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Re: Spinning Class Ring



At 11:47 AM 5/6/02, Ron Curtin at Charlotte wrote:
>A student asked me a question that I have heard before, but I don't know a
>good answer. If you spin a class ring on a table top, it spins around so
>that the heavy part (the front of the ring) always moves up to a position
>furthest above the tabletop. It doesn't matter if the heavy part of the
>ring starts at the bottom or at the top. The student and I wonder why this
>happens.

At 12:21 PM 5/6/02, I responded like this:

There was a recent paper published on the spinning hard boiled egg
from some Oxford people: the detail is quite intimidating.
I seem to remember it was reported on a list or in New Scientist.

If no one else gives a proper reference, I will follow up.

And here it is, from Nature's on-line edition at...

<http://www.nature.com/nsu/020325/020325-6.html>

Moffatt, H.K. & Shimomura, Y. Spinning eggs - a paradox resolved.
Nature, 416, 385 386, (2002)

...this refers to a study by
Cambridge &
Japanese seekers after truth.


Brian Whatcott
Altus OK Eureka!