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The balancing bird model in this kit was inspired by
the classic physics toy pictured here. The bird
appears to "magically" balance on the tip of its
beak. But it's not magic that causes this. The
bird is able to balance on its beak because
its center of gravity is positioned exactly
at its beak. Its wings and tail are
weighted perfectly to result in the
center point of all the weights
being exactly at its beak.
What Is Balance?
Center of gravity is the point at which the entire weight of
an object may be considered as concentrated so that if the
object was supported at this point, the object would
remain stationary in its current position. A body is stable
if its center of gravity is located vertically above its base
of support. Then, it is in a state of stable equilibrium.
If its center of gravity lies vertically above its tipping
line (the edge of the base), then it will wobble or tilt. The
slightest movement will make it tip over. But its
steadiness will also depend on the force needed to push it
off balance, as well as on the base on which it supports
itself. In the case of a car, the four wheels resting on the
pavement form a rectangle. That is its base of support.
The two-wheeled balancing robot models in this kit are
not stable on their own — without the constant
adjustments made by the motion of the wheels, the robots
would stay standing upright. They would fall over.
36
stable
unstable
indifferent
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