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Mouse balls - Fun Demo!



To all,
my wife just had a microswitch flake out on her in her mouse and I
snagged the ball and started playing with it. Strangely enough, it
behaves a lot like one of the "off center" balls that you can buy, the
ones you throw back-and-forth that wobble in the air.
After rolling this guy around for a while, it would make a great
overhead projector demo for the center of mass demo for the overhead.
You just give it a little push and it will do all kinds of "loopy" things.
I admit, it is a cheap mouse it came from, but this is really cool to play
with. It's also something the students could do at home with their own
mouse balls. A great simple demonstration of center of mass! REAL FUN!!

Whip out your mouse ball and see what it will do.

Chime in and let me know if I have a really crappy mouse ball or this is
common. Thanks.
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James Bradford Shue jshue@comp.uark.edu
University of Arkansas Voice phone:(501) 575-6059
Physics Lab/Demo Curator FAX Number: (501) 575-4580
WWW Page http://comp.uark.edu/~jshue
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