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Fidget Spinner Physics

Fidget Spinners


What makes these toys so fun to play with and spin? There is physics behind this answer. First of all, the reason why the spinner keeps on spinning has to do with inertia, friction, and ball bearing that make up the fidget spinner. There are different kinds of inertia. There is inertia for a linear motion such as pushing a toy car across the floor. There is also the inertia of a rotating object such as a fidget spinner. There are factors that affect the inertia of the spinner. These include the distribution of weight from the axis of where the rotation is originating and the weight of the entire object. 
The above equations involve the moment of inertia for a rotating object. The first involves a rotational force that affects angular momentum. The second is the equation for angular momentum with the factors of inertia and angular velocity. The other components of the fidget spinner are the fiction and the ball bearings. Since there is less friction with a rolling movement rather than a sliding movement, there are ball bearings that allow the fidget spinner to spin. The ball bearings are placed at the center of the spinner where there center of mass is for the object. The other protruding parts of the spinner are simply there to add weight so that the spinner continues to spin longer. Surprisingly enough, there is a lot physics in these little toys. 

https://www.livescience.com/58963-how-fidget-spinners-work-physics.html

https://www.wired.com/2017/05/physics-of-a-fidget-spinner/

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