What You Need

• Three books, each at least 1 inch thick
• Two yardsticks
• Two plastic funnels of equal size
• Black electrical tape

What to Do
Stack two books on top of each other on the floor. Place the third book far enough away on the floor so you can lay a yardstick across the books to form a bridge. Place the second yardstick next to the first yardstick to form a V-shape with the open end of the V on the stack of two books. Tape the bowls of the funnels together. Place the joined funnels on the lower end of the track formed by the yardsticks.

What Happens
The joined funnels roll up the incline.

Why It Works
Although the joined funnels appear to defy the laws of gravity, in reality, their center of gravity (the point at which the effect of gravity on an object seems to be concentrated) moves downward as the joined funnels move along the inclined yardsticks.

Bizarre Facts

• The center of gravity of the hollow joined funnels is at its center, even though there is no matter at that point for gravity to affect.
• When a boomerang is thrown, it spins about its center of gravity, which is outside its body, between the arms of the V.
• The moon's gravitation causes the ocean tides on earth.
• You would weigh 3.75 percent more if you were standing on the North Pole than you would if you were standing on the equator. A object on earth does not weigh the same at all places on the planet because the earth rotates and it is not perfectly round.
• While Galileo Galilei is credited with determining that falling objects fall at the same rate, Giambattista Benedetti determined the exact same thing in 1553—eleven years before Galileo was born.
• Sir Isaac Newton, considered a poor student in school, discovered gravity, invented calculus, and, in 1699, became master of the mint in England, prosecuting counterfeiters.

The Fall of Aristotle
The Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle claimed that heavy objects fall faster than light objects, a widely accepted belief until the sixteenth century when, according to legend, Italian scientist Galileo Galilei simultaneously dropped two iron balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa (proving that all objects fall at the same rate of acceleration).

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