In the book Surely You Are Joking, Mr. Feynman! Richard Feynman tells a story of a Cornell cafeteria plate being tossed into the air. As the plate spun, it wobbled. Feynman noticed a relation between the two motions. He solved the motion of the plate by using the Lagrangian approach. This solution didn’t satisfy him. He wanted to understand the motion of the plate by analyzing the motion of its individual particles and the forces acting on them. He was successful, but he didn’t tell us how he did it. We provide an elementary explanation for the two-to-one ratio of wobble to spin frequencies, based on an analysis of the motion of the particles and the forces acting on them. We also demonstrate the power of numerical simulation and computer animation to provide insight into a physical phenomenon and guidance on how to do the analysis.
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March 2007
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March 01 2007
Feynman’s wobbling plate
Slavomir Tuleja;
Slavomir Tuleja
a)
Gymnazium arm. gen. L. Svobodu
, Komenskeho 4, 066 51 Humenne, Slovakia
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Boris Gazovic;
Boris Gazovic
Gymnazium arm. gen. L. Svobodu
, Komenskeho 4, 066 51 Humenne, Slovakia
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Alexander Tomori;
Alexander Tomori
Gymnazium arm. gen. L. Svobodu
, Komenskeho 4, 066 51 Humenne, Slovakia
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Jozef Hanc
Jozef Hanc
b)
Institute of Physics,
P. J. Safarik University in Kosice
, Park Angelinum 9, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
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Am. J. Phys. 75, 240–244 (2007)
Article history
Received:
June 17 2005
Accepted:
November 03 2006
Connected Content
A correction has been published:
Erratum: “Feynman’s wobbling plate” [Am. J. Phys. 75 (3), 240–244 (2007)]
Citation
Slavomir Tuleja, Boris Gazovic, Alexander Tomori, Jozef Hanc; Feynman’s wobbling plate. Am. J. Phys. 1 March 2007; 75 (3): 240–244. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2402156
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