Why Do Things Spin by Hugh Hunt

Why Do Things Spin by Hugh Hunt

Why does a spinning top stand up? Why doesn’t a rolling wheel fall over? And how does a falling cat always manage to land on its feet?

From topspin in tennis, to angular momentum in ballet dancers, to satellites in space, spinning things are strange.

Hugh Hunt explores the common underlying threads that link all of these interesting phenomena, using examples ranging all the way from boomerangs to cats in this talk for our family programme.

Hugh Hunt is a Reader in Engineering Dynamics and Vibration at Cambridge University. His research centres on the control of noise and vibration from underground railways. He is now promoting other technologies for the removal of non-CO2 greenhouse gases and also runs the Cambridge Climate Lecture Series which aims to raise awareness of the urgency around climate change.

This talk was filmed in the Ri on 7 February 2020.