Category Science

               The Earth spins on its own axis once every 24 hours, or day. The Earth orbits the Sun every 365  days, or year. Every 4 years we need to have a leap year with an extra day to make up the difference between the calendar year (365 days) and the time it takes for one complete orbit of the Sun. The year is divided into 12 months, which roughly correspond with the time it takes for the Moon to complete one full orbit of the Earth.

Picture credit: google

               Sundials are the simplest way to measure time during the day. A simple stick casts a shadow that grows shorter until midday, when the Sun is at its highest in the sky. The shadow grows longer again after midday. A sundial simply casts its shadow onto a plate marked with the hours. Sundials have been used for many centuries, and are still in use today.

               People have always organized their lives by the passing of time. The earliest hunters had to hunt during the hours of daylight. When farming had developed, it was important for farmers to understand the seasons in order to plant their crops at the right time.

               Long ago, people realized that the movement of the Sun allowed them to recognize the time of day. They also realized that the movement of the Moon was regular and could be used to give measurements of roughly one month. Modern life is governed much more by time, and we now depend on highly accurate clocks to measure every second of the day.

               For thousands of years people have used levers as a way of transferring a force from one place to another, and to change the amount of movement that results.

               To move a heavy object, a long lever can help. The lever is free to move about a point called the fulcrum. The shorter end of the lever is placed under the object, and force is applied to the longer end. This will cause the object to be lifted, but the long end of the lever will have to be pushed down a long way to lift the object only a short distance. With a long-enough lever you could lift a car for a short distance.

               A gyroscope is a heavy metal wheel made with ball bearings that reduce friction. Once the wheel is set spinning at high speed in an upright position, the force of gravity will try to topple it. However, the effects of gravity are countered by another force called precession. This force means that a spinning body tends to move at right angles to any force that tries to change its direction of rotation. The effect is to keep the gyroscope in the same position until it has slowed down so much that gravity overcomes precession.

Picture credit: google