College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
1H10.10 - Push Me - Pull Me Carts
A person sits on each cart. They put their hands up and each can push, pull, only one can push, etc. You may also separate the carts farther and use a rope to do the above exercises.
A variation of this is to have one person on a cart who pushes off a wall. You can do 1H10.35 on the wall to show that it also moves.
- B. L. Blackford, "The Physics of a Push-Me Pull-You Boat", AJP, Vol. 46, # 10, p. 1004, Oct. 1978.
- Paul Hewitt, "Figuring Physics", TPT, Vol. 33, #8, Nov. 1995, p. 544.
- R. W. Pohl, Physical Principles of Mechanics and Acoustics, p. 31.
- Jodi and Roy McCullough, "Momentum with Rollerblades", The Role of Toys in Teaching Physics", p. 3.18.
- Borislaw Bilash II, David Maiullo, "Push Me, Push You", A Demo a Day: A Year of Physics Demonstrations, p. 115.
- M- 554: "Two Carts", DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.
- Julius Sumner Miller, Q87 & A87, Millergrams I – Some Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds, p. 56 & 107.
- Julius Sumner Miller, Q136 & A136, Millergrams II – Some More Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds, p. 23 & 84.
- Julius Sumner Miller, Q139 & A139, Millergrams II – Some More Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds, p. 24 & 85.
Disclaimer: These demonstrations are provided only for illustrative use by persons affiliated with The University of Iowa and only under the direction of a trained instructor or physicist. The University of Iowa is not responsible for demonstrations performed by those using their own equipment or who choose to use this reference material for their own purpose. The demonstrations included here are within the public domain and can be found in materials contained in libraries, bookstores, and through electronic sources. Performing all or any portion of any of these demonstrations, with or without revisions not depicted here entails inherent risks. These risks include, without limitation, bodily injury (and possibly death), including risks to health that may be temporary or permanent and that may exacerbate a pre-existing medical condition; and property loss or damage. Anyone performing any part of these demonstrations, even with revisions, knowingly and voluntarily assumes all risks associated with them.