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Students Build 3-D Spinners To Test Physics Concepts

Students Build 3-D Spinners To Test Physics Concepts

From Morgan Brown, Physics Teacher: The Physics class designed, built, and tested spinners to complement our study of 2D motion, rotation, and torque. The spinners are a direct example of what we’ve learned, because the force you apply to the edge causes a torque which gives an angular acceleration that makes them spin. Students researched the base physics concepts as well as the specifics of what makes a spinner stay balanced and spin as long as possible. They also got additional practice with 3D modeling and 3D printing to create the spinners. The results were amazing, with the winning spinner, created by Andre E. '26, lasting for over 2 minutes! We also had aesthetics winner Kaia B, '26, who decorated her top to look like a spinning ballerina to pay homage to her background as a dancer. These spinners are a great update to the old-fashioned wooden "spinning top" toys that have been around for hundreds of years, and it was exciting to transform them into a modern device to learn and apply Physics concepts in a whole new format.

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