Physics Demo Manual

Due to Physics Building renovations, the lead time to set up demo requests has increased due to the need to transport equipment across campus. Please be kind and let me know well ahead of time what you need.

Measurement  Motion In One Dimension  Motion In Two Dimensions  Newton's First Law  Newton's Second Law  Newton's Third Law  Statics Of Rigid Bodies  Applications Of Newton's Laws  Ladder Against a Wall  Walking the Giant YoYo  Weight Dependence of Friction   video  - Contact Area Independence of Friction  Coefficient of Friction  Gravity  Work and Energy  Momentum  Rotational Motion  Properties of Matter

Walking the Giant YoYo Purpose: A non-intuitive demonstration of dynamic torque acting on a rigid body. Procedure: By pulling on the string, the yo-yo can be forced to roll either towards or away from you. The direction that the yo-yo rolls depends on the angle the string makes with the vertical as well as the relative size of the axle of the yo-yo (see figure). This can be seen easily by looking at the torques about the point of contact between the yo-yo and the floor. If a force is applied to the string such that the string makes an angle theta with the vertical axis as shown below, there is no net torque about the point of contact so the yo-yo will not roll. If the string is pulled such that the angle it makes with the vertical is less than theta, there will be a net torque out of the picture and the yo-yo will move to the left. Increasing the angle so it is greater than theta will cause the yo-yo to move to the right. The critical angle can be found experimentally by applying a constant tension to the string and allowing the yo-yo to come to rest. Hints: For the yo-yo in the picture: r = 4.3 cm R = 12.3 cm