Dry Your Clothes – Make a Dryer – The Rotating Box
Ever since I was a child, I used to sit and watch the washing machine when mom operated it. I really liked seeing the clothes rotating inside it. Frankly speaking, I never knew how it works or what principle makes it work. But it may be the time to know the secret of the washing machine. Would you like to learn it with me? Try the following activity.
Type of Activity: Physics
Target Group: 9–12 years old
Duration: 45 minutes
Objective:
Materials Needed: 1. One plastic bottle
2. One pencil
3. Scissors
4. Thread (preferably cotton thread)
5. One piece of wet cloth
6. One spool of thread.
Ever since I was a child, I used to sit and watch the washing machine when mom operated it. I really liked seeing the clothes rotating inside it. Frankly speaking, I never knew how it works or what principle makes it work. But it may be the time to know the secret of the washing machine. Would you like to learn it with me? Try the following activity.
Steps of the Experiment:
1. Using the scissors, cut the plastic bottle into two parts (with the help of your parents). Then, punch equal holes in the lower part of the bottle using a solid nail (check the other side).
2. Fix the ends of the thread to the middle of the pencil, after passing it through the spool of thread.
3. Tie the ends of the thread to the holes at the top of the lower part of the bottle.
4. Gently place the piece of wet cloth inside the bottle.
Do not press on the cloth while placing it in your dryer.
5. Start spinning the pencil with one hand while fixing the spool with the other. When you start releasing the pencil from your hand, you will notice that the water gushes out of the holes while the bottle is spinning.
Conclusion:
When the dryer spins quickly, water drops gush out of the holes. This phenomenon is called the “centrifugal force”.
Applications:
Knowing how to operate the dryer of the washing machine.
Facts:
When any object rotates in a circular motion around its center, it generates a centrifugal force.