1 0:00:00 --> 00:00:06 2 00:00:01 --> 00:00:07 Today we will discuss 3 00:00:04 --> 00:00:10 what we call "uniform circular motion." 4 00:00:14 --> 00:00:20 What is uniform circular motion? 5 00:00:16 --> 00:00:22 An object goes around in a circle, has radius r 6 00:00:25 --> 00:00:31 and the object is here. 7 00:00:28 --> 00:00:34 This is the velocity. 8 00:00:30 --> 00:00:36 It's a vector, perpendicular. 9 00:00:34 --> 00:00:40 And later in time when the object is here 10 00:00:40 --> 00:00:46 the velocity has changed, but the speed has not changed. 11 00:00:45 --> 00:00:51 We introduce T, what we call the period-- 12 00:00:50 --> 00:00:56 of course it's in seconds-- 13 00:00:53 --> 00:00:59 which is the time to go around once. 14 00:00:56 --> 00:01:02 We introduce the frequency, f, which we call the frequency 15 00:01:03 --> 00:01:09 which is the number of rotations per second. 16 00:01:08 --> 00:01:14 And so the units are either seconds minus one 17 00:01:11 --> 00:01:17 or, as most physicists will call it, "hertz" 18 00:01:15 --> 00:01:21 and so frequency is one divided by T. 19 00:01:21 --> 00:01:27 We also introduce angular velocity, omega 20 00:01:29 --> 00:01:35 which we call angular velocity. 21 00:01:34 --> 00:01:40 Angular velocity means not how many meters per second 22 00:01:39 --> 00:01:45 but how many radians per second. 23 00:01:42 --> 00:01:48 So since there are two pi radians in one circumference-- 24 00:01:48 --> 00:01:54 in one full circle-- 25 00:01:50 --> 00:01:56 and it takes T seconds to go around once 26 00:01:54 --> 00:02:00 it is immediately obvious 27 00:01:55 --> 00:02:01 that omega equals two pi divided by T. 28 00:02:01 --> 00:02:07 This is something that I would like you to remember. 29 00:02:04 --> 00:02:10 Omega equals two pi divided by T-- 30 00:02:10 --> 00:02:16 two pi radians in capital T seconds. 31 00:02:15 --> 00:02:21 The speed, v, is, of course, the circumference two pi r 32 00:02:23 --> 00:02:29 divided by the time to go around once 33 00:02:25 --> 00:02:31 but since two pi divided by T is omega 34 00:02:28 --> 00:02:34 you can also write for this "omega r." 35 00:02:31 --> 00:02:37 And this is also something that I want you to remember. 36 00:02:35 --> 00:02:41 These two things you really want to remember. 37 00:02:39 --> 00:02:45 The speed is not changing, but the velocity vector is changing. 38 00:02:45 --> 00:02:51 Therefore there must be an acceleration. 39 00:02:47 --> 00:02:53 That is non-negotiable. 40 00:02:51 --> 00:02:57 You can derive what that acceleration must be 41 00:02:54 --> 00:03:00 in terms of magnitude and in terms of direction. 42 00:02:56 --> 00:03:02 It's about a five, six minutes derivation. 43 00:02:59 --> 00:03:05 You'll find it in your book. 44 00:03:01 --> 00:03:07 I have decided to give you the results 45 00:03:03 --> 00:03:09 so that you read up on the book 46 00:03:05 --> 00:03:11 so that we can more talk about the physics 47 00:03:09 --> 00:03:15 rather than on the derivation. 48 00:03:12 --> 00:03:18 This acceleration that is necessary 49 00:03:14 --> 00:03:20 to make the change in the velocity vector 50 00:03:16 --> 00:03:22 is always pointing towards the center of the circle. 51 00:03:21 --> 00:03:27 We call it "centripetal acceleration." 52 00:03:25 --> 00:03:31 53 00:03:28 --> 00:03:34 Centripetal, pointing towards the center. 54 00:03:33 --> 00:03:39 And here, also pointing towards the center. 55 00:03:36 --> 00:03:42 It's a vector. 56 00:03:38 --> 00:03:44 And the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration 57 00:03:44 --> 00:03:50 equals v squared divided by r, which is this v 58 00:03:48 --> 00:03:54 and therefore it's also omega squared r. 59 00:03:52 --> 00:03:58 And so now we have three equations 60 00:03:56 --> 00:04:02 and those are the only three you really would like to remember. 61 00:04:02 --> 00:04:08 We can have a simple example. 62 00:04:05 --> 00:04:11 Let's have a vacuum cleaner, which has a rotor inside 63 00:04:11 --> 00:04:17 which scoops the air out or in, whichever way you look at it. 64 00:04:15 --> 00:04:21 And let's assume that the vacuum cleaner 65 00:04:17 --> 00:04:23 these scoops have a radius r of about ten centimeters 66 00:04:21 --> 00:04:27 and that it goes around 600 revolutions per minute, 600 rpm. 67 00:04:28 --> 00:04:34 600 rpm would translate into a frequency, f, of 10 Hz 68 00:04:35 --> 00:04:41 so it would translate into a period 69 00:04:37 --> 00:04:43 going around in one-tenth of a second. 70 00:04:42 --> 00:04:48 So omega, angular velocity, which is two pi divided by T 71 00:04:50 --> 00:04:56 is then approximately 63 radians per second 72 00:04:58 --> 00:05:04 and the speed, v, equals omega r 73 00:05:03 --> 00:05:09 is then roughly 6.3 meters per second. 74 00:05:09 --> 00:05:15 The centripetal acceleration-- and that's really my goal-- 75 00:05:13 --> 00:05:19 the centripetal acceleration would be omega squared r 76 00:05:18 --> 00:05:24 or if you prefer, you can take v squared over r. 77 00:05:20 --> 00:05:26 You will get the same answer, of course, and you will find 78 00:05:23 --> 00:05:29 that that is about 400 meters per second squared. 79 00:05:29 --> 00:05:35 And that is huge. 80 00:05:30 --> 00:05:36 That is 40 times the acceleration due to gravity. 81 00:05:34 --> 00:05:40 It's a phenomenal acceleration, the simple vacuum cleaner. 82 00:05:39 --> 00:05:45 Notice that the acceleration, the centripetal acceleration 83 00:05:43 --> 00:05:49 is linear in r. 84 00:05:45 --> 00:05:51 Don't think that it is inversely proportional with r. 85 00:05:48 --> 00:05:54 That's a mistake, because v itself is a function of r. 86 00:05:52 --> 00:05:58 If you were sitting here 87 00:05:54 --> 00:06:00 then your velocity would be lower. 88 00:05:56 --> 00:06:02 Since omega is the same for the entire motion 89 00:06:02 --> 00:06:08 you really have to look at this equation 90 00:06:03 --> 00:06:09 and you see that the centripetal acceleration 91 00:06:05 --> 00:06:11 is proportional with r. 92 00:06:07 --> 00:06:13 Therefore, if you were... 93 00:06:09 --> 00:06:15 if this were a disc which was rotating 94 00:06:11 --> 00:06:17 and you were at the center of the disc 95 00:06:13 --> 00:06:19 the centripetal acceleration would be zero. 96 00:06:16 --> 00:06:22 And as you were to walk out, further out, it would increase. 97 00:06:21 --> 00:06:27 Now, the acceleration must be caused by something. 98 00:06:25 --> 00:06:31 There is no such thing as a free lunch. 99 00:06:28 --> 00:06:34 There is something that must be responsible 100 00:06:31 --> 00:06:37 for the change in this velocity 101 00:06:34 --> 00:06:40 and that something I will call either a pull 102 00:06:37 --> 00:06:43 or I will call it a push. 103 00:06:40 --> 00:06:46 In our next lecture, when we deal with Newton's laws 104 00:06:43 --> 00:06:49 we will introduce the word "force." 105 00:06:45 --> 00:06:51 Today we will only deal with the words "pull" and "push." 106 00:06:50 --> 00:06:56 So there must be a pull or a push. 107 00:06:55 --> 00:07:01 Imagine that this is a turntable 108 00:06:58 --> 00:07:04 and you are sitting here on the turntable on a chair. 