The blog is a part of the WebTA project for the McGill University Physics 102 class on Electricity and Magnetism. A link to the static site containing examples, explanations, etc. can be found in the sidebar.
14 February 2008
Not related to electromagnetism, but some good clean Physics Phun
Professor of Physics at MIT Peter Fisher helps Conan O'Brien with the ring spin record...
I just had to share when I saw this.
Edit: Why do you think too much vaseline would be a bad thing for the ring spin? Discuss...
Yes, I think that's more or less what the problem would be. If you have TOO much vaseline, then the ring has to move THROUGH it (instead of over it), and it acts like a viscous medium increasing the energy lost from rotation again.
Just a thought.. wouldn't too much vaseline act like mud and actually increase the surface friction?
ReplyDeleteHaha good find.
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that's more or less what the problem would be. If you have TOO much vaseline, then the ring has to move THROUGH it (instead of over it), and it acts like a viscous medium increasing the energy lost from rotation again.
Just a random thought, if you had the Teflon and the vaccum pump, wouldn't it be even better?
ReplyDeleteYup. Whether or not it would make a significant difference is another story maybe. :)
ReplyDelete