I was sitting at my dining room table eating my dinner and trying to think of what I could use in my journal. Feeling a gust of wind, I stood up to turn the fan off because it was so cold, windy and rainy. Looking at the fan reminded me of what we are learning in physics - the difference between rotational and circular motion. The fan has rotational motion because the axis is within the fan. However, if you were to place an object on the end of one of the fan wings, that object would have circular motion because it's axis would be the fan which is on the outside of the object. If I were to push one of the fan wings with the fan off, my finger would be the force (the torque) and the lever arm would be the distance from my finger to the axis from which the fan is rotating around. I thought that it was really cool how I could find physics in such a simple and often over looked object!
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