Like every Friday, the weekly "Physics Tidbit" column is back — number 16.
And this time — on the Dzhanibekov effect.
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The effect was accidentally discovered in 1985 by Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov.
He found that spinning the object shown in the video under zero-gravity conditions causes it to periodically flip its orientation by 180 degrees.
The explanation involves complex mathematical calculations, but the underlying principle is as follows:
Every body rotating in space has three possible axes (directions of rotation), each with a different rotational inertia (moment of inertia).
Along the axis of greatest inertia and the axis of least inertia, the object spins without any change in direction.
By contrast, when the rotation is about the intermediate axis — where the inertia is neither the largest nor the smallest — it is not fully aligned with the direction of rotation, and this causes the object to flip.
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The phenomenon has no direct practical applications, but analyzing it contributes to better design of bodies launched into space.
Have an easy fast!
#physics_tidbit