109 00:07:04 --> 00:07:10 It's going around with angular velocity omega 110 00:07:07 --> 00:07:13 and your distance to the center, let's say, is little r. 111 00:07:12 --> 00:07:18 You're sitting on this chair and you must experience-- 112 00:07:16 --> 00:07:22 that is non-negotiable-- centripetal acceleration 113 00:07:24 --> 00:07:30 A of c, which is omega squared times r. 114 00:07:28 --> 00:07:34 Where do you get it from? 115 00:07:29 --> 00:07:35 Well, if your seat is bolted to the turntable 116 00:07:35 --> 00:07:41 then you will feel a push in your back 117 00:07:38 --> 00:07:44 so you're sitting on this thing, you're going around 118 00:07:41 --> 00:07:47 and you will feel that the seat is pushing you in your back 119 00:07:44 --> 00:07:50 and so you feel a push, and that gives the push out. 120 00:07:50 --> 00:07:56 Yeah, I can give this a red color for now. 121 00:07:53 --> 00:07:59 So you feel a push in your back. 122 00:07:57 --> 00:08:03 That push, apparently, is necessary for the acceleration. 123 00:08:03 --> 00:08:09 Alternatively, suppose you had in front of you a stick. 124 00:08:07 --> 00:08:13 You're not sitting on a chair. 125 00:08:09 --> 00:08:15 You don't get a push from your back. 126 00:08:11 --> 00:08:17 But you hold onto the stick 127 00:08:13 --> 00:08:19 and now you can go around by holding onto the stick. 128 00:08:17 --> 00:08:23 Now the stick is pulling on you in this same direction. 129 00:08:21 --> 00:08:27 So now you would say, aha, someone is pulling on you. 130 00:08:25 --> 00:08:31 Whether it is the pull or whether it is the push 131 00:08:27 --> 00:08:33 one of... either one of the two 132 00:08:29 --> 00:08:35 is necessary for you to go around in that circle 133 00:08:34 --> 00:08:40 on that turntable with that constant speed. 134 00:08:39 --> 00:08:45 135 00:08:43 --> 00:08:49 Now, the classic question comes up, which we often ask to people 136 00:08:47 --> 00:08:53 who have no scientific background. 137 00:08:49 --> 00:08:55 If you were to go around like this 138 00:08:52 --> 00:08:58 and something is either pushing on you 139 00:08:54 --> 00:09:00 or is pulling on you to make this possible 140 00:08:56 --> 00:09:02 suppose you took that push out, all of a sudden. 141 00:08:59 --> 00:09:05 The pull is gone. 142 00:09:00 --> 00:09:06 (makes whooshing sound ) 143 00:09:02 --> 00:09:08 What is now the motion of the person 144 00:09:04 --> 00:09:10 who is sitting on the turntable? 145 00:09:06 --> 00:09:12 And many non-scientists say, "Well, it will do like this." 146 00:09:11 --> 00:09:17 That's sort of what your intuition says. 147 00:09:13 --> 00:09:19 You go around in a circle, and all of a sudden 148 00:09:15 --> 00:09:21 you no longer have the pull or the push 149 00:09:17 --> 00:09:23 and you go around in a spiral 150 00:09:19 --> 00:09:25 and obviously, that is not the case. 151 00:09:23 --> 00:09:29 What will happen is, if you have, at this moment in time 152 00:09:27 --> 00:09:33 a velocity in this direction 153 00:09:29 --> 00:09:35 and you take the pull or the push out 154 00:09:32 --> 00:09:38 you will start flying off in that direction 155 00:09:34 --> 00:09:40 and depending upon whether there is gravity or no gravity 156 00:09:38 --> 00:09:44 there may be a change, 157 00:09:39 --> 00:09:45 but if this were... if there were no gravity 158 00:09:42 --> 00:09:48 you would just continue to go along that line 159 00:09:44 --> 00:09:50 and you would not make this crazy spiral motion. 160 00:09:47 --> 00:09:53 I have here a disc, which we will rotate 161 00:09:51 --> 00:09:57 and at the end... the edge of the disc here 162 00:09:53 --> 00:09:59 we have a little ball. 163 00:09:55 --> 00:10:01 And the ball is attached to that disc with string. 164 00:10:00 --> 00:10:06 So now this is vertical, and so this is going to go around 165 00:10:03 --> 00:10:09 with angular velocity omega. 166 00:10:06 --> 00:10:12 And we have a string here 167 00:10:08 --> 00:10:14 and the string is attached to this ball 168 00:10:11 --> 00:10:17 and the whole thing is going around 169 00:10:14 --> 00:10:20 and so at one moment in time this has a velocity, like so. 170 00:10:19 --> 00:10:25 And therefore there must be 171 00:10:21 --> 00:10:27 non-negotiable centripetal acceleration 172 00:10:24 --> 00:10:30 which in magnitude is omega squared r 173 00:10:28 --> 00:10:34 or, if you want to, v squared divided by r. 174 00:10:31 --> 00:10:37 175 00:10:34 --> 00:10:40 Now I cut it 176 00:10:37 --> 00:10:43 and that's like taking away the push and the pull. 177 00:10:40 --> 00:10:46 The string that you have here 178 00:10:42 --> 00:10:48 is providing the pull on this ball. 179 00:10:45 --> 00:10:51 This ball is feeling a pull from the string 180 00:10:49 --> 00:10:55 and that provides it with the centripetal acceleration. 181 00:10:52 --> 00:10:58 Cut the string and the pull is gone 182 00:10:57 --> 00:11:03 and the object will take off. 183 00:11:00 --> 00:11:06 And if there were gravity here, as there is in 26.100 184 00:11:03 --> 00:11:09 it would become a parabola and it would end up here. 185 00:11:06 --> 00:11:12 If, however, I cut the ball exactly when it is here-- 186 00:11:11 --> 00:11:17 not the ball, but I cut the string-- 187 00:11:12 --> 00:11:18 then, of course, it would fly straight up 188 00:11:16 --> 00:11:22 gravity would act on it, it would come to a halt 189 00:11:19 --> 00:11:25 and it would come back. 190 00:11:20 --> 00:11:26 So it really would then go along a straight line. 191 00:11:22 --> 00:11:28 But you would clearly see, then 192 00:11:25 --> 00:11:31 that it's not going to do what many people think-- 193 00:11:27 --> 00:11:33 that it would start to swirl around. 194 00:11:29 --> 00:11:35 It would just go... (makes whooshing sound ) 195 00:11:31 --> 00:11:37 and comes back. 196 00:11:32 --> 00:11:38 Let's look at that. 197 00:11:33 --> 00:11:39 We have that here. 198 00:11:35 --> 00:11:41 So here is that ball. 199 00:11:36 --> 00:11:42 The string is behind here; you cannot see the string. 200 00:11:39 --> 00:11:45 I will rotate it, wait for it to pick up a little speed 201 00:11:45 --> 00:11:51 and the knife, that you can't see either, is behind here 202 00:11:49 --> 00:11:55 and when I push the knife in, I do it exactly here. 203 00:11:53 --> 00:11:59 It cuts the string and it goes up. 204 00:11:59 --> 00:12:05 You ready for this? 205 00:12:01 --> 00:12:07 You sure you're ready? 206 00:12:03 --> 00:12:09 Three, two, one, zero. 207 00:12:06 --> 00:12:12 Wow! 208 00:12:08 --> 00:12:14 That was very high. 209 00:12:09 --> 00:12:15 So you see, it's nothing like this. 210 00:12:11 --> 00:12:17 It simply continued on in the direction that it was going. 211 00:12:15 --> 00:12:21 It wasn't going into a parabola 212 00:12:16 --> 00:12:22 because I was shooting it straight up. 213 00:12:19 --> 00:12:25 214 00:12:22 --> 00:12:28 The string forms the connection 215 00:12:26 --> 00:12:32 between the rotating disc and the ball 216 00:12:29 --> 00:12:35 and therefore, the pull is responsible 217 00:12:32 --> 00:12:38 for the centripetal acceleration. 218 00:12:35 --> 00:12:41 Let's now think about planets. 