How does weight placement change a spinning wheel?

Spinning wheel: compare starting speed and spin time

Weight placed far from the axle is harder to start rotating than the same weight close to it. With the same starting energy, the wheel can therefore begin at a different speed. The time until it stops also depends on bearing friction and the model settings.

Do not compare just one number. Look first at starting speed and then at the total spin time. Change only weight position in the lab, keeping mass, starting energy and bearing friction fixed. A push by hand rarely supplies exactly the same energy each time.

Try it together in the lab

1. Begin with a prediction. You do not have to agree.
2. Set Weight position to 75 mm; keep mass, starting energy and bearing rubbing unchanged.
3. Compare the initial speed first, then the time until the wheel stops.

Next comparison: Change only the weight position and compare whether the wheel reaches 20 seconds.

An activity away from the screen

Spin a safe disc or toy top on a clear surface and compare what you notice without treating it as an exact measurement. For a fair test of movable weights, the simulation helps because it holds starting energy constant.