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Veritasium
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5 fun physics phenomena
The first video presents five physics phenomena:
1. Centre of mass
2. Flipping a phone
3. Static electricity deflecting water
4. Magnetic cereals
5. Tea bag rocket
Explanations are given in the second video:
1.The finger nearest the centre of mass will also have the greatest frictional force and this adjusts the relative motion.
2.A phone has 3 axes of rotation. The long and short have the maximum and minimum moment of inertia. The intermediate axis will be unstable if not aligned perfectly and flip between long and short rotations.
3.Cereals may contain iron and so be attracted by a magnet, yet even non-magnetic materials show this phenomenon. This is because water is diamagnetic and so creates its own opposing magnetic field. This repulsion depresses the water and objects move into the dip that is made.
4.The attraction between static electricity is due to dissolved ions rather than the dipolar nature of water.
5. As the tea bag burns the air inside expands. This is pushed up, along with the tea bag ashes, by the cooler air surrounding it.
5 fun physics phenomena explained
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