219 00:12:39 --> 00:12:45 Planets go around the sun. 220 00:12:41 --> 00:12:47 There's no string, so who is pushing? Who is pulling? 221 00:12:48 --> 00:12:54 Well, it's clear that it must be gravity. 222 00:12:52 --> 00:12:58 It must be the sun that is pulling on the planets. 223 00:12:58 --> 00:13:04 Now, I realize that the orbits of planets 224 00:13:00 --> 00:13:06 are not nicely circular 225 00:13:02 --> 00:13:08 so it's not really a uniform circular motion. 226 00:13:04 --> 00:13:10 We will deal with orbits in great detail in a few weeks-- 227 00:13:08 --> 00:13:14 circular orbits and elliptical orbits. 228 00:13:10 --> 00:13:16 Let us just assume for simplicity now 229 00:13:13 --> 00:13:19 that the orbits are roughly circular 230 00:13:17 --> 00:13:23 just to get a little bit of feeling for it. 231 00:13:20 --> 00:13:26 And you can look up now in your book-- 232 00:13:22 --> 00:13:28 which I did for you-- 233 00:13:24 --> 00:13:30 even in your preliminary version you can look up 234 00:13:27 --> 00:13:33 what the mean distance of the planets is to the sun 235 00:13:33 --> 00:13:39 and you can look up what the period is 236 00:13:36 --> 00:13:42 the time to go around the sun. 237 00:13:38 --> 00:13:44 The time to go around the sun is not the same for all planets. 238 00:13:42 --> 00:13:48 The planets are not attached to a turntable. 239 00:13:45 --> 00:13:51 Anywhere, any person on a turntable 240 00:13:47 --> 00:13:53 would go around in the same amount of time. 241 00:13:49 --> 00:13:55 We know that that's not true for planets. 242 00:13:51 --> 00:13:57 It takes the Earth a year to go around the sun. 243 00:13:55 --> 00:14:01 It takes Jupiter 12 years to go around 244 00:13:57 --> 00:14:03 so don't make the mistake to think 245 00:13:59 --> 00:14:05 that omega is the same for all planets. 246 00:14:01 --> 00:14:07 That's not true. 247 00:14:04 --> 00:14:10 So I look up the distance-- 248 00:14:08 --> 00:14:14 the mean distance to these various planets-- 249 00:14:12 --> 00:14:18 and you see that here in millions of kilometers. 250 00:14:16 --> 00:14:22 Notice that Mercury is about 100 times closer than Pluto. 251 00:14:21 --> 00:14:27 By the way, this is on the Web, so don't copy this. 252 00:14:23 --> 00:14:29 You will find this on the 801 home page. 253 00:14:26 --> 00:14:32 Then I looked up 254 00:14:27 --> 00:14:33 how many years it takes to go around the sun-- 255 00:14:29 --> 00:14:35 12 years for Jupiter, one year for the Earth-- 256 00:14:32 --> 00:14:38 and I looked up all the other values. 257 00:14:34 --> 00:14:40 Then, since I know the periods, I can calculate omega. 258 00:14:38 --> 00:14:44 Omega is two pi divided by T, so I know omega. 259 00:14:42 --> 00:14:48 And then I take omega squared 260 00:14:44 --> 00:14:50 times the mean distance to the sun 261 00:14:46 --> 00:14:52 and this is, of course, the centripetal acceleration. 262 00:14:50 --> 00:14:56 So the planets experience this centripetal acceleration 263 00:14:54 --> 00:15:00 in some crazy units, but who cares about the units here? 264 00:14:57 --> 00:15:03 And notice that Mercury, which is 100 times closer than Pluto 265 00:15:02 --> 00:15:08 has a centripetal acceleration 266 00:15:06 --> 00:15:12 which is 10,000 times larger than Pluto. 267 00:15:11 --> 00:15:17 100 times closer 268 00:15:13 --> 00:15:19 has a 10,000 times larger centripetal acceleration. 269 00:15:17 --> 00:15:23 So what I did was 270 00:15:18 --> 00:15:24 I plotted this data, the centripetal acceleration 271 00:15:21 --> 00:15:27 versus the mean distance to the sun 272 00:15:24 --> 00:15:30 and I did that on log paper. 273 00:15:28 --> 00:15:34 And what immediately strikes... is very striking is 274 00:15:34 --> 00:15:40 that all these points-- I've done them for all the planets-- 275 00:15:38 --> 00:15:44 they fall on a straight line. 276 00:15:41 --> 00:15:47 And so what is the slope of that line? 277 00:15:44 --> 00:15:50 Well, I tried various slopes 278 00:15:47 --> 00:15:53 and I found that the slope is very, very close to minus two. 279 00:15:55 --> 00:16:01 Here is the slope of minus two, and I can overlay this 280 00:16:03 --> 00:16:09 and notice that the fit is absolutely stunning. 281 00:16:09 --> 00:16:15 Therefore, you cannot escape the conclusion 282 00:16:13 --> 00:16:19 that the centripetal acceleration 283 00:16:15 --> 00:16:21 which is the result of gravity, falls off as one over R squared. 284 00:16:22 --> 00:16:28 We refer to this, often, in physics 285 00:16:25 --> 00:16:31 as the "one over R square" law. 286 00:16:28 --> 00:16:34 And therefore, the effect of gravity itself 287 00:16:31 --> 00:16:37 must go down with R squared. 288 00:16:35 --> 00:16:41 So if you are 100 times further away 289 00:16:39 --> 00:16:45 like Pluto compared to Mercury 290 00:16:42 --> 00:16:48 then the gravitational... the centripetal acceleration 291 00:16:47 --> 00:16:53 which is due to gravity is 10,000 times smaller. 292 00:16:50 --> 00:16:56 293 00:16:53 --> 00:16:59 And we will learn a lot about gravity in the future. 294 00:16:56 --> 00:17:02 We will just leave it for now. 295 00:16:58 --> 00:17:04 If you took the sun away, it would be 296 00:17:00 --> 00:17:06 like cutting the string that provides the pull 297 00:17:04 --> 00:17:10 and in that case what you would see 298 00:17:07 --> 00:17:13 is that the planets would just take off along a straight line. 299 00:17:11 --> 00:17:17 They would continue to go. 300 00:17:14 --> 00:17:20 They wouldn't have anything to pull on them anymore. 301 00:17:18 --> 00:17:24 Now let's look at an object that we're going to rotate. 302 00:17:25 --> 00:17:31 I have a glass tube that I want to rotate 303 00:17:29 --> 00:17:35 and in the glass tube, I have a marble. 304 00:17:35 --> 00:17:41 The glass tube is very smooth. 305 00:17:38 --> 00:17:44 I have here the glass tube. 306 00:17:42 --> 00:17:48 Here's a marble. 307 00:17:46 --> 00:17:52 I'm going to rotate it in this direction 308 00:17:51 --> 00:17:57 say, with some angular velocity omega 309 00:17:53 --> 00:17:59 about an axis perpendicular to the blackboard. 310 00:17:56 --> 00:18:02 So the marble here has a velocity 311 00:18:02 --> 00:18:08 like so, at this moment in time 312 00:18:04 --> 00:18:10 but it's a very smooth glass tube 313 00:18:07 --> 00:18:13 and the marble is very smooth. 314 00:18:10 --> 00:18:16 The glass cannot push on the marble 315 00:18:13 --> 00:18:19 nor can the glass pull on the marble. 316 00:18:17 --> 00:18:23 Now, the marble gets desperate 317 00:18:18 --> 00:18:24 because the marble needs a centripetal acceleration 318 00:18:23 --> 00:18:29 in this direction in order to go around like this. 319 00:18:29 --> 00:18:35 But there is nothing to provide that centripetal acceleration. 320 00:18:33 --> 00:18:39 So the marble is doing exactly the same 321 00:18:35 --> 00:18:41 that the planets would do if you take the sun away. 322 00:18:38 --> 00:18:44 The marble continues to go in the direction that it was going. 323 00:18:42 --> 00:18:48 So by the time that the tube is here, the marble is here 324 00:18:50 --> 00:18:56 and by the time that the tube is here 325 00:18:54 --> 00:19:00 the marble is there. 