What's causes the 'backspin' while sliding a pencil along a table?Why do wheels appear to revolve opposite to...
How to verbalise code in Mathematica?
how to find the equation of a circle given points of the circle
Pulling the rope with one hand is as heavy as with two hands?
Realistic Necromancy?
Are Boeing 737-800’s grounded?
What term is being referred to with "reflected-sound-of-underground-spirits"?
Rivers without rain
Was there a Viking Exchange as well as a Columbian one?
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
In order to check if a field is required or not, is the result of isNillable method sufficient?
How to have a sharp product image?
A strange hotel
How does a program know if stdout is connected to a terminal or a pipe?
Mjolnir's timeline from Thor's perspective
Which big number is bigger?
Why was the Spitfire's elliptical wing almost uncopied by other aircraft of World War 2?
Why did C use the -> operator instead of reusing the . operator?
Examples of subgroups where it's nontrivial to show closure under multiplication?
French for 'It must be my imagination'?
Why does processed meat contain preservatives, while canned fish needs not?
How can Republicans who favour free markets, consistently express anger when they don't like the outcome of that choice?
How to write a column outside the braces in a matrix?
Examples of non trivial equivalence relations , I mean equivalence relations without the expression " same ... as" in their definition?
what is the sudo password for a --disabled-password user
What's causes the 'backspin' while sliding a pencil along a table?
Why do wheels appear to revolve opposite to the direction they are rotating?With Newton's third law, why are things capable of moving?Newton's Third Law of MotionWould a phone move upon vibration in a completely uniform situation?Can I make a rod in the vertical plane move with its one end on the ground in a slanting position?Different directions of frictional force when objects are rollingWeird phenomenon on aluminum laptop casingWhat causes the variable brightness intensity along the filament of an incandescent bulb?Can a gust of wind have a distinct blade-like edge?Rolling Without Slipping and Rotational Energy
$begingroup$

I've always thought it was weird that pencils act like this: if one pulls their finger along the side of a pencil until it touches the surface below, the pencil is launched in the opposite direction of the way that the finger moved. Why is this?
newtonian-mechanics forces rotational-dynamics everyday-life
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$

I've always thought it was weird that pencils act like this: if one pulls their finger along the side of a pencil until it touches the surface below, the pencil is launched in the opposite direction of the way that the finger moved. Why is this?
newtonian-mechanics forces rotational-dynamics everyday-life
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
may be -> linear momentum dies, still rotational momentum is there and hence 'launched in opposite direction' :)
$endgroup$
– aranyak
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$

I've always thought it was weird that pencils act like this: if one pulls their finger along the side of a pencil until it touches the surface below, the pencil is launched in the opposite direction of the way that the finger moved. Why is this?
newtonian-mechanics forces rotational-dynamics everyday-life
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$

I've always thought it was weird that pencils act like this: if one pulls their finger along the side of a pencil until it touches the surface below, the pencil is launched in the opposite direction of the way that the finger moved. Why is this?
newtonian-mechanics forces rotational-dynamics everyday-life
newtonian-mechanics forces rotational-dynamics everyday-life
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 14 mins ago
Chair
3,80072342
3,80072342
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 4 hours ago
StormblessedStormblessed
1314
1314
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Stormblessed is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$begingroup$
may be -> linear momentum dies, still rotational momentum is there and hence 'launched in opposite direction' :)
$endgroup$
– aranyak
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
may be -> linear momentum dies, still rotational momentum is there and hence 'launched in opposite direction' :)
$endgroup$
– aranyak
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
may be -> linear momentum dies, still rotational momentum is there and hence 'launched in opposite direction' :)
$endgroup$
– aranyak
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
may be -> linear momentum dies, still rotational momentum is there and hence 'launched in opposite direction' :)
$endgroup$
– aranyak
4 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
The sequence of events is shown below.

Initially the pencil is propelled forward with speed $v_{rm A}$ but has backspin $omega_{rm A}$ (anticlockwise rotation) so there is relative movement between the pencil and the surface as $v_{rm A} ne romega_{rm A}$ where $r$ is the radius of the pencil.
A kinetic friction force acts which reduces the rotational speed of the pencil $omega_{rm B}$ until there is no rotation of the pencil $omega_{rm C}=0$ but the pencil is still moving forward $v_{rm C}$.
The frictional force then starts the pencil rotating clockwise with increasing angular speed and eventually the no slip condition, $v_{rm D} = romega_{rm D}$, is reached.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As the finger comes down the side of the pencil, two things happen:
A compression that imparts a horizontal force taking the pencil away from the finger
And a rotation that causes the pencil to rotate tending to bring the pencil back to the start point
These combine to define how far the pencil travels before it stops.
The use of spin can be seen on a snooker or billiards table : top, bottom and side...
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "151"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Stormblessed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f476393%2fwhats-causes-the-backspin-while-sliding-a-pencil-along-a-table%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
The sequence of events is shown below.

