Like most center-of-mass demonstrations, the key to understanding stable equilibrium is that the center of mass of the system must lie directly below the point of support.
The nicely-finished horse and rider demonstration at the
left was sent to me a number of years ago by a Japanese reader of The
Physics Teacher, who had read my note (reference below) on balancers.
It appears to be a direct copy of a western demonstration from the latter
years of the nineteenth century.
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This more rudimentary blancer is in the collection of historical physics teaching apparatus at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio |
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