326 00:18:56 --> 00:19:02 So the marble finds its way to the edge and that's, of course 327 00:19:00 --> 00:19:06 the basic idea behind a centrifuge. 328 00:19:07 --> 00:19:13 My grandmother had always... 329 00:19:09 --> 00:19:15 She was a great lady 330 00:19:10 --> 00:19:16 and she had such fantastic ideas, I remember. 331 00:19:13 --> 00:19:19 And when she made lettuce 332 00:19:17 --> 00:19:23 we had no good way of drying the lettuce 333 00:19:20 --> 00:19:26 and I would take the lettuce and go like this... paper towel. 334 00:19:26 --> 00:19:32 She had a method of her own. 335 00:19:29 --> 00:19:35 She took a colander and, of course, first of all 336 00:19:34 --> 00:19:40 we would wash the lettuce, that goes without saying. 337 00:19:37 --> 00:19:43 I would wash it once. 338 00:19:39 --> 00:19:45 My grandmother would wash it three times 339 00:19:41 --> 00:19:47 but that's what you have grandmothers for. 340 00:19:43 --> 00:19:49 So there comes the lettuce. 341 00:19:47 --> 00:19:53 We were also very fond of spinach, so add some spinach. 342 00:19:53 --> 00:19:59 We would wash it... there goes the spinach. 343 00:19:58 --> 00:20:04 Then she would take something to cover it up-- 344 00:20:01 --> 00:20:07 maybe some Saran wrap, or something else-- 345 00:20:06 --> 00:20:12 put it over it and put a rubber band around it to hold it. 346 00:20:14 --> 00:20:20 And now what she's going to do, she's going to swing it around. 347 00:20:17 --> 00:20:23 And now the water is like these marbles. 348 00:20:22 --> 00:20:28 The water will work its way to the edge 349 00:20:25 --> 00:20:31 but there are holes, so the water will come out. 350 00:20:28 --> 00:20:34 Isn't she clever? 351 00:20:30 --> 00:20:36 Okay, I'll give you a demonstration. 352 00:20:33 --> 00:20:39 Be careful 353 00:20:34 --> 00:20:40 or you may get some water on your lecture notes. 354 00:20:39 --> 00:20:45 But I want to show you 355 00:20:40 --> 00:20:46 the basic idea behind it is very interesting. 356 00:20:43 --> 00:20:49 She would go out... she would do this outside, by the way. 357 00:20:45 --> 00:20:51 But I have no choice, so I will do it here. 358 00:20:48 --> 00:20:54 So there we go. 359 00:20:50 --> 00:20:56 (class laughs ) 360 00:20:54 --> 00:21:00 You see? This is the way you dry... 361 00:20:57 --> 00:21:03 362 00:21:01 --> 00:21:07 Oh, I lost my magnetic strawberry-- 363 00:21:04 --> 00:21:10 that's a detail in the process. 364 00:21:06 --> 00:21:12 So you end up with... 365 00:21:09 --> 00:21:15 you end up with dry and clean and nice lettuce. 366 00:21:16 --> 00:21:22 This is 801 at work 367 00:21:18 --> 00:21:24 and this is clearly an early version of a centrifuge. 368 00:21:23 --> 00:21:29 Now, my grandmother's method, very tragically 369 00:21:27 --> 00:21:33 has been replaced lately 370 00:21:29 --> 00:21:35 with something that you can buy at Crate and Barrel. 371 00:21:33 --> 00:21:39 We have it here. 372 00:21:36 --> 00:21:42 Um, it is very boring. 373 00:21:39 --> 00:21:45 It's very decadent. 374 00:21:41 --> 00:21:47 Put the salad in here 375 00:21:42 --> 00:21:48 and all you do is you rotate and it dries. 376 00:21:47 --> 00:21:53 It's a centrifuge. 377 00:21:48 --> 00:21:54 This is actually a high-tech version 378 00:21:51 --> 00:21:57 of the much more sophisticated invention of my grandmother. 379 00:21:55 --> 00:22:01 And it's nowhere nearly as exciting. 380 00:22:00 --> 00:22:06 The days of romance are really over 381 00:22:04 --> 00:22:10 but that's the way it goes. 382 00:22:07 --> 00:22:13 I'm now going to make a connection 383 00:22:11 --> 00:22:17 between rotation on the one hand 384 00:22:14 --> 00:22:20 and centripetal acceleration on the other. 385 00:22:19 --> 00:22:25 I'm going to make a connection 386 00:22:23 --> 00:22:29 between centripetal acceleration and perceived gravity. 387 00:22:28 --> 00:22:34 The way that you perceive gravity. 388 00:22:33 --> 00:22:39 I'm going to put you in various positions 389 00:22:35 --> 00:22:41 and then ask you what is the direction of gravity. 390 00:22:39 --> 00:22:45 I'm going to create artificial gravity for you. 391 00:22:43 --> 00:22:49 And let's first do it as follows. 392 00:22:45 --> 00:22:51 I first hang you on a string. 393 00:22:49 --> 00:22:55 394 00:22:51 --> 00:22:57 There you are, like this. 395 00:22:56 --> 00:23:02 And I ask you, do you feel a push or a pull? 396 00:23:00 --> 00:23:06 And you say, "Yeah, I feel a pull." 397 00:23:05 --> 00:23:11 And you feel a pull in this direction. 398 00:23:10 --> 00:23:16 So now I ask you 399 00:23:11 --> 00:23:17 "Ah, in what direction do you perceive gravity?" 400 00:23:18 --> 00:23:24 and you think I'm crazy. 401 00:23:20 --> 00:23:26 You're right in that case, but nevertheless you say 402 00:23:23 --> 00:23:29 "Gravity is in this direction." 403 00:23:26 --> 00:23:32 The other direction is the pull. 404 00:23:28 --> 00:23:34 Okay, so far, so good. 405 00:23:31 --> 00:23:37 So now I'm going to put you just standing on the floor 406 00:23:36 --> 00:23:42 and I say to you, "Do you feel a push or a pull?" 407 00:23:40 --> 00:23:46 And you say, "Yeah, I feel a push. 408 00:23:43 --> 00:23:49 I feel a push from the floor up." 409 00:23:47 --> 00:23:53 So I say, "In what direction do you perceive gravity?" 410 00:23:52 --> 00:23:58 You say, "Well, come on, don't be boring. 411 00:23:54 --> 00:24:00 Gravity is in this direction." 412 00:23:57 --> 00:24:03 Notice in both cases you tell me 413 00:24:01 --> 00:24:07 that gravity is always in the opposite direction 414 00:24:04 --> 00:24:10 of either your pull or your push. 415 00:24:08 --> 00:24:14 Okay, now I'm going to be a little rough on you. 416 00:24:14 --> 00:24:20 Now I'm going to swing you around on a string 417 00:24:18 --> 00:24:24 just as if you were an apple 418 00:24:20 --> 00:24:26 and I'm going to do this with you. 419 00:24:22 --> 00:24:28 And you're at the end of the apple. 420 00:24:24 --> 00:24:30 You are the apple, not at the end. 421 00:24:26 --> 00:24:32 You're at the end of the string. 422 00:24:27 --> 00:24:33 You are the apple. 423 00:24:29 --> 00:24:35 So there you are. 424 00:24:32 --> 00:24:38 Here... poor you. 425 00:24:35 --> 00:24:41 (class laughs ) 426 00:24:40 --> 00:24:46 And I say, "Do you feel a push or a pull?" 427 00:24:43 --> 00:24:49 And you say, "Yeah, I do, I feel a pull." 428 00:24:47 --> 00:24:53 Fine, in what direction? 429 00:24:49 --> 00:24:55 "I feel a pull in this direction." 430 00:24:52 --> 00:24:58 Okay, so now I say to you 431 00:24:56 --> 00:25:02 "In what direction do you perceive gravity?" 432 00:24:59 --> 00:25:05 And you say, "Well, in the opposite direction as pull." 433 00:25:02 --> 00:25:08 So now you perceive gravity in this direction 434 00:25:07 --> 00:25:13 which is very real for you. 435 00:25:10 --> 00:25:16 Now, in this particular case 436 00:25:13 --> 00:25:19 since the direction changes all the time-- 437 00:25:16 --> 00:25:22 since I swirl you around-- 438 00:25:18 --> 00:25:24 you will, of course, get dizzy like hell, but that's a detail. 439 00:25:21 --> 00:25:27 You will perceive gravity in this direction when you're here 440 00:25:25 --> 00:25:31 and when you're here 441 00:25:26 --> 00:25:32 you will perceive gravity in that direction. 