Materials

• small bucket or plastic container from the recycle box

• sturdy string if using the recycled container

• outdoor place where it's okay to get wet

What to do?

1. If using a recycled container, carefully punch two holes in the sides of container and tie string securely.

2. Pour a glass of water into the bucket or container.

3. Stand with the bucket at your side and quickly rotate your shoulder so that the bucket swings in a wide circle over your head and back down.

What happened?

Compare this to if you slowly flip the bucket upside down, all the water spills out.

Why didn't the water spill out? Centrifugal force.

When something is spun around fast enough, the force of that spinning will push the object being spun away from the center of the rotation. This is how you can turn a bucket of water upside down and not have all the water fall out!