Fun Turntable Experiment
Mechanics in Motion · Interactive
- Dimensions1.6×1.2×0.85m
- PresentationInteractive
- PricingQuoted by manufacture spec
Purpose & Scientific Principle
Experience the fun of rotating motion (and collision). The moving trajectories of disks and balls on this rotating tabletop are unpredictable and fascinating, and also reveal why storm systems on weather maps tend to move along curves. As the disc and ball roll along a straight line on a rotating turntable, they appear to follow a curved path. This bending phenomenon exhibited by an object moving on a rotating surface is called the Coriolis force effect. The edge portion of this rotating table rotates faster than the center portion. When you place a disk on a table, it starts spinning at the speed at that location on the table. The disk maintains this rotational speed as it moves through the outer region where it rotates faster, bending in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation. The Earth's rotation produces a similar deflection effect on the movement of air in the atmosphere and water in the oceans. This is why you often see hurricanes, nor'easters, and other weather systems moving along curved paths on weather maps. This is why wind circulates around the center of a storm.
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