Breaking a rod: Combining impulse and inertia

• Autores: Nuri Balta
• Localización: School Science Review, ISSN 0036-6811, Vol. 101, Nº. 377, 2020, págs. 56-57
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Teaching through discrepant event activities increases student interest in science. In this article, I will introduce a well-known 19th century demonstration, the Tissandier experiment, to stimulate curiosity among students learning the concept of inertia. In this demonstration, a hard object (e.g. a wooden rod) placed on fragile supports is broken into two halves with a hammer. Curiously, the supports stay intact provided the strike was swift enough. The factors involved here are: short impact time, huge peak force and the inertia of the rod.