442 00:25:30 --> 00:25:36 So you perceive gravity 443 00:25:32 --> 00:25:38 in the direction which is opposing the pull 444 00:25:35 --> 00:25:41 and the faster I rotate you, the stronger will be the pull 445 00:25:40 --> 00:25:46 and therefore the stronger will be your perceived gravity. 446 00:25:46 --> 00:25:52 A carpenter would use a plumb line 447 00:25:51 --> 00:25:57 and the carpenter would just hold the plumb line like this. 448 00:25:55 --> 00:26:01 The pull is in this direction and so the carpenter says 449 00:25:59 --> 00:26:05 "Okay, perceived gravity is in that direction." 450 00:26:02 --> 00:26:08 The carpenter happens to be right in this case. 451 00:26:04 --> 00:26:10 Gravityis in this direction, but it's the same idea. 452 00:26:07 --> 00:26:13 The plumb line is being used to find the direction of gravity. 453 00:26:12 --> 00:26:18 Think of this as being a plumb line to find... 454 00:26:16 --> 00:26:22 used to find the direction of gravity. 455 00:26:22 --> 00:26:28 Now you're in outer space. 456 00:26:26 --> 00:26:32 You're going to play Captain Kirk 457 00:26:28 --> 00:26:34 and you're in a space station and there is no gravity. 458 00:26:34 --> 00:26:40 So we're going to make some gravity for you. 459 00:26:37 --> 00:26:43 We're going to create some artificial gravity. 460 00:26:40 --> 00:26:46 So let this be your space station; 461 00:26:44 --> 00:26:50 it's a big wheel, a radius of about 100 meters 462 00:26:51 --> 00:26:57 and we'll make it very fancy for you. 463 00:26:54 --> 00:27:00 We'll make some corridors around, like here. 464 00:26:59 --> 00:27:05 465 00:27:03 --> 00:27:09 We'll make it a very interesting space station 466 00:27:06 --> 00:27:12 like so... and like so. 467 00:27:12 --> 00:27:18 And this is rotating around with angular velocity omega. 468 00:27:19 --> 00:27:25 You're here-- there you are. 469 00:27:22 --> 00:27:28 470 00:27:25 --> 00:27:31 You go around. 471 00:27:27 --> 00:27:33 Therefore, non-negotiable 472 00:27:30 --> 00:27:36 you're going around with a certain velocity v. 473 00:27:35 --> 00:27:41 This v equals omega r 474 00:27:37 --> 00:27:43 and therefore, you require centripetal acceleration 475 00:27:41 --> 00:27:47 towards the center-- that is non-negotiable. 476 00:27:45 --> 00:27:51 Where do you get it from? 477 00:27:46 --> 00:27:52 Well, the floor-- this is your floor-- is pushing on you. 478 00:27:51 --> 00:27:57 Simple as that, just like the floor is pushing on me now. 479 00:27:54 --> 00:28:00 This floor is pushing. 480 00:27:56 --> 00:28:02 There's nothing wrong with that; I don't fall over. 481 00:27:59 --> 00:28:05 And so I say to you, 482 00:28:01 --> 00:28:07 "In what direction do you perceive gravity?" 483 00:28:04 --> 00:28:10 And you say, "This is the direction of gravity" 484 00:28:08 --> 00:28:14 which is as real for you as it can be. 485 00:28:11 --> 00:28:17 Someone else is standing here. 486 00:28:18 --> 00:28:24 What do you think that person will think if I ask that person 487 00:28:21 --> 00:28:27 "What is the direction of gravity?" 488 00:28:24 --> 00:28:30 Exactly, radially outwards, 489 00:28:27 --> 00:28:33 opposing the push from the floor. 490 00:28:32 --> 00:28:38 So we could now calculate 491 00:28:35 --> 00:28:41 how fast we have to rotate this space ship 492 00:28:39 --> 00:28:45 to mimic the gravitational acceleration on Earth-- 493 00:28:43 --> 00:28:49 which is 9.8 meters per second squared. 494 00:28:45 --> 00:28:51 Let's call that 10, just to round it off a little. 495 00:28:48 --> 00:28:54 So we want the people who walk around in this corridor 496 00:28:51 --> 00:28:57 to have an acceleration omega squared R which is about 10 497 00:28:59 --> 00:29:05 so omega squared is about 0.1 498 00:29:03 --> 00:29:09 so omega is about 0.3 radians per second. 499 00:29:11 --> 00:29:17 And so the period to go around is about two pi divided by omega 500 00:29:19 --> 00:29:25 and that is about 20 seconds. 501 00:29:23 --> 00:29:29 And the tangential speed-- that value for v, which is omega R-- 502 00:29:30 --> 00:29:36 would then be 0.3 times 100 503 00:29:33 --> 00:29:39 would be about 30 meters per second 504 00:29:36 --> 00:29:42 just to give you an idea for these numbers 505 00:29:38 --> 00:29:44 which are by no means so ridiculous. 506 00:29:43 --> 00:29:49 What is interesting, that the perceived gravity-- 507 00:29:47 --> 00:29:53 and therefore the centripetal acceleration-- 508 00:29:51 --> 00:29:57 is zero here. 509 00:29:54 --> 00:30:00 There is nothing; there is no gravity there. 510 00:29:57 --> 00:30:03 And so that may be a good place 511 00:30:00 --> 00:30:06 for you to have your sleeping quarters. 512 00:30:03 --> 00:30:09 Now comes an interesting question. 513 00:30:05 --> 00:30:11 You can walk around here without any problem. 514 00:30:08 --> 00:30:14 515 00:30:11 --> 00:30:17 Could you walk into these spokes? 516 00:30:14 --> 00:30:20 So when you were here, could you then walk 517 00:30:19 --> 00:30:25 towards your sleeping quarters? 518 00:30:21 --> 00:30:27 When you were standing here and I first ask you 519 00:30:24 --> 00:30:30 "In what direction is gravity?" 520 00:30:26 --> 00:30:32 And you will say, "Well, gravity is in this direction." 521 00:30:29 --> 00:30:35 Can you now walk to your sleeping quarters? 522 00:30:32 --> 00:30:38 And what's the answer? 523 00:30:34 --> 00:30:40 You cannot. 524 00:30:35 --> 00:30:41 You cannot walk up against gravity. 525 00:30:38 --> 00:30:44 It would be like asking you to walk to the ceiling. 526 00:30:41 --> 00:30:47 How do you do that? 527 00:30:42 --> 00:30:48 An elevator or a staircase, that's fine 528 00:30:44 --> 00:30:50 because then you get the push from the stairs 529 00:30:47 --> 00:30:53 when you step on the stairs. 530 00:30:48 --> 00:30:54 So you could have the staircase here 531 00:30:50 --> 00:30:56 and that's the way this person could go here. 532 00:30:53 --> 00:30:59 But you cannot simply walk here 533 00:30:55 --> 00:31:01 because gravity is always in this direction. 534 00:30:59 --> 00:31:05 Now let's suppose you are at your sleeping quarters 535 00:31:02 --> 00:31:08 and you wake up in the morning and you decide to go back 536 00:31:06 --> 00:31:12 either in this direction or this direction 537 00:31:08 --> 00:31:14 or this direction or that direction-- it doesn't matter. 538 00:31:11 --> 00:31:17 Could you do that, just by... just going into this corridor 539 00:31:18 --> 00:31:24 and slowly, carefully starting moving? 540 00:31:21 --> 00:31:27 What would happen? 541 00:31:22 --> 00:31:28 Yeah? 542 00:31:24 --> 00:31:30 STUDENT: You would fly out. 543 00:31:25 --> 00:31:31 LEWIN: You would fly out. 544 00:31:27 --> 00:31:33 It would be suicide, because the moment that you are here 545 00:31:30 --> 00:31:36 already, you have maybe 546 00:31:32 --> 00:31:38 not a very large gravitational experience 547 00:31:37 --> 00:31:43 but already it's beginning to grow on you. 548 00:31:39 --> 00:31:45 The farther out you are, the stronger it will be. 549 00:31:42 --> 00:31:48 By the time you're here, it's 10 meters per second squared. 