* Find the effects of different orbital radius for rotating bodies
* Adjust the masses to achieve different moment of inertia
* Discover what set up results in a higher angular velocity
Further information on Theory, Apparatus, Procedure, and Helpful Hints are available. Equipment is stored in Rockerfeller Room 402 and 403.
The Centripetal Force Apparatus Kit (PSSC) is used to demonstrate several concepts at once. A hanging mass can provide the force necessary to keep another mass traveling in a circular orbit around the end of a hand-held glass tube. The average human can rotate the glass tube at 2-3 revolutions per second, and exceptional humans moving the tube in tight circles may approach 10 rps. At constant angular velocity, the setup is unstable in the absence of friction, and the friction of a string going over the edge of a glass tube is not highly reproducible, so this is a generally qualitative demonstration.