Initially the pencil is propelled forward with speed $v_{rm A}$ but has backspin $omega_{rm A}$ (anticlockwise rotation) so there is relative movement between the pencil and the surface as $v_{rm A} ne romega_{rm A}$ where $r$ is the radius of the pencil.
A kinetic friction force acts which reduces the rotational speed of the pencil $omega_{rm B}$ until there is no rotation of the pencil $omega_{rm C}=0$ but the pencil is still moving forward $v_{rm C}$.
The frictional force then starts the pencil rotating clockwise with increasing angular speed and eventually the no slip condition, $v_{rm D} = romega_{rm D}$, is reached.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The sequence of events is shown below.

Initially the pencil is propelled forward with speed $v_{rm A}$ but has backspin $omega_{rm A}$ (anticlockwise rotation) so there is relative movement between the pencil and the surface as $v_{rm A} ne romega_{rm A}$ where $r$ is the radius of the pencil.
A kinetic friction force acts which reduces the rotational speed of the pencil $omega_{rm B}$ until there is no rotation of the pencil $omega_{rm C}=0$ but the pencil is still moving forward $v_{rm C}$.
The frictional force then starts the pencil rotating clockwise with increasing angular speed and eventually the no slip condition, $v_{rm D} = romega_{rm D}$, is reached.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The sequence of events is shown below.

Initially the pencil is propelled forward with speed $v_{rm A}$ but has backspin $omega_{rm A}$ (anticlockwise rotation) so there is relative movement between the pencil and the surface as $v_{rm A} ne romega_{rm A}$ where $r$ is the radius of the pencil.
A kinetic friction force acts which reduces the rotational speed of the pencil $omega_{rm B}$ until there is no rotation of the pencil $omega_{rm C}=0$ but the pencil is still moving forward $v_{rm C}$.
The frictional force then starts the pencil rotating clockwise with increasing angular speed and eventually the no slip condition, $v_{rm D} = romega_{rm D}$, is reached.
$endgroup$
The sequence of events is shown below.

Initially the pencil is propelled forward with speed $v_{rm A}$ but has backspin $omega_{rm A}$ (anticlockwise rotation) so there is relative movement between the pencil and the surface as $v_{rm A} ne romega_{rm A}$ where $r$ is the radius of the pencil.
A kinetic friction force acts which reduces the rotational speed of the pencil $omega_{rm B}$ until there is no rotation of the pencil $omega_{rm C}=0$ but the pencil is still moving forward $v_{rm C}$.
The frictional force then starts the pencil rotating clockwise with increasing angular speed and eventually the no slip condition, $v_{rm D} = romega_{rm D}$, is reached.
answered 1 hour ago
FarcherFarcher
52.6k340112
52.6k340112
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As the finger comes down the side of the pencil, two things happen:
A compression that imparts a horizontal force taking the pencil away from the finger
And a rotation that causes the pencil to rotate tending to bring the pencil back to the start point
These combine to define how far the pencil travels before it stops.
The use of spin can be seen on a snooker or billiards table : top, bottom and side...
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As the finger comes down the side of the pencil, two things happen:
A compression that imparts a horizontal force taking the pencil away from the finger
And a rotation that causes the pencil to rotate tending to bring the pencil back to the start point
These combine to define how far the pencil travels before it stops.
The use of spin can be seen on a snooker or billiards table : top, bottom and side...
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As the finger comes down the side of the pencil, two things happen:
A compression that imparts a horizontal force taking the pencil away from the finger
And a rotation that causes the pencil to rotate tending to bring the pencil back to the start point
These combine to define how far the pencil travels before it stops.
The use of spin can be seen on a snooker or billiards table : top, bottom and side...
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
As the finger comes down the side of the pencil, two things happen:
A compression that imparts a horizontal force taking the pencil away from the finger
And a rotation that causes the pencil to rotate tending to bring the pencil back to the start point
These combine to define how far the pencil travels before it stops.
The use of spin can be seen on a snooker or billiards table : top, bottom and side...
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 4 hours ago
Solar MikeSolar Mike
1293
1293
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Solar Mike is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
Stormblessed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Stormblessed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Stormblessed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Stormblessed is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Physics Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f476393%2fwhats-causes-the-backspin-while-sliding-a-pencil-along-a-table%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
$begingroup$
may be -> linear momentum dies, still rotational momentum is there and hence 'launched in opposite direction' :)
$endgroup$
– aranyak
4 hours ago