In this experiment i will be demonstrating the center of mass by balancing nails on a single nail head. The objective is to have one nail sitting up straight in a block of wood then get 11 nails to balance them on that single nail without them touching anything else. I chose this experiment because it seemed like one of those things that no one would expect to be possible, so i wanted to do the experiment and show that it is possible to balance multiple nails on one nail. For my ELA Project Option, i decided to do the journal because i think it would give a better idea on what the experiment was like, what problems i had and the overall development of the project.
Journal:
Entry 1- 10/25: Because i already knew how to do this experiment i got my first experience of this kind of experiment last year in my chemistry class when my teacher asked us to balance 7 nails on 1 nail head. I had tried it so many different was that I was beginning to thing it was impossible, until she showed us the way. Then this year when the project came up again i knew how to do it but i also knew that it was not just simply stacking nail upon nail, but it would have to include fining the center of mas and building a structure that can be centered on top of the nail so it can be balanced on such a small surface.
Entry 2- 10/30: I tried the experiment again recently and i noticed that once i got the nails stacked up upon the on nail hammered into the board i let it sit for a while. After a while i decided to touch one side of the nails and the whole thing fell apart. I think it was because i tampered with its center of gravity. When i did that the structure that i built fell apart because it was no longer balanced on each side. Before both sides had 0 amount of force but then i applied force to one side and it through off the balance.
Entry 3- 11/12: I tried to see if i could only build that structure and balance it with 11 or 7 nails or if i could use fewer amount of nails and see if it could still balance just as well. So, each time i rebuilt and and took apart the structure i was subtracting a nail. Each time it grew harder and harder to balance. Based on this test i think the least amount of nails that can be balanced on the single nail head is 4 nails.
Entry 4- 11/18: Before i said that you could stake at least 4 nails on the nail head with the structure, well i was wrong. I wasn't thinking that you could probably balance nails with out it being in that structure. So I got one nail and laid it on its side and balanced it on top of the nail easily. Its not as exciting because its not as many nails and its the simplest way to balance a nail, but the same principles still apply.
Entry 5- 11/23: I tried least amount of nails before and now i'm trying the most amount of nails. I'm trying to see ow many nails i could stack on the single nail head. Each time i added more and more nails and it continued to balance on the nail head in the end I found that you can stack as many nails as you want as long as you can find the center of gravity when you are setting it down on the nail head. Warning though, when you keep adding nails the structure gets heavier and harder for you to lift it up with out the structure falling a part. *Stack at your own risk*
Entry 6- 11/28: Last experiment i tried with this balancing mass experiment was to try to see if i could come up with my own structure to balance the nails on the single nail head. I found that i couldn't create another structure that could hold that much balance but i was able to create an x shape on top of the nail head by laying on nail horizontally on the nail head and balancing another one on top of that.