EXPERIMENT MANUAL
Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizerstr. -, Stuttgart, Germany | + () - | www.kosmos.de
Thames & Kosmos, Friendship St., Providence, RI, , USA | --- | www.thamesandkosmos.com
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› › › SAFETY INFORMATION
Safety Information
When handling the vibrating motor, hold it securely so
that it doesn’t shake itself out of your hands! It’s best to
turn it off whenever you are handling it. Don’t hold the
switched-on vibrating motor for long periods of time.
Regarding the underside of vibrating motor: Do not bring
hair or fingers in contact with the rotating shaft.
NOTE! Not suitable for use by children under years of
age. There is a risk of choking if small parts are swallowed
or inhaled. Store the experiment material, particularly the
battery-powered vibrating motor, and assembled models
out of the reach of small children.
NOTE! Only for use by children years and older.
Instructions are included for parents or other supervising
adults. Please follow them! Save the packaging and
instructions. They contain important information.
Safety for Experiments with
Batteries
››› Never experiment with wall outlets or the household power
supply. Never insert wires or other parts into wall outlets!
Household voltage can be deadly.
››› For operation, you will need three AAA baeries (.-volt,
type AAA/LR) or three AAA rechargeable baeries (.-volt,
min. mAh), which are not included in the kit due to their
limited shelf life.
››› The supply terminals are not to be short-circuited. A short-
circuit could lead to overheating of circuits and baery
explosions.
››› Different types of baeries or new and used baeries are not
to be mixed.
››› Do not mix old and new baeries.
››› Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc), or rechargeable
(nickel-cadmium) baeries.
››› Only install baeries in the correct polarity direction. Press
them gently into the baery compartment.
››› Always close baery compartments with the lid.
››› Never recharge non-rechargeable baeries. They could
explode!
››› Rechargeable baeries are only to be charged under adult
supervision.
››› Rechargeable baeries are to be removed from the toy before
being charged.
›››
Exhausted baeries are to be removed from the toy.
››› Dispose of used baeries in accordance with environmental
provisions.
››› Make absolutely sure that metallic objects such as coins or
key chains are not left in contact with baery terminals.
››› Do not bend, warp, or otherwise deform baeries.
With all of the experiments that use baeries, have an adult
check the experiment or model before use to make sure you have
assembled it properly.
After you are done experimenting, remove the baeries from the
baery compartments. Note the safety information
accompanying the individual experiments!
Notes on disposal of
electrical and electronic
components
The electronic components of this product are recyclable. For the
sake of the environment, do not throw them into the household
trash at the end of their lifespan. They must be delivered to a
collection location for electronic waste, as indicated by the
following symbol:
Please contact your local authorities for the appropriate
disposal location.
Dear Parents!
Before starting the experiments, read through the
instruction manual together with your child and discuss
the safety information. Check to make sure the models
have been assembled correctly, and assist your child with
the experiments.
We hope you and your child have a lot of fun with the
experiments!
Kosmos Quality and Safety
More than one hundred years of expertise in publishing science
experiment kits stand behind every product that bears the Kosmos
name. Kosmos experiment kits are designed by an experienced team
of specialists and tested with the utmost care during development
and production. With regard to product safety, these experiment
kits follow European and US safety standards, as well as our own
refined proprietary safety guidelines. By working closely with our
manufacturing partners and safety testing labs, we are able to
control all stages of production. While the majority of our products
are made in Germany, all of our products, regardless of origin,
follow the same rigid quality standards.
1st Edition 2013
© Genius Toy Taiwan Co., Ltd., Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
1st German Edition © 2013 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH Co. KG
This work, including all its parts, is copyright protected. Any use outside the specific limits of the copyright law without the consent of the
publisher is prohibited and punishable by law. This applies specifically to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and
processing in electronic systems and networks. We do not guarantee that all material in this work is free from copyright or other protection.
