Inertia Hat Project

Today we have a fantastic, quick STEM project idea for your Elementary, Middle School and High School Students. We will be learning about Inertia and Newton’s Laws of Motion, then making a simple and fun Inertia Hat to explore the principles in a hands-on way. Lessons on Forces and Motion start in early elementary, and deepen as students grow and are ready to tackle more complex physics subject matter, and trust me, kids of all ages will LOVE this project! Let’s use our heads and get exploring some cool physics!

Newton’s Laws of Motion – Inertia Project

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Have you ever heard of the word inertia? Everything in the universe has inertia. We experience the effects of inertia every day, but often we have no idea it is happening or why it is happening.

The Science of Inertia

Inertia is a property of matter. It goes hand-in-hand with forces, gravity and changes in motion in the study of physics.

Inertia likes to resist changes in an object’s motion or the speed and direction the object is traveling in. It is not a force but shows us how objects react to the absence of a force.

An object that is moving will remain moving, and stationary objects will remain stationary until an outside force comes in and causes the motion to stop or start.

This is called the Law of Inertia.

This is what Newton’s First Law of Motion is all about. This law states that an object that is at rest will stay at rest, and objects in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.

We have more project’s exploring Newton’s Laws!

Law of Inertia Example

You are in the park with a ball, sitting in the grass. The ball will remain in that place until you change that by picking it up. That is inertia. You were the force that came along and changed the ball’s position or state.

Now, you pick the ball up and throw it into the air. It doesn’t matter how hard or how high you throw the ball; it will eventually slow down and fall back into the grass because air resistance and gravity, which act as outside forces, will stop its motion and pull it back down to the grass.

If you were throwing the ball in space without air resistance or gravity, the ball would stay in motion forever and ever!

Think of different ball sports, like Basketball. The ball bounces when it hits the floor, which is an outside force, then the ball goes in a new direction.

Understanding Newton’s First Law: Inertia

Everything on earth has inertia, but not the same inertia. All objects’ inertia is measured by how light or heavy it is.

Heavier objects have more inertia, which means heavier objects need more force to get them moving when they are at rest or to stop it when it is already in motion.

Just think of the last time you threw a rock down at the river. Those little rocks are light and easy to pick up and throw, but as those rocks get heavier, throwing them becomes a challenge!

This is known as the moment of inertia, which means that the inertia of any object can be measured by how hard or easy it is to get moving or stop it from moving.

Back in the park, let’s look at a merry-go-round with many children. The weight of all the children makes the merry-go-round a whole lot heavier, making it harder to push, and when it finally gets going, it will be tough to stop.

More mass = more inertia

A merry-go-round with one or two children on it will be much easier to get going and stop it because less mass means less inertia, also known as rotational inertia, which can be measured not only by how much the merry-go-round weighs but also by how many children are on the merry-go-round, but also by where the children are standing.

If the weight is not evenly distributed, the merry-go-round is off balance, and this affects the inertia. Are they all near the middle of the merry-go-round, or are they evenly distributed on the merry-go-round? It all affects the motion of the play equipment.

In this project, we will make a strange “hat” to help you understand the concept of inertia.

Inertia Hat Video Tutorial

This is a super quick and easy STEM project that you can easily do in a one hour class timeslot. Watch our quick video to see how quick it was to make this project. If you can’t see the video, it is likely being blocked by a firewall or adblockers, but that’s OK! You can also find it on the STEAM Powered Family YouTube Channel.

How to make an Inertia Hat

Materials & Tools

Wire hanger
Pliers
Side-cutters
2 Tennis or rubber balls
Awl (you could also use a drill if you are careful)
Pencil
Tape measure
500ml water or soda pop bottle

Directions

Getting the wire ready

