exploratorium

Exhibits

PHENOMENA

Conservation of Angular Momentum

Bicycle Wheel Gyro

Tilt a spinning bicycle wheel while you’re sitting in a swivel chair and—surprise—you’ll start spinning in circles, too. You can also witness the same phenomenon here by hanging a spinning wheel from its axle.

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started
Chaotic Pendulum

When you set these pendulums swinging, the motion of each one affects the others.

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started
Turntable

Experiment with rotational motion (and collisions) here at one of our most addictive exhibits. Disks and balls moving on and across this spinning table swoop and veer hypnotically—and also reveal why storm systems often follow curved paths on weather maps.

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started
Vortex

A twist of a knob sets water jets in motion, causing water in this giant cylindrical tank to spin. Soon, a tiny vortex appears at the surface, gradually swelling in size as it snakes downward.

Where:   Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine