Changing direction of a spinning object

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SolPyrus
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 28, 2023 5:41 pm
Occupation: Student

Changing direction of a spinning object

Post by SolPyrus »

My wireless mouse has a cover on top of it that you can take off to replace its batteries. It's quite weirdly shaped, kind of like an uneven concave shape. When I spin it around, after a few seconds it starts losing it's balance and starts oscillating up and down while spinning. When the spinning gets slower and the oscillation hits its peak, the direction of the spin changes to the opposite direction. Is it because the energy or momentum is transferred to the oscillation and as the spinning gets slower the mechanical energy stored in the oscillation takes over and spins it to the other direction?
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