550 00:31:45 --> 00:31:51 Remember? We had 10 meters per second squared 551 00:31:48 --> 00:31:54 because we wanted to mimic the Earth 552 00:31:51 --> 00:31:57 and so you literally crash. 553 00:31:52 --> 00:31:58 It's like falling into a shaft, jumping into a shaft. 554 00:31:56 --> 00:32:02 It's not quite the same 555 00:31:57 --> 00:32:03 because you start off with no pull on you. 556 00:32:00 --> 00:32:06 The moment you start going, however 557 00:32:02 --> 00:32:08 the situation gets out of hand and indeed you will slam. 558 00:32:06 --> 00:32:12 So you can use the same elevator. 559 00:32:08 --> 00:32:14 You can use the same staircase. 560 00:32:10 --> 00:32:16 There's nothing wrong with that. 561 00:32:12 --> 00:32:18 Suppose I have a liquid 562 00:32:15 --> 00:32:21 which has very, very fine, small particles in it-- 563 00:32:20 --> 00:32:26 extremely small, so small and so light 564 00:32:26 --> 00:32:32 that they will not sink to the bottom. 565 00:32:30 --> 00:32:36 So you will always see some colored milky-type liquid. 566 00:32:37 --> 00:32:43 And here is that tube which has these fine particles. 567 00:32:45 --> 00:32:51 And the tube is sitting there 568 00:32:47 --> 00:32:53 and the line of the liquid is obviously like this. 569 00:32:50 --> 00:32:56 Why? Well, that's obvious. 570 00:32:53 --> 00:32:59 Because gravity is in this direction. 571 00:32:57 --> 00:33:03 And so the surface of the liquid 572 00:32:59 --> 00:33:05 is always perpendicular to gravity. 573 00:33:01 --> 00:33:07 You see here two glasses with water. 574 00:33:04 --> 00:33:10 The surface is perpendicular to gravity. 575 00:33:06 --> 00:33:12 Now I'm going to rotate this about this axis-- 576 00:33:12 --> 00:33:18 it's going around like this-- 577 00:33:14 --> 00:33:20 and I'm going to rotate it with an angular velocity omega 578 00:33:19 --> 00:33:25 and this is at a distance, R. 579 00:33:21 --> 00:33:27 Therefore, there is now a centripetal acceleration 580 00:33:27 --> 00:33:33 in this direction, and so the particles now say 581 00:33:32 --> 00:33:38 "Aha! Gravity is in this direction." 582 00:33:36 --> 00:33:42 The side of the glass and the liquid is pushing 583 00:33:40 --> 00:33:46 in this direction to provide this centripetal acceleration. 584 00:33:44 --> 00:33:50 So if you ask them, "Where is gravity?" 585 00:33:46 --> 00:33:52 they will say "Gravity is there." 586 00:33:48 --> 00:33:54 And this gravitational effect can be so much stronger 587 00:33:52 --> 00:33:58 than this one that you can forget this one-- 588 00:33:54 --> 00:34:00 you will see that in a minute. 589 00:33:56 --> 00:34:02 You can completely forget this one. 590 00:33:58 --> 00:34:04 And so the liquid will say 591 00:34:00 --> 00:34:06 "I'm going to be perpendicular to gravity." 592 00:34:03 --> 00:34:09 And so the liquid will go like this, clunk. 593 00:34:07 --> 00:34:13 While it rotates around 594 00:34:10 --> 00:34:16 the liquid in this tilted tube will be vertical. 595 00:34:13 --> 00:34:19 But not only that, the particles that are here 596 00:34:19 --> 00:34:25 experience now way stronger gravity than they did before 597 00:34:24 --> 00:34:30 so I have made them heavier. 598 00:34:26 --> 00:34:32 They are no longer light particles. 599 00:34:27 --> 00:34:33 They are heavy particles, and what do heavy particles do? 600 00:34:31 --> 00:34:37 They have no problems in making it to the side. 601 00:34:34 --> 00:34:40 The reason why the light particles 602 00:34:36 --> 00:34:42 couldn't fall in the first place has to do with the fact 603 00:34:40 --> 00:34:46 that the molecules of the liquid 604 00:34:42 --> 00:34:48 due to their temperature, have a chaotic motion. 605 00:34:46 --> 00:34:52 We call that the "thermal agitation." 606 00:34:47 --> 00:34:53 And these molecules would interact 607 00:34:49 --> 00:34:55 with these very small and light particles 608 00:34:52 --> 00:34:58 and so the light particles would never make it to the bottom. 609 00:34:55 --> 00:35:01 The thermal agitation now of the liquid is the same-- 610 00:34:58 --> 00:35:04 the temperature doesn't change-- 611 00:35:00 --> 00:35:06 but the particles have become way, way heavier 612 00:35:03 --> 00:35:09 and so the particles now go in the direction of gravity 613 00:35:07 --> 00:35:13 which is here. 614 00:35:09 --> 00:35:15 And what you will see, if these particles are white 615 00:35:12 --> 00:35:18 you will see white precipitation there 616 00:35:15 --> 00:35:21 and the liquid will become clear. 617 00:35:19 --> 00:35:25 And that is something 618 00:35:21 --> 00:35:27 that I would like to demonstrate to you. 619 00:35:22 --> 00:35:28 But before I do that, I want to give you some numbers. 620 00:35:26 --> 00:35:32 Here we have 621 00:35:27 --> 00:35:33 a household, simple, nothing-special centrifuge 622 00:35:31 --> 00:35:37 that is used in any laboratory. 623 00:35:34 --> 00:35:40 The centrifuge that we have has an rpm which is 3600 rpm. 624 00:35:45 --> 00:35:51 So 3600 rpm translates into a frequency of 60 Hz. 625 00:35:52 --> 00:35:58 So it goes around once in one-sixtieth of a second. 626 00:35:57 --> 00:36:03 Omega is two pi times f 627 00:36:02 --> 00:36:08 is therefore roughly 360 radians per second. 628 00:36:08 --> 00:36:14 360 radians per second. 629 00:36:11 --> 00:36:17 630 00:36:13 --> 00:36:19 If we assume that the radius is... 631 00:36:15 --> 00:36:21 maybe it's 10, 15 centimeters. 632 00:36:17 --> 00:36:23 Whatever, let's take a radius of 15 centimeters. 633 00:36:21 --> 00:36:27 And we can calculate now 634 00:36:23 --> 00:36:29 what the centripetal acceleration is. 635 00:36:26 --> 00:36:32 And the centripetal acceleration a of c which is omega squared R 636 00:36:32 --> 00:36:38 is then roughly about 20 meters per second squared. 637 00:36:38 --> 00:36:44 20,000 meters per second squared. 638 00:36:44 --> 00:36:50 And that is 2,000 times the gravitational acceleration. 639 00:36:51 --> 00:36:57 It means that these particles experience gravity 640 00:36:55 --> 00:37:01 which is 2,000 times stronger than if I don't rotate them. 641 00:37:01 --> 00:37:07 And so they will go to the side here. 642 00:37:05 --> 00:37:11 But the glass itself is also 2,000 times heavier 643 00:37:09 --> 00:37:15 and therefore the glass can easily break 644 00:37:11 --> 00:37:17 so when you design a centrifuge like that 645 00:37:14 --> 00:37:20 you have to really think that through very carefully-- 646 00:37:17 --> 00:37:23 that the pieces that are in there don't fly apart. 647 00:37:21 --> 00:37:27 648 00:37:24 --> 00:37:30 I have here water in which I have dissolved some table salt-- 649 00:37:29 --> 00:37:35 the same table salt that you use in the kitchen 650 00:37:31 --> 00:37:37 when you prepare your food, table salt in here. 651 00:37:37 --> 00:37:43 Here I have water in which I dissolved some silver nitrate. 