WHAT ARE WE DOING

WHY WE ARE DOING IT

؜designing and assembling fidget spinners

to understand basic physics principles

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

22mm Bearings

1/8" Plywood

8mm Dowel

M8 Nuts

Activity Sheet

؜WHAT MAKES A FIDGET SPINNER FUN?

write the answers on the board

؜What makes a fidget spinner fun?

start by reference the

printed activity article

؜What makes a fidget spinner fun?

؜Reduction in Friction

Friction is a force that opposes motion between two surfaces in contact. It arises from the microscopic irregularities on surfaces that interlock and resist sliding.

1.

Which one will spin longer?

wood - wood

wood - ball bearing - wood

؜What makes a fidget spinner fun?

Increase in Inertia

؜Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. It's the property that keeps objects at rest or moving at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force.

؜2.

Which one will spin longer?

؜What makes a fidget spinner fun?

؜The Gyroscopic Effect

؜The Gyroscopic Effect, also known as gyroscopic action, describes the tendency of a rotating object (like a gyroscope) to maintain its orientation in space. This means that if you try to tilt a spinning gyroscope, it will resist the change in orientation and instead move in a perpendicular direction

؜3.

Now that we have thought like physicists, let's think like designers.

Draft your own fidget spinner designs on your handout.