Breadcrumb
3C20.60 - Increasing Pitch - Euler's Disk, Magnets & Glass Bottles, LIGO Ring Down
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Code Number: 3C20.60
Demo Title: Increasing Pitch - Euler's Disk, Magnets & Glass Bottles, LIGO Ring Down
Condition: Excellent
Principle: Frequency of Sound Waves
Area of Study: Oscillations &Acoustics
Equipment:
Euler's Disk, Smooth Magnets, 1 gallon glass jugs.
Procedure:
The Euler's disk is very easy to use. Spin the heavy disk ( rounded edge down ) on the slightly concave base. If you listen carefully, you should hear the pitch of the spinning disk increasing as the disk slows down.
Separate the magnet by a distance of 1 inch in your hand. Throw them in the air. They will start bouncing together with a sound that increases in pitch as the bounce distance becomes smaller.
Gently touch the glass jugs together. They will make a sound that increases in pitch as the bounce distance becomes smaller.
The sounds produced are also much like the LIGO ring down.
References:
- W. L. Andersen, "Noncalculus Treatment of Steady-State Rolling of a Thin Disk on a Horizontal Surface", TPT, Vol. 45, #7, Oct. 2007, p. 430.
- Russell Akridge, "Period and Amplitude", TPT, #8, Vol. 36, Nov. 1998, p. 507.
- Domenico Davide Meringolo, Francesco Conidi, Alessandra Mercuri, Massimino Sposato, Riccardo Cristoforo Barberi, Giuseppe Pucci, "On the Analogy Between Spinning Disks Coming to Rest and Merging Black Holes", AJP, Vol. 93, #7, July 2025, p. 551.
- D. Petrie, J. L. Hunt, and C. G. Gray, "Does the Euler Disk Slip During its Motion?", AJP, Vol. 70, #10, Oct. 2002, p. 1025.
- Lorne A. Whitehead and Frank L. Curzon, "Spinning Objects on Horizontal Planes", AJP, Vol. 51, #5, May 1983, p. 449.
- M. G. Olsson, "Coin Spinning On a Table", AJP, Vol. 40, #10, p. 1543, Oct. 1972.
- Jearl Walker, "Delights of the "Wobbler," A Coin or a Cylinder that Precesses As It Spins", The Amateur Scientist, Oct. 1982.