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Re: Euler's Disk



Van Neie wrote:

A colleague in the physics department received from his granddaughter a toy
called Euler's disk. .....

I had a toy called Euler's Disk but it was a stainless steel disk about 2"
diameter by 3/4" high that you give a slight spin on a flat surface. If you
have ever spun a coin and watched as it slows and falls over onto the flat,
hard surface( near elastic collisions with the surface), you usually see the
spin increase due to conservation of angular momentum, but with this toy the
effect is much stronger. Unfortunately, I used the toy for a demo show with a
group of middle school kids and the disk grew legs and walked away.

--
Jerry Hester
Jhester@mtu.edu
Laboratory/Lecture Demonstrations Coordinator
Department of Physics
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
Phone: (906) 487-2273
Fax: (906) 487-2933