Center of Mass

The other day my daughters presented me with a great opportunity to teach them the basics of center of mass.  They have this Winnie the Pooh train they ride around the house on and on this occasion they tied a jump rope to hit and a play shopping cart to pull around the shopping cart while riding the train.  Unfortunately for them the cart kept tipping over.  The reason?  They tied the rope to the top of the cart.  Since the train is lower to the ground, whenever the train pulled on the cart, the cart was pulled downward and tipped.  I have the same problem with the hose on my vacuum cleaner.  The hose is attached to the top of the vacuum, so when I'm on the ground sucking up dust from underneath the bed, for example, pulling on the hose tips over the vacuum.  Ticks me off every time!

So I told my kids why it was tipping over and helped them find a better place to tie the rope, such as the bottom of the cart.

My daughters' geeky Dad saves the day once again!