652 00:37:44 --> 00:37:50 It's nasty stuff, I warn you for it, you have to be very careful 653 00:37:49 --> 00:37:55 because if you get the stuff on your hands 654 00:37:52 --> 00:37:58 it burns through your hands very quickly 655 00:37:54 --> 00:38:00 without your realizing it 656 00:37:55 --> 00:38:01 and you end up with a very black spot. 657 00:37:58 --> 00:38:04 It really eats away, burns out your skin. 658 00:38:01 --> 00:38:07 People put it on warts 659 00:38:02 --> 00:38:08 and then the warts, they think, fall off. 660 00:38:04 --> 00:38:10 They probably do after a while 661 00:38:06 --> 00:38:12 but your finger may also fall off. 662 00:38:08 --> 00:38:14 So I have here silver nitrate 663 00:38:10 --> 00:38:16 and there I have sodium chloride and I mix the two. 664 00:38:20 --> 00:38:26 So I get table salt-- sodium chloride-- plus silver nitrate 665 00:38:26 --> 00:38:32 gives sodium nitrate plus silver chloride 666 00:38:34 --> 00:38:40 and this, very small white particles, and you will see 667 00:38:39 --> 00:38:45 that the liquid turns milky instantaneously. 668 00:38:43 --> 00:38:49 It almost becomes like, like yogurt, as you will see. 669 00:38:47 --> 00:38:53 And so I want to show that to you. 670 00:38:51 --> 00:38:57 I have here these two glasses. 671 00:38:53 --> 00:38:59 This is the table salt and this is the silver nitrate. 672 00:38:58 --> 00:39:04 I'm going to mix them. 673 00:39:01 --> 00:39:07 674 00:39:04 --> 00:39:10 I hope you can see this. 675 00:39:06 --> 00:39:12 Here are the two glasses, and when I mix them... 676 00:39:10 --> 00:39:16 (whistles ) 677 00:39:12 --> 00:39:18 instantaneously you get milk. 678 00:39:15 --> 00:39:21 (class laughs ) 679 00:39:18 --> 00:39:24 Yeah. 680 00:39:20 --> 00:39:26 I'm not asking you to taste it but look at it, right? 681 00:39:25 --> 00:39:31 Just milk. 682 00:39:26 --> 00:39:32 You can leave this for hours and hours and hours 683 00:39:29 --> 00:39:35 and it will just stay like that. 684 00:39:31 --> 00:39:37 Very small particles of silver chloride are in here. 685 00:39:36 --> 00:39:42 So now we are going to put this in the centrifuge. 686 00:39:41 --> 00:39:47 I have to put it in a very small tube. 687 00:39:45 --> 00:39:51 I'll show you this small tube. 688 00:39:48 --> 00:39:54 There's no way that I can pour that in without making a mess. 689 00:39:51 --> 00:39:57 Here's this small tube 690 00:39:53 --> 00:39:59 and so what I will do is I will first put it in a small beaker 691 00:40:00 --> 00:40:06 and then from this small beaker 692 00:40:04 --> 00:40:10 I will transfer it, some of it, to this tube. 693 00:40:09 --> 00:40:15 When you put this in a centrifuge 694 00:40:10 --> 00:40:16 your force on this glass is so high 695 00:40:15 --> 00:40:21 that you must always make sure 696 00:40:16 --> 00:40:22 that you balance it with another tube 697 00:40:18 --> 00:40:24 that you fill with water on the other side. 698 00:40:20 --> 00:40:26 Otherwise the thing begins to shake like crazy. 699 00:40:23 --> 00:40:29 It's like your centrifuge when you dry your towels. 700 00:40:28 --> 00:40:34 If they are not equally distributed 701 00:40:31 --> 00:40:37 it begins to make very obscene sounds and starts to move. 702 00:40:34 --> 00:40:40 (class laughs ) 703 00:40:36 --> 00:40:42 And the same thing will happen here. 704 00:40:37 --> 00:40:43 So you just have to take my word for it 705 00:40:39 --> 00:40:45 that we have put on the other side 706 00:40:41 --> 00:40:47 just some water to balance it out. 707 00:40:44 --> 00:40:50 So here is now the yogurt 708 00:40:47 --> 00:40:53 and on the other side is plain water 709 00:40:49 --> 00:40:55 and we will just let it sit there for a while 710 00:40:52 --> 00:40:58 and we will return to that shortly. 711 00:40:55 --> 00:41:01 712 00:40:58 --> 00:41:04 I mentioned already your centrifuge for your clothes. 713 00:41:01 --> 00:41:07 That is the way that you can dry your clothes. 714 00:41:04 --> 00:41:10 That is the same way that my grandmother dried the lettuce. 715 00:41:07 --> 00:41:13 The water will go to the circumference. 716 00:41:11 --> 00:41:17 A household centrifuge for your clothes 717 00:41:14 --> 00:41:20 would easily rotate 1,200 revolutions per minute 718 00:41:18 --> 00:41:24 have a radius maybe of 15 centimeters 719 00:41:20 --> 00:41:26 which would give you a centripetal acceleration 720 00:41:23 --> 00:41:29 of 200 times g, 200 times the gravitational acceleration. 721 00:41:29 --> 00:41:35 So your clothes experience gravity 722 00:41:32 --> 00:41:38 which is 200 times stronger 723 00:41:34 --> 00:41:40 and therefore your clothes are 200 times heavier 724 00:41:37 --> 00:41:43 and therefore your clothes can tear apart 725 00:41:40 --> 00:41:46 and we have all seen that. 726 00:41:42 --> 00:41:48 We have all put in stuff in a centrifuge 727 00:41:44 --> 00:41:50 and when you take it out you're disappointed because it's torn. 728 00:41:47 --> 00:41:53 That's because of the tremendous gravity 729 00:41:50 --> 00:41:56 that you have exposed them to. 730 00:41:53 --> 00:41:59 Many times when I take my shirts out, half my buttons are gone. 731 00:41:57 --> 00:42:03 That's because the force-- I shouldn't use that word... 732 00:42:00 --> 00:42:06 the gravitational effect on the buttons is enormous 733 00:42:04 --> 00:42:10 and they just get ripped off. 734 00:42:08 --> 00:42:14 Now I want to revisit the situation 735 00:42:11 --> 00:42:17 that you are on the end of my string 736 00:42:15 --> 00:42:21 and I'm going to swirl you around. 737 00:42:18 --> 00:42:24 Earlier, I swirled you around like this 738 00:42:22 --> 00:42:28 and you didn't like it 739 00:42:26 --> 00:42:32 and I don't blame you because you got dizzy. 740 00:42:28 --> 00:42:34 Now I'm going to rotate you like this. 741 00:42:31 --> 00:42:37 You may like that better. 742 00:42:32 --> 00:42:38 Maybe not. 743 00:42:34 --> 00:42:40 (chuckles ) 744 00:42:36 --> 00:42:42 And so, whether you like it or not 745 00:42:39 --> 00:42:45 I'm going to twirl you around and here you are. 746 00:42:48 --> 00:42:54 This is the circle. 747 00:42:50 --> 00:42:56 There's a string-- you're here. 748 00:42:53 --> 00:42:59 Here's the string and there you are. 749 00:42:56 --> 00:43:02 You have a certain velocity. 750 00:42:59 --> 00:43:05 Your velocity is in this direction 751 00:43:05 --> 00:43:11 and there is a certain distance to the center, R. 752 00:43:11 --> 00:43:17 And so you need a certain centripetal acceleration 753 00:43:16 --> 00:43:22 to go around in that curve. 754 00:43:20 --> 00:43:26 So you need a centripetal acceleration 755 00:43:22 --> 00:43:28 a of c-- which is... 756 00:43:25 --> 00:43:31 you can take the v squared divided by r, if you like that. 757 00:43:28 --> 00:43:34 This is the magnitude of that v. 758 00:43:31 --> 00:43:37 Now follow me very closely. 759 00:43:36 --> 00:43:42 Just imagine that this number happens to be exactly 9.8. 760 00:43:44 --> 00:43:50 I can always do that. 761 00:43:46 --> 00:43:52 762 00:43:50 --> 00:43:56 Where is this person going to get the push or the pull from 763 00:43:56 --> 00:44:02 for this centripetal acceleration? 764 00:44:00 --> 00:44:06 Does the string have to pull on it? 765 00:44:02 --> 00:44:08 No, because there's always gravity and gravity gives you 766 00:44:05 --> 00:44:11 an acceleration of 9.8 meters per second squared. 767 00:44:09 --> 00:44:15 So the string says, "Tough luck, I don't have to do anything. 768 00:44:15 --> 00:44:21 "Gravity provides me with the 9.8 meters per second squared 769 00:44:22 --> 00:44:28 that I required." 