Spinning Button On A String

[Turtle]

Ever learn when you were a kid to thread a button on a loop of string & set it to spinning back & forth by pulling the ends? If not, try it; if so, considerwhat parameters for a proper physics description of this device you need.. Here's a helpful image (click image for full-size view):
I have been experimenting for years & it's fascinating in its simplistic complexity.

[Amber]

That's very interesting, and your website looks cool. Thank you for sharing

Just out of interest, what made you look into this?

[Turtle]

I guess it's obsession is all; I latch onto some interesting idea I run across & then sometimes it becomes an obsession. My obsessions last on average about 10 years. Once locked on, I work to take the idea to some extreme. I have one of these disks that is 4 feet long & requires 2 people pulling on one end (the other tied to wall/tree) to set it working. I haven't finished painting the design on it yet so haven't made a video of it working.
___ Mickey Hart in Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm by Mickey Hart, Fredric Lieberman, D. A. Sonneborn, talks of the little disks & calls them "diables" I found the Udeghe people of Russia call them Khua & use them for sorcery. It is also called whirligig as a toy from at least 17 century in Europe & America. The research goes on. I invite everyone to make one & give it a whirl

[Amber]

Nice

Not tried that myself though. Is it a bit like chaos theory, how it works?

Intensive work always pays off. Good luck with your experimenting and have fun

[Turtle]

Possibly chaos theory; no certainly chaos theory! Ijust posted under Pictures on my page some instructions to build one & at the bottom of that document some of the physics considerations. Also a document called Vessica Piscus; this is the shape I now use for the disks. Very, very dynamic machine. Thanks Amber for your interest & support. Anybody els care to comment? Come on now; don't be shy.

[Turtle]

Anyone else play with this as a child? Did you have a name for this?

[Turtle]

___Just ran across this article today:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_2686446.htm

___While the object pictured is claimed as a knife, I believe it is a Diable/Khua, ie. for spinning on a string. The serations & shape would give it a unique sound.
___By the way, the name Khua for the device is from the Udeghe(sp) people of the Russia/China Eastern coastal region.
___Very interesting!!!

[Dark Mind]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Anyone else play with this as a child? Did you have a name for this?

As a kid??? I still do that! I sometimes use a pair of scissors though (more weight, and therfore easier to maintain motion). I never really thought about it though, i just accepted that it happened and enjoyed. I'm a terrible scientist . Keep up the good work Turtle!

[Dark Mind]

Oh, I kind of called you out in the "Introductions" forum in the "First Post' thread, you may want to read into it and see if you can beat my guess at your score. I think it's in the 13'th post or somewhere around there. Prove me wrong Mr. "Mathemagician".

[Turtle]

___I will look DarkMind; I had to unsubscribe from quite a few threads as so many stretched me a little thin.
___Back on topic, attached find a scan of one of my Khua. This one is in the shape of the Vesica Piscis, which I am discussing in the thread by that name. In profile, my Khua is an airfoil. ie. flat on one side & rounded on the other.
___All of the holes in mine are for experimenting with changing the string position & only 2 holes are required. It is interesting to note that the artifact is somewhat antithetical to the vesica piscis, flaring out where mine flares in. Of course now I have to make a Khua in the artifact shape & detail to see how it sounds.
____Thanks for the interest. I will look for some pertinent links to post. Keep on spinning!