How to become a scientist : $b Giving interesting and instructive experiments in chemistry, mechanics, acoustics and pyrotechnics — John Shaqi
How to become a scientist : $b Giving interesting and instructive experiments in chemistry, mechanics, acoustics and pyrotechnicsWarford, Aaron A.
Science
How to become a scientist : $b Giving interesting and instructive experiments in chemistry, mechanics, acoustics and pyrotechnics
Warford, Aaron A.
Scientific recreations
It seems to be an astounding statement that a quarter, or other piece
of money, can be made to spin on the point of a needle. To perform
this experiment, procure a bottle, cork it, and in the cork place a
needle. Now take another cork and cut a slit in it, so that the edge
of the coin will fit into the slit; next place two forks in the cork,
and placing the edge of the coin on the needle, it will spin around
without falling off. The reason is this: that the weight of the forks
projecting as they do so much below the coin, brings the center of
gravity of the arrangement much below the point of suspension, or the
point of the needle, and therefore the coin remains perfectly safe and
upright.
The Spanish Dancer.
The laws which govern the motion of bodies are capable of many pleasing
illustrations, and the example which we now give of causing rotary
motion is very interesting and easily performed.
Take a piece of card, and cut out a little figure, and paste or gum
it in an erect position on the inside of a watch-glass. Then procure
a black japanned waiter, or a clean plate will do, and, holding it
in an inclined position, place the figure and watch-glass on it,
and they will, of course, slide down. Next let fall a drop of water
on the waiter, place the watch-glass on it, and again incline the
waiter, and instead of the watch-glass sliding down, it will begin to
revolve. It will continue to revolve with increasing velocity, obeying
the inclination and position of the plane, as directed by the hand
of the experimentalist. The reason of this is, in the first place,
in consequence of the cohesion of the water to the two surfaces, a
new force is introduced, by which an unequal degree of resistance is
imparted to different parts of the watch-glass in contact with the
waiter, and, consequently, in its effort to slide down, it revolves.
Again, if the drop of water be observed, it will be seen that it
undergoes a change of figure; a film of water, by capillary action, is
drawn to the foremost portion of the glass, while, by the centrifugal
force, a body of water is thrown under the under part of it. The effect
of both these actions is to accelerate the motion, or, in other words,
to gradually increase the speed.
The Mechanical Bucephalus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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