Video: Demonstration of the Butterfly Center of Gravity Experiment

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Watch a demonstration of the center of gravity experiment in this free home science video.

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Video Transcript

Hi I'm Scott Thompson, and today I'm going to demonstrate a center of gravity activity using balancing butterflies. Center of gravity could be demonstrated quickly with some inexpensive supplies. I call this the magic center of gravity box: it looks just like a regular shoebox, but you can take it into a classroom after you did what you had to do to it—and we will talk about that—and surprise a student by how you can lean that all over the edge of a desk or a table and still have it stay upright; and because they can't see inside the box, they are usually pretty surprised. After you have shown them the balancing effect, show them what is inside; and you have prepared it ahead of time by placing a stone or a brick way to one corner inside, and that allows it to balance. It is all because the center gravity has been shifted.

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Demonstration of the Butterfly Center of Gravity Experiment

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