Summary
*Note:
For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.
If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.
If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.
Abstract
Place a desk chair (one that rotates easily on ball bearings) in the center of the room, away from any obstructions. Put your hands on your lap and have a helper give you a push to start you rotating. You'll need to quantify the results somehow. For example, your helper could measure the number of revolutions you make in 5 seconds. Now try extending your arms after your helper starts you spinning. Next, start with your arms out, and bring them in close to your body after you start spinning. You can also try this while holding a heavy weight in each hand. Repeat each trial at least three times (take breaks so you don't get too dizzy!) Advanced: try to use the conservation law (angular momentum) to write an equation to predict how fast you should spin in each condition. How well does your prediction agree with your actual results? Try to explain any deviations between predicted and actual results. If you need help, you can use Science Buddies Ask an Expert Forum to check the derivation of your equation. (Idea from: Goodstein, 1999, 114-116.)Bibliography
Goodstein, M., 1999. Sports Science Projects: The Physics of Balls in Motion. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers.
Ask an Expert
Do you have specific questions about your science project? Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.
Careers
If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:
Career Profile
Mathematicians are part of an ancient tradition of searching for patterns, conjecturing, and figuring out truths based on rigorous deduction. Some mathematicians focus on purely theoretical problems, with no obvious or immediate applications, except to advance our understanding of mathematics, while others focus on applied mathematics, where they try to solve problems in economics, business, science, physics, or engineering.
Read more
Career Profile
Physicists have a big goal in mind—to understand the nature of the entire universe and everything in it! To reach that goal, they observe and measure natural events seen on Earth and in the universe, and then develop theories, using mathematics, to explain why those phenomena occur. Physicists take on the challenge of explaining events that happen on the grandest scale imaginable to those that happen at the level of the smallest atomic particles. Their theories are then applied to…
Read more
Related Links
Cite This Page
General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.MLA Style
Science Buddies Staff.
"Skating and Angular Momentum." Science Buddies,
28 July 2017,
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Sports_p041/sports-science/skating-and-angular-momentum.
Accessed 28 May 2023.
APA Style
Science Buddies Staff.
(2017, July 28).
Skating and Angular Momentum.
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Sports_p041/sports-science/skating-and-angular-momentum
Last edit date: 2017-07-28
Explore Our Science Videos
Find Your Blind Spot!
Build a Water Sprinkler Toy
Iteration in the Engineering Design Process