The Stand Of The Pencils

MATERIALS NEEDED:

A short pencil

A long pencil

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

Discuss with the children the subject of the COG (center of gravity).

Hand out a long and a short pencil to each student.

Ask the children to stand the pencils upright.

Then ask the children to release both at the same time.

Ask the children what happened. (The short pencil falls to the table much faster than the long one. Notice that when the pencil has fallen and is horizontal that it moves in the direction of the fall. The mass center has some horizontal velocity because the pencil was forced to fall on the arc of a circle.

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Last modified: Tue Mar 17 15:33:59 PST 1998