770 00:44:25 --> 00:44:31 Now I'm going to swing you faster, so the v will go up 771 00:44:31 --> 00:44:37 and so the centripetal acceleration will go up. 772 00:44:34 --> 00:44:40 The string will say 773 00:44:37 --> 00:44:43 "Aha! I'm going to pull now on this person 774 00:44:42 --> 00:44:48 "because the gravitational acceleration alone 775 00:44:44 --> 00:44:50 is not enough-- I need some extra pull." 776 00:44:47 --> 00:44:53 So the string is going to tighten and pull on you. 777 00:44:50 --> 00:44:56 And I say, "Hello, there, in what direction is gravity?" 778 00:44:54 --> 00:45:00 And you say, "Gravity is in this direction." 779 00:44:58 --> 00:45:04 Why? Because you feel the string is pulling on you 780 00:45:01 --> 00:45:07 in this direction, so you experience gravity there. 781 00:45:06 --> 00:45:12 Now comes the question, how real is this? 782 00:45:10 --> 00:45:16 This is very, very real. 783 00:45:15 --> 00:45:21 It is so real 784 00:45:17 --> 00:45:23 that if I took a bucket of water instead of you... 785 00:45:24 --> 00:45:30 and here is the bucket of water. 786 00:45:31 --> 00:45:37 I attached to the bucket a rope. 787 00:45:33 --> 00:45:39 I swing it around, and I swing it around 788 00:45:38 --> 00:45:44 such that the centripetal acceleration 789 00:45:41 --> 00:45:47 is substantially larger than 9.8 790 00:45:44 --> 00:45:50 so the string is definitely going to pull 791 00:45:51 --> 00:45:57 so if you were the water, and I asked you, "Where is gravity?" 792 00:45:55 --> 00:46:01 you would say the gravitational direction is in this direction 793 00:45:57 --> 00:46:03 and so the water will say, 794 00:45:59 --> 00:46:05 "Okay, fine, then this will be my surface 795 00:46:02 --> 00:46:08 and I want to go in this direction." 796 00:46:05 --> 00:46:11 But the water can't go in that direction 797 00:46:07 --> 00:46:13 so it will just stay there. 798 00:46:09 --> 00:46:15 So I could swing this thing around if I do it fast enough-- 799 00:46:14 --> 00:46:20 so fast that the acceleration at this point here 800 00:46:19 --> 00:46:25 must be larger than 9.8-- 801 00:46:21 --> 00:46:27 the water will stay up while the bucket is upside down. 802 00:46:27 --> 00:46:33 How fast should I rotate it? 803 00:46:30 --> 00:46:36 Well, let's put in some simple numbers. 804 00:46:33 --> 00:46:39 I have here this bucket 805 00:46:36 --> 00:46:42 and let's say that this is about one meter. 806 00:46:39 --> 00:46:45 Let's round some numbers off. 807 00:46:41 --> 00:46:47 So R is about one meter. 808 00:46:46 --> 00:46:52 And I want v squared over R 809 00:46:49 --> 00:46:55 I want that to be larger than 9.8-- let's just call it 10. 810 00:46:56 --> 00:47:02 So that means v has to be larger 811 00:46:59 --> 00:47:05 than about 3.2 meters per second. 812 00:47:03 --> 00:47:09 The time to go around 813 00:47:05 --> 00:47:11 is two pi R divided by this velocity 814 00:47:10 --> 00:47:16 so this time to go around, then, has to be six... 815 00:47:14 --> 00:47:20 has to be less than two seconds. 816 00:47:17 --> 00:47:23 So if I swing this around in less than two seconds 817 00:47:19 --> 00:47:25 I will be okay. 818 00:47:20 --> 00:47:26 Now, I realize that the speed when I move this thing around 819 00:47:25 --> 00:47:31 is not constant everywhere. 820 00:47:27 --> 00:47:33 That's very difficult to do that, because of gravity. 821 00:47:30 --> 00:47:36 But it's close enough to get an idea. 822 00:47:33 --> 00:47:39 So if I rotate this faster than in two seconds 823 00:47:38 --> 00:47:44 when the bucket is upside-down 824 00:47:40 --> 00:47:46 if physics works, the water should not fall out. 825 00:47:46 --> 00:47:52 So let us fill this with water. 826 00:47:49 --> 00:47:55 827 00:47:58 --> 00:48:04 There we go. 828 00:47:59 --> 00:48:05 829 00:48:08 --> 00:48:14 I'm always nervous about this. 830 00:48:10 --> 00:48:16 Um, let's first look at the centrifuge. 831 00:48:12 --> 00:48:18 We have to see whether the centrifuge has done its job. 832 00:48:18 --> 00:48:24 833 00:48:23 --> 00:48:29 So let's look at what this tube... 834 00:48:26 --> 00:48:32 I think it was tube number four. 835 00:48:29 --> 00:48:35 Oh, yeah! Very clear is now the liquid 836 00:48:32 --> 00:48:38 and you see the white stuff here on the side. 837 00:48:35 --> 00:48:41 It's not too easy for you to see, really. 838 00:48:38 --> 00:48:44 I put my hand under here. 839 00:48:39 --> 00:48:45 Maybe some of you can see some white stuff 840 00:48:42 --> 00:48:48 but it's no longer milk-- really a clear liquid. 841 00:48:46 --> 00:48:52 Here you see some white stuff here 842 00:48:48 --> 00:48:54 but it's also on the side. 843 00:48:49 --> 00:48:55 You can actually see it here. 844 00:48:54 --> 00:49:00 You see the white stuff 845 00:48:56 --> 00:49:02 because this was the direction of gravity 846 00:48:58 --> 00:49:04 so it ended up here and there's some here. 847 00:49:00 --> 00:49:06 It is completely clear. 848 00:49:02 --> 00:49:08 You see the white stuff? 849 00:49:05 --> 00:49:11 So that's the way that you can separate the silver chloride. 850 00:49:13 --> 00:49:19 So now we come to this daredevil, daredevil experiment. 851 00:49:20 --> 00:49:26 And we're going to see 852 00:49:23 --> 00:49:29 whether we can fool the water and make the water think 853 00:49:27 --> 00:49:33 that gravity is not in this direction but in this direction. 854 00:49:31 --> 00:49:37 Now, you're doing the right thing, there. 855 00:49:32 --> 00:49:38 (class laughs ) 856 00:49:34 --> 00:49:40 I don't blame you at all. 857 00:49:36 --> 00:49:42 (Lewin chuckling ) 858 00:49:38 --> 00:49:44 Okay... 859 00:49:41 --> 00:49:47 There we go! 860 00:49:44 --> 00:49:50 You see the water is completely fooled 861 00:49:46 --> 00:49:52 and notice that I go around 862 00:49:48 --> 00:49:54 substantially faster than in two seconds. 863 00:49:51 --> 00:49:57 And the water, when it's up there 864 00:49:52 --> 00:49:58 just thinks that gravity is towards the ceiling. 865 00:49:56 --> 00:50:02 Physics works. 866 00:49:57 --> 00:50:03 Now, who is going to do this for me, too? 867 00:49:59 --> 00:50:05 (class laughs ) 868 00:50:00 --> 00:50:06 Please, someone should try this. 869 00:50:03 --> 00:50:09 You think you can do it? 870 00:50:06 --> 00:50:12 Come on, try it. 871 00:50:08 --> 00:50:14 In the worst case, it will be a disaster. 872 00:50:11 --> 00:50:17 (class laughs ) 873 00:50:14 --> 00:50:20 Okay, get some feel for it, but before you do it 874 00:50:16 --> 00:50:22 make sure that I'm out of the way. 875 00:50:19 --> 00:50:25 But first swing it a little and don't hold it too close to you 876 00:50:23 --> 00:50:29 because I don't want you to get hurt. 877 00:50:25 --> 00:50:31 Larger swing, larger, larger. 878 00:50:28 --> 00:50:34 Now you get some feel for it. 879 00:50:29 --> 00:50:35 Go for it, now! 880 00:50:32 --> 00:50:38 Yeah, faster! 881 00:50:33 --> 00:50:39 (class laughs ) 882 00:50:37 --> 00:50:43 That was very good. 883 00:50:38 --> 00:50:44 (class laughs and applauds ) 884 00:50:40 --> 00:50:46 See you Friday. 885 00:50:41 --> 00:50:47 (applause ) 886 00:50:42 --> 00:50:48 887 00:50:47 --> 00:50:53.000