Kermit's What-Happens-Next-Machine

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This Demonstration calculates the motion in time of Kermit's legendary What-Happens-Next-Machine from Sesame Street. A mass is dropped onto a seesaw. The seesaw pulls a rope that opens the lid of a box, from which a balloon is freed that switches on a radio. Quite entertaining, but unfortunately for the physicist on Sesame Street, bugs and breakdowns flaw the performance. Here a functioning machine is simulated. You can also try out which masses, heights, and lever lengths cannot free the balloon.
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Contributed by: Ursula Schroeter (March 2011)
Open content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Snapshots
Details
A longer lever on which to drop the sandbag is not necessarily a better way to pull up the lid of the box. For more details, see the preprint: "Kermit's What-Happens-Next-Machine Reloaded".
Permanent Citation
"Kermit's What-Happens-Next-Machine"
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/KermitsWhatHappensNextMachine/
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Published: March 7 2011