Question #25

A light dowel rod hangs by a string from a fixed point. The bottom end of the dowel rod rests on a frictionless surface, in this case a small piece of very light foam, that supports the end of the dowel on the surface of the water.

The drawings above illustrate three possible resting positions for the dowel. When the dowel is placed in one of the three positions and released, where will it finally come to rest?

• (a) with its upper end beneath the support point.
• (b) with its center of mass beneath the support point.
• (c) with its lower end beneath the support point.

Click here for Answer #25 after August 14, 2000.

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