My 3-year-old is asking me and I don't know why the ends are different sizes. I assume for balance?!

help!

Actually, what seems to be a metal stick with two differently sized rubber ends is really one of the world's biggest physics experiments.

First, the relationship between the ends of a baton is much like the gravitational pull of the moon and the earth. The ball is the earth, when launched into the air at the fulcrum, or thumb, the ball pulls the tip into orbit. However, the tip, like the moon, exerts it's own force, pulling away from the ball, creating the rotating motion that was started at the fulcrum. Unlike the earth and moon, there is a fixed space between the two points, creating a circular orbit instead of elliptical. This is further enhanced by the similar mass of the ends, which exert a similar, but not equal, gravitational pull. As most twirlers know, tossing a pen into the air isn't nearly as satisfying, because there isn't enough of a differential between the ends of said pen.

Now, the baton stays in orbit due to inertia. In fact, the pulling motion of the ends create high inertia, which means the baton will resist stopping without high force. This is the reason tosses that have more rotation stay in the air longer, they are better able to resist gravity and friction.

In actuality, batons aren't really "balanced" in terms of having an equal center of gravity. This is part of the reason that twirlers tend to toss off center. When a baton is off balance, what has really happened is that one end is exerting a disproportionate amount of pull, usually because of damage or some sort, such as bending, drying out of the rubber or other structural integrity issue.

I realize this doesn't really help you with a three year old, but most likely she'll understand that the moon goes around the earth and the moon is smaller than the earth. So, a baton is like the earth and the moon.

The baton would be a great investigation for a high school physics class!

Wow! Thanks Sesame! That makes sense to me...now, to explain it to a 3-year-old....

SesameSt79 wrote:

Actually, what seems to be a metal stick with two differently sized rubber ends is really one of the world's biggest physics experiments.

First, the relationship between the ends of a baton is much like the gravitational pull of the moon and the earth. The ball is the earth, when launched into the air at the fulcrum, or thumb, the ball pulls the tip into orbit. However, the tip, like the moon, exerts it's own force, pulling away from the ball, creating the rotating motion that was started at the fulcrum. Unlike the earth and moon, there is a fixed space between the two points, creating a circular orbit instead of elliptical. This is further enhanced by the similar mass of the ends, which exert a similar, but not equal, gravitational pull. As most twirlers know, tossing a pen into the air isn't nearly as satisfying, because there isn't enough of a differential between the ends of said pen.

Now, the baton stays in orbit due to inertia. In fact, the pulling motion of the ends create high inertia, which means the baton will resist stopping without high force. This is the reason tosses that have more rotation stay in the air longer, they are better able to resist gravity and friction.

In actuality, batons aren't really "balanced" in terms of having an equal center of gravity. This is part of the reason that twirlers tend to toss off center. When a baton is off balance, what has really happened is that one end is exerting a disproportionate amount of pull, usually because of damage or some sort, such as bending, drying out of the rubber or other structural integrity issue.

I realize this doesn't really help you with a three year old, but most likely she'll understand that the moon goes around the earth and the moon is smaller than the earth. So, a baton is like the earth and the moon.

LOL This is GREAT, much better than I could have ever described it.... but I think I'd just have to say...."honey, that's the way God made it work. Let's eat ice cream!!!!"