How Does It Happen?

Bucket Experiment

On Tuesday Hoiho class did Jacob's Wonder Brick. The Wonder was "How does water stay in a bucket when you swing it around?" First we got some people to swing the bucket around with the water in it.

Patrick and Aria got a bit wet because the bucket hit their leg when they were swinging it around.

The water stays in the bucket because the water swinging around in a circle gets a force, which makes the water want to fly outwards. If you swing the bucket around fast enough this force will be greater than the force of gravity so it won’t spill.

By Lawson and Sam

The amazing water and bucket trick!

On Tuesday, Hoiho went outside to do a "bucket" experiment. We filled the bucket up about half way with water, and if you spin the bucket around your head so your arm just touches your ear, the water will not fall out! 

The water stayed in the bucket because of centrifugal force. The bucket is what stops the water from flying outwards. Without the centrifugal force, you would expect for the water to fall out of the bucket because of gravity!

(Phew, thank goodness for centrifugal force!) But if you fill it to the brim, some of the water will come out while you are getting it up to speed!

By Finn, Patrick, and Josh.