Project management: Stefanie Bernhart
Technical product development: Petra Müller
Copy editing: Thomas Oppelt, Chemnitz; Christiane Theis
Manual design: Atelier Bea Klenk, Berlin
Manual layout and typesetting: Michaela Kienle, Fine Tuning
Manual photos: askaja (all paper clips); Jamie Duplass (all tape strips); picsfive (all push pins);
bloomua, p. 1 bottom, p. 5 top right; Irina Fischer, p. 3 second from top; piai, p. 3 second from bottom, p. 20 bottom; Markus Bormann, p. 4 top
left; Paul Wander, p. 4 center right;
maxi, p. 4 bottom right, p. 23 center right; peter knechtges, p. 5 left; Markus Bormann, p. 5 right; Stefan Körber, p. 11 bottom left; Eric Isselée,
p. 11 bottom right; Benjamin Haas, p. 13 top right; artalis, p. 20 bottom right; Elvira Schäfer, p. 23 top and bottom; Yuri Arcurs, p. 24 top (all
previous © fotolia.com); Jamie Farrant, p. 1; Anthony Mayatt, p. 3 center bottom, 18 bottom right; gorbva, p. 3 bottom; Dr. Heinz Linke, p. 4
bottom left, 18 bottom left; Mark Bowden, p. 10 bottom center; Oleg mymrin, p. 13 bottom; Cristian Baitg, p. 13 top left; Alistair Scott, p. 16
bottom; Richard Loader, p. 16 top; Ivan Miladinovic, p. 20 top right; technotr, p. 20 bottom left, 24 bottom left; 36clicks, p. 20 bottom center;
Jostaphot, p. 24 center right (all previous © istockphoto.com); NASA/JPL, Maas Digital LLC, p. 3 top, 8 top; NASA/JPL, p. 23 center left (both
public domain, © wikipedia); NASA/JPL-Caltech, public domain, p. 9 bottom right; Hans-Walter Schoof, p. 23 top right
Packaging design: Peter Schmidt Group GmbH, Hamburg
Packaging layout: 599media, Freiberg
Packaging photos: nadla (trail, © istockphoto.com); Triff (planet, © shutterstock.com)
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an image fee in line with the industry standard.
st English Edition © Thames Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA
Thames Kosmos® is a registered trademark of Thames Kosmos, LLC.
Editing: Ted McGuire; Additional Graphics and Layout: Dan Freitas
Distributed in North America by Thames Kosmos, LLC. Providence, RI
Phone: --; Email: support@thamesandkosmos.com
We reserve the right to make technical changes. Printed in Taiwan / Imprimé en Taïwan
An experiment to help you hit
Are you strong
enough for the
vibrating motor?
YOU WILL NEED
› Vibrating motor
› 3 x AAA baeries (1.5-volt, type AAA/LR03) or
3 x AAA rechargeable baeries (1.2-volt, min.
1100 mAh)
HERE’S HOW
1. Find the vibrating motor in the box and
open the cover on the underside. That’s how
you get to the baery compartments.
the ground running
Here’s where unexpected forces are generated…
Check it out, and prepare to be surprised!
WANT
TO LEARN MORE?
Then come along into
the fascinating world
of vibrating motors…
2. Insert the baeries into the baery
compartments as indicated on the inside.
3. Now place the cover back on.
4. Hold the vibrating motor very firmly and
slide the switch on its underside in one
direction or the other.
5. Next, return the switch to its original
position and slide it in the opposite
direction.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Look into the top of the vibrating motor. Do you see how
the lile arm inside starts to turn? It starts slowly, but
gradually moves faster and faster. You don’t just see it,
you can actually feel it — it’s so powerful that you have
to hold the vibrating motor tightly to keep it from geing
away. The vibration is caused by the movement of this
arm, which is equipped with a weight and is mounted a
lile off-center. It’s the rapid out-of-balance rotation
that generates the force you feel.
Are you strong
enough for the
vibrating motor?
› › › KIT CONTENTS
If you are missing
GOOD TO KNOW !
any parts, please contact Thames &
Kosmos customer service.
The parts in your kit:
1
8 9
15 16 17 18
2 3 4 5
10
11 12
19
Any materials not included in the kit are
indicated in
will need” heading.
6
13
20
italic script
under the “You
7
14
21
Checklist: Find – Inspect – Check off
No. Description Count Item-No.
1 Vibrating motor 1 714 194
2 Head 1 714 201
3 Neck 1 714 202
4 Wrist 2 714 327
5 Hand 4 714 203
6 Rivet 4 714 328
7 Body 2 714 200
8 Foot 2 714 198
9 Non-slip sole 2 714 199
10 Armor panels 6 714 197
11 Right leg 1 714 196
The anchor pin lever
In the box, you will find a little tool —
the yellow anchor pin lever.
1. End A of the anchor pin lever makes it easy
to remove anchor pins from the frames.
2. End B of the tool is used for removing
batteries from the battery compartments.
A
1
No. Description Count Item No.
