red pail
beaker half full of water on a platform, stand

 

Code Number:1D50.40

Demo Title: Central Forces - Pail of Water - Wine Butler/Waiter's Tray

Condition: Fair

Principle: Forces Due To Circular Motion

Area of Study: Mechanics

Equipment: 

Water pail (small, 1/2 gal. cap.), Platform and Beaker or Paper Cups.

Procedure:

Fill the small pail about 1/2 full with water and swing in a circular motion. Make sure the water does not pour out of the pail when stopping.. These same instructions apply to the platform and beaker with the added note that to hit anything (such as the instructors leg), while swinging the platform will cause the beaker to fly out tangentially in a spectacular manner.

Styrofoam pellets or confetti may be used instead of water.  

An additional twist when doing this demo is to put absorbent Pampers or absorbent crystals into the bottom of the pail before taking it into the classroom.  Pour the water into the pail in front of the students and then do the demonstration.  At the end of the demo, show the students that there is still water in the bucket by throwing it out over the audience.  Of course, by that time the absorbent material should have absorbed all of the water so there is nothing that comes out of the pail.   

References:

  • Sandor Egri, Gabor Bihari, Muhammad Hassan Nawaz, Ayuba Tahiru, "Analyzing Vertical Circular Motion and Damped Oscillations Using a Smartphone Accelerometer", TPT, Vol. 62, #5, May 2024, p. 350.
  • Fernando Tornaria, Martin Monteiro, Arutro C. Marti, "Understanding Coffee Spills Using a Smartphone", TPT, Vol. 52, # 8, Nov. 2014, p. 502.
  • "Figuring Physics", TPT, Vol. 50, # 7, Oct. 2012.
  • Wojciech Dindorf, "To Swing a Ball", TPT, Vol. 50, # 2, Feb. 2012, p. 121.
  • "Figuring Physics", TPT, Vol. 47, # 9, December 2009, p. 598.
  • Derek B. Swinson, "Ski Chairlift Experiments", TPT, Vol. 35, # 9, Dec. 1997, p. 528.
  • Richard A.D. Hewko,  "The Racing Car Turn",  TPT, Vol. 26, # 7, p. 436, October 1988.
  • Frank Butcher,  "Circular Motion Studies with a Toy Airplane",  TPT, Vol. 25, # 9, p. 572, December 1987.
  • Donna A. Berry,  "Circular Motion with the Soundwagon",  TPT, Vol. 25, # 9, p. 570, Dec. 1987.
  • J.W. Beams,  "High Centrifugal Fields",  TPT, Vol. 3, # 6, p. 103, Sept. 1963.
  • Mb- 29:  Freier and Anderson,  A Demo Handbook for Physics.
  • M- 354:  "Test Tube on Bike Wheel",  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.
  • M- 362:  "Water in Circle-Coin on Hanger",  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.
  • Julien Clinton Sprott, Physics Demonstrations,  "1.7, Pail of Water",  p. 19, ISBN 0-299-21580-6.
  • Swing the Bucket, The Usborne Book of Science Experiments, p. 20.
  • Borislaw Bilash II, David Maiullo, "A Real Swinger", A Demo a Day: A Year of Physics Demonstrations, p. 130.
  • Robert Ehrlich,  "Whirling a Water-Filled Can in a Vertical Circle",  Turning the World Inside Out, p. 76- 77.
  • "Water Whirled in a Circle", Physics From the Junk Drawer, 3rd Edition, The Science House, North Carolina State University, p. 23.

Waiter's Tray

1D50.40 Central Forces - Pail of Water
1D50.40 - Wine Butler/Waiter's Tray