durante from North Central College, demonstrates the principles of centripetal force in
this classic physics demonstration with a twist!
As you can see,
Mr. D has the wrist action and hip action for the makings of a great
physics teacher! :)
Lab Links:
Questacon 3D Make Tracks Coaster:
Build the ultimate thrill machine and see what happens in 3D!
Please be patient while this cool Shockwave program loads!
Funderstanding Roller Coaster
Try changing the
heights of your hills, loops, gravity, and friction to see what it
takes to build a successful coaster design!
Send mail to
jliaw@hinsdale86.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
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