Ping-pong ball on spinning platform

Back to 3A - Oscillations
PIRA index: 3A40.10

Description

A ping-pong ball attached to the edge of a spinning platform traces out a circle when viewed from the side. When its shadow is viewed from the front, the ball appears to oscillate in simple harmonic motion.

Equipment

• rotating platform with ping-pong ball
• overhead projector

Instructions

Place the spinning platform on the overhead projector. The class should be able to see the circular motion from the apparatus itself but see the simple harmonic motion from the overhead projector.

Keywords

simple harmonic motion, ping pong ball, oscillation, shadow, spinning, rotating

Images & Movies

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  Figure1