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The Mystery Sticks may seem like a magic trick, but actually they are mysterious toys that have complex physics behind them. The concept of the Mystery Stick has been around for many years and has many varied models.
Propeller Stick
Wand
Container to hold other sticks
Materials
1. Hold the wand and place index finger against the left side of the notches. Move the wand in a up and down motion and make sure that there are no fingers against the right side, as illustrated. This motion should cause the propeller to turn clockwise.
2. While moving wand up and down, swiftly move to the left. This results in the thumb touching the right side of the notches and the index finger not. The propeller stick should now rotate in counter-clockwise direction.
What is the physics behind it?
-The Mystery Sticks are based off of Simple Harmonic Motion. Simple Harmonic Motion can sometimes be considered as a one-dimensional projection of circular motion. The Mystery Sticks move with an angular velocity around a circle that is centered at the origin of the x and y plane. So by touching the left side of the propeller, while moving the wand in an up and down motion, it oscillates the propeller to go clockwise in a circular motion. This is also the case for touching the right side of the stick. The angular frequency from touching the finger to the right side causes the propeller to rotate in a circular motion counter-clockwise.
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