Have you ever tried balancing a spoon or a pen on your finger?
Do you think you can balance an upright flat stick on a chopstick? Without glue?
With the help of the center of gravity, you can.
What you need:
• 2 clothes pins
• A flat stick
• A pipe cleaner
• A chopstick
How to do it:
1. Place the pipe cleaner at the center of one end of the flattened stick.
2. Wrap the flat stick with the pipe cleaner two times on each side.
3. Attach the clothes pins on both ends of your pipe cleaner.
4. Balance the end of the flat stick on the chopstick. Adjust the position of the pipe cleaner to balance it.
Analysis:
The center of gravity is the normal area of the object’s weight.
In this project, you were able to change the center of gravity of the flat stick. Once the center of gravity is aligned with the base of support, the object stays balanced.
When you added the clothes pins and the pipe cleaner, you lowered the center of gravity, close to the base of support.