Posted by Joel L. Lewis (24.197.38.131) on May 23, 2003 at 08:47:02:
In Reply to: Re: Man oh man, I REALLY think I've got it!!! posted by Darren on May 21, 2003 at 15:29:09:
But...I actually TESTED this one(recently bought a set of......K'NEX!:-D Hey, the parts are cheap, functional, and easy to mannipulate!)since my last reply, over the weekend-the lower weight overballanced. I also made sure that the lever itself was ballanced and assured myself that weight of the string, or in this case shoelace, was not a significant factor. Since you can't argue with experiment, I think you're missing some torque somewhere....
: :So, would the same hold true if it's two equal equidistant weights on a lever, but one hanging some inches down? I think at least in that case, the lower weight overbalances, but I'm not sore of the relevent torques involved.
:
: They would balance.
: Think about what you just described... It would be an old fashioned set of balance scales like lady justice holds... right? Or, since they hang down at diferent distances, maybe a better example would be a child's mobile hanging above a crib... the dangling objects are at different heights but they still balance each other. One side of the first (top) obile part has one large ball weighing 1kg hanging from it and the other side has multiple mobile parts with multiple levels of other parts and balls, all totalling 1 kg in weight, haging from it... the multiple parts and balls all dangle down much farther than the other side, the single ball, but it all balances.
: Darren