12 Left leg 1 714 195
13 3-hole dual rod 8 714 186
14 5-hole rod 1 714 187
15 5-hole dual rod 4 714 188
16 Curved rod 1 714 189
17 Two-to-one converter 2 714 190
18 Hinge 12 714 191
19 Tube, 30 mm 2 714 287
20 Anchor pin 22 714 193
21 Anchor pin lever 1 702 590
You will also need:
3 x AAA batteries (1.5-volt, type
B
2
AAA/LR03) or 3 x AAA
rechargeable batteries (1.2-volt,
min. 1100 mAh), box of opaque
watercolor (gouache) paints,
paintbrush, paper, water, paper
towels, old clothes, clean empty
yogurt container, one or two felttip pens, small rocks in a bag
› › › TABLE OF CONTENTS
TIP!
You will find supplemental
information here: “Check It Out”
Pages and .
Vibrobot
Safety information ............................................................ Inside front cover
An experiment to help you hit the ground running ..................................
Kit contents .......................................................................................................
Table of contents..............................................................................................
EXPERIMENTS
Vibration Technology .....................................................................................
The secret behind this technology is a rapidly-spinning swing arm.
Experiment with the vibrating motor and build cool models to learn
more about this technology.
The models:
Vibrobot ................................................................................................................... 6
Mars rover ............................................................................................................... 9
Vibro-beetle .......................................................................................................... 12
Painting robot ...................................................................................................... 14
Plate compactor .................................................................................................. 17
Exercise machine ................................................................................................ 19
Ice skater ............................................................................................................... 21
Publisher’s information ................................................................Back cover
TIP!
At the top of each model assembly page, you will find a red bar:
It shows how difficult the model’s assembly will be:
›››
easy
medium
hard
Vibration Technology
Vibro – what? In this case, “vibro” is an abbreviation of the word “vibration.”
Your vibrating motor works with vibration technology. It has a swing arm
attached to the shaft of its motor, so the arm rotates as the motor shaft
turns. The fact that the arm is mounted off-balance makes the whole device
vibrate. A lot of things operate with vibration technology: your cell phone,
fitness machines, and paving compactors used in street construction.
CAUTION!
CONSTRUCTION
SITE
EXPERIMENT 1
TIP!
Your robot will move
best on a large, smooth
surface.
What makes your
robot walk?
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled vibrobot
› 3 x AAA baeries or 3 x AAA rechargeable baeries
HERE’S HOW
1. Start by following the assembly instructions for your
vibrobot. You will find the instructions on the following
pages.
Vibration Technology
DID YOU KNOW ?
Inside your cell phone,
there’s a tiny motor
that is smaller than a
paper clip. It, too,
spins an unbalanced
weight. That’s what
makes the cell
phone vibrate when
set to vibration
mode.
2. Remove the vibrobot’s legs and open the cover on the
underside of the vibrating motor. That’s how you reach
the baery compartments.
3. Insert the baeries in the direction indicated in the
compartments. Then replace the cover and reaach the
legs.
4. Remove the soles from the booms of the vibrobot’s
feet. Slide the switch on the underside of the vibrating
motor in one direction or the other.
5. Does the vibrobot start walking right away? What
happens when you slide the switch in the other
direction?
6. Now you can try different experiments. Switch off the
vibrating motor and mount the soles on the vibrobot’s
feet. Start with the grips on the soles tilted to the rear.
7. Switch on the vibrating motor. In what direction does
the robot walk? Turn the soles around. What happens
now?
TIP!
Run some more experiments: Turn
just one of the soles around or
change the position of the arms.
8. By changing the positions of the two arms, can you get
the robot to walk forward? Try it with one arm straight
up and the other arm straight out in front, for example.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
The vibrations from the motor are passed along to the entire robot — all the
way down to his feet. Depending on the direction that the arm swings, the
robot will turn to the right or the left. The direction of the sole’s treads or the
direction in which the arms point will also determine the direction of movement —
forwards, backwards, or in a circle.
VIBROBOT
1 2 3 4 5
1 x
6 8 9 10
4 x
11
1 x
1 x 1 x 2 x 4 x
7
2 x 2 x 2 x 6 x
12
13 18
1 x 4 x 4 x 22 x
1
20
2
3
x
Vibration Technology
4
12
11
5
6
Done!
Make sure you
insert the anchor
pins attached to the
armor panels into
the correct holes,
and that you insert
them securely, or
they might fall
off from all of the
vibrating action.
EXPERIMENT 2
TIP!
Your rover will run best on
a large, smooth surface.
Taking off for Mars
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled Mars rover
› 3 x AAA baeries or 3 x AAA rechargeable baeries
HERE’S HOW
1. Start by assembling your Mars rover. You will find the
instructions on the following pages.
2. Remove the vehicle’s legs and open the cover on the
underside of the vibrating motor.
3. Insert the baeries in the direction indicated in the
compartments. Then replace the cover and reaach
the legs.
4. Slide the switch on the underside of the vibrating motor
in one direction or the other. In which direction does the
rover walk? Again, you can try experimenting with the
direction of the switch and try turning the soles around.
5. The rover’s gripping hand mimics the robotic arms on the
real Martian rovers. Can you manage to place an object
from your room in its hand? Then let the rover carry it
along.
KEYWORD: MARS ROVER
Mars rovers like this one have already
been sent four times to explore the planet
Mars. To develop this kind of rover,
engineers start by using a computer to
create a drawing showing how it should
look. Then, they construct a model. When
the actual rover is finally complete, it
often looks completely different from the
sketch that they started with, because
they constantly change and improve it in
the course of development.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
A robot that can drive is called a “rover.” When a
rover is moving across the Martian surface, it is
very important that it be able to pick up things
that are lying on the ground. That’s the only way
that it can study the planet’s rocks.
To do that, rovers have other instruments on
board as well, such as microscopes, drills, and
brushes. Then, with the help of its antennas, it
sends the analysis results back to Earth.
MARS ROVER
1 3 4 5
Vibration Technology
1 x
6
1 x 1 x 2 x
8 97
1 x 2 x 2 x 2 x
13
6 x 6 x 8 x
15
2 x
16
1 x
18 20
1 2
B
3
A
B
MARS ROVER
4
5
x
A
Done!
Vibration Technology
EXPERIMENT 3
TIP!
Your beetle will
crawl best on a
large, smooth
surface.
KEYWORDS: FORCE AND
LEVER ARM
Picture a see-saw with a person on either
end. If the two people are the same weight
and the pivot point (or fulcrum) is in the
middle, then the see-saw is balanced. If
one person is heavier, he or she must slide
in toward the fulcrum, so the weight
balances out. The force that a load exerts
on a lever is equal to the weight of the load
times its distance from the fulcrum,
otherwise known as the
lever arm.
Beetling along
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled vibro-beetle
› 3 x AAA baeries or 3 x AAA rechargeable baeries
HERE’S HOW
1. Start by following the assembly instructions for your
vibro-beetle. You will find the instructions on the
following pages.
2. Remove the beetle’s legs and open the cover on the
underside of the vibrating motor. Insert the baeries in
the direction indicated in the compartments. Then
replace the cover and reaach the legs.
3. Slide the switch on the underside of the vibrating motor
in one direction or the other. Bend the legs so that they
are pointed the same way on both sides and so they
touch the ground. Does the beetle start crawling off
right away?
WHAT’S HAPPENING
4. Watch how the beetle moves across the ground. Next,
try changing the position of the legs. Bend all three legs
on one side upward. Does the beetle move differently
now?
If the beetle’s legs are pointed in the same direction on both the right and left sides, the insect’s center of gravity
will lie precisely in the center (in other words, right in the middle of the vibrating motor). If you bend the legs in a
different direction on just one side, the center of gravity shifts to another location. Any object will have a center
of gravity, which is the location where its weight is equal on all sides.
VIBROBEETLE
1 97
1 x
13
8 x 12 x 6 x
4 x
1
1 x 1 x
15
18
2
x
4
20
3
x
5
6
Done!
TIP!
Press down on your beetle
until its non-skid sole is
resting firmly on the ground.
EXPERIMENT 4
Vibration Technology
Here’s where things get
colorful …
YOU WILL NEED
› Box of opaque (gouache) paints
› Brush
› Paper
› Water
› Paper towels
› Old clothes
› Clean, empty yogurt container
DID YOU KNOW ?
These primary colors are also used in
printing. The color model used here is
also known as the CMYK model, with
the leer standing for the various
colors, as follows:
C = cyan (bluish-green)
M = magenta (reddish-pink)
Y = yellow
The K stands for “key,” and is used to
refer to the black portion.
Take a look at the pictures below to
see some of the many
ways that colors are
used.
HERE’S HOW
1. For this experiment, it would be best to find a place that
can handle a lile abuse, and wear old clothes.
2. Find the color yellow in your box of paints, and use your
brush to paint a yellow circle on the sheet of paper. You
will want to paint the subsequent colors while the
paints are still wet.
3. Wash out the brush and dip it in the blue paint. Paint a
blue circle next to the yellow one, but make sure it
overlaps the yellow one a lile. Look at the color that is
created where the two circles overlap each other.
4. Again, wash the brush out well, take the red color, and
paint a red circle overlapping both the yellow and the
blue one. What new colors do you see in the areas
where the circles overlap?
5. Now, let’s go! Assemble your own painting robot. You
will find the instructions on the following pages.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
You probably know what it’s like when you have to
mix different paint colors because the one you
wanted wasn’t in the paint box. You just did the
same thing here. The basic colors you started with
in this case are called primary colors. Just these
three are enough to mix together all the other
colors of the rainbow.
PAINTING ROBOT
1 4 5 6
1 x
8 9
2 x 4 x 1 x
1 x 1 x
1
7
4 x
13 18 20
7 x 8 x 6 x
x
32
Vibration Technology
4
5
TIP!
Insert the baeries in the robot
and switch it on. Then set the
robot on a large sheet of paper
and place one or two colored
pencils or felt-tip pens in his
hand. You will soon have lots of
fun abstract images.
TIP!
Your robot will
operate best on a
smooth surface that
can take a lile
abuse.
Done!
EXPERIMENT 5
How does a plate
compactor work?
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled plate compactor
› 3 x AAA baeries or 3 x AAA rechargeable baeries
› Different surfaces (hard and soft)
HERE’S HOW
1. Start by following the assembly instructions for your
plate compactor. You will find the instructions on the
following pages.
2.
Open the cover on the vibrating motor. That’s how you
get to the baery compartments.
3. Insert the baeries into their compartments as
indicated. Then replace the cover.
4. Push the vibrating motor switch in one direction or the
other.
5. Set the plate compactor on a hard surface, such as a
tabletop, while holding tight to the handle. What
happens to the plate compactor?
6. Now try testing the plate compactor on a soft surface.
Try the maress on your bed, for example. How does the
plate compactor behave now?
WHAT’S HAPPENING
If you let the plate compactor do its work on a
hard surface, it really jumps up and down. The
ground offers firm resistance, which throws back
the force of the compactor. If, on the other hand,
the surface is soft, it absorbs the force of the
blows and gives way. So the plate compactor
works best on a hard surface.
KEYWORD:
ROADWORK IN PROGRESS
Caution, construction zone! You have
probably seen plate compactors in use by
street construction crews in the process of
laying paving stones or building roads.
Plate compactors briefly rise off the
ground and then come crashing down
again, compressing the earth or tar
beneath them or making the paving
stones stay firmly in place. Sometimes,
the workers will first hammer the stones
into position by hand.
PLATE COMPACTOR
Vibration Technology
1 13
1 x
18
2 x
3 x
19
2 x
15
2 x
20
4 x
1 2 3
x
TIP!
Do not use the plate
compactor outside,
because sand or dirt could
get into the vibrating
motor and impair its
function.
4
Done!
EXPERIMENT 6
What do shaking and
exercise have in common?
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled exercise machine
› A few anchor pins and whatever bars you like
› 3 x AAA baeries or 3 x AAA rechargeable baeries
› A few small stones in a bag
HERE’S HOW
1. Build your own exercise machine! You will find the
instructions on the following page.
2. Open the cover on the vibrating motor. That’s how you
get to the baery compartments.
TIP!
Your exercise
machine will work
best on a large,
smooth surface.
3. Insert the baeries as indicated inside the
compartments and replace the cover.
4. Stick the bars together however you like, mount them
on the vibrating motor, and switch on the vibrating
motor. What happens to the bars?
5. Now place the bag with the pebbles on the motor. What
happens to it?
WHAT’S HAPPENING
In this experiment, you will clearly see how the
vibrations move upward from the motor and
become transferred to whatever objects are on
top of it. The heavier the objects, the less they
vibrate. Just be careful not to let them fall off the
motor platform.
KEYWORD: VIBRATION TRAINER
Can you really get into shape just by shaking? Of course! A lot of exercise
gyms have vibration trainers. Simply get on, hold tight, and off you go! You
can select how much you want the
machine to vibrate, based on your
weight and training goals. The
vibrations are conveyed to the
muscles in your body and work to
strengthen them. That’s how you
can turn a vibrating motor into an
exercise machine.
1 13
Vibration Technology
EXERCISE MACHINE
1 x
18
2 x
3 x
19
2 x
1 2
20
5 x
3
Done!
4
EXPERIMENT 7
TIP!
Your ice skater will
glide best on a large,
Time to start
smooth surface.
ice skating!
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled ice skater
› 3 x AAA baeries or 3 x AAA rechargeable baeries
HERE’S HOW
1. Start by assembling the ice skater. You will find
instructions on the following pages.
2. Remove the side section of the ice skater and open the
cover on the underside of the vibrating motor.
3. Insert the baeries as indicated inside the
compartments. Then replace the cover and reaach the
side section.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
4. Do you think your ice skater can skate even though the
vibrating motor is oriented vertically?
5. Try it! Slide the switch on the side of the vibrating motor
in one direction or the other. Does your ice skater skate
away?
6. In what direction does he skate? What happens if you
slide the switch in the other direction?
Even when the vibrating motor is installed
vertically, the vibrations spread to all the
components and the ice skater moves. On a
smooth surface, your model will move like a real
ice skater. And you can even make him move
right or left by switching the direction that the
swing arm turns.
DID YOU KNOW ?
The first ice skating blades that people tried strapping under their feet were made
out of animal bones! These days, metal blades are more popular. The invention of ice
skating had nothing to do with having fun or playing a sport. It was simply conceived
as a way to get around. Since then, lots of sports have been invented that use ice
skates: ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating, for example. Some countries
even hold ice-skating marathons! In Sweden, this race is known as “Vikingarännet”
(“The Viking Run”), and it covers over km from Uppsala to Stockholm.
ICE SKATER
1 2 3 4 5
Vibration Technology
1
1 x
6
4 x
1 x
1 x 1 x 2 x 4 x
7 13
2 x
14
16
1 x
11
1 x
17
2 x
12
1 x
18
4 x 12 x
4 x
20
2
x
3
11
12
ICE SKATER
4
5
Done!
CHECK IT OUT
Mars Rovers …
Vibration Technology
… come in large and small sizes. They often
have fun names that are meant to express the
spirit of human exploration. On the left, you
see “Spirit,” “Sojourner” is in the middle, and
“Curiosity” is on the right. “Spirit” spent 6
years exploring Mars! “Curiosity” is the
newcomer: It only landed on the Martian
surface on August 6, 2012.
DID YOU KNOW?
What looks like a construction site is actually a
plate compactor race. This contest is held every
year in Eddelak, Germany. With a plate
compactor in tow, each participant has to travel
along a -meter course — across hills, barriers,
high-speed straightaways, sand, and gravel. The
winner gets to call himself champ!
SMALL, BUT POWERFUL!
Plate compactors also
come in small sizes.
The lile ones are called
vibratory rammers, and
are used to pack the
ground in areas where
there is not much space.
Your arms
and legs are
levers too.
LEVERAGE
You will find levers all over the place, some hidden and some
in plain sight, in everyday life: door handles, the pedals of
your bicycle, a pair of pliers, to name a few. Your arms and
legs are levers too, of course.
A lever is a rigid body that can be rotated around an axis. It
can be any shape. Usually, it will be shaped like a rod. You
can use a lever to
amplify force. The end
of the lever on which
the force acts is called
the effort arm, while
the end used to lift a
load is called the
load arm.
load arm effort arm
x
application of force
point of application
of load
point of
CHECK IT OUT
Shaking in
space?
Plate compactors are even used for physical
training by astronauts in space! This kind of
training will become even more important in
the future, as astronauts take longer and
longer trips into space. A trip to Mars and
back can last more than 2 years. During that
time, the astronauts will be subjected to zero
gravity and their muscles won’t be bearing
any weight. That means that their muscles
WHY DO YOU GLIDE ON ICE?
When you go ice skating, you move the skates’
blades across the ice. The friction creates
heat. The ice beneath the blades melts and
forms a thin film of water. Due to the film of
water, the friction between blade and ice is
very low, so you can glide along effortlessly,
as if you were light as a feather.
will atrophy, or break down, without
training.
WONDERFULLY DIZZY…
Have you ever watched a figure skater spin in place? This
“figure” is called a pirouee. Often, an arm or leg is
extended out at the start of the spin, and then pulled in tight
to the body. That makes the mass shift closer to the axis of
rotation, which runs vertically through the middle of the
figure skater’s body.
In terms of physics, you would say that the body is no
longer so “inert.” That makes the speed of rotation increase
and the figure skater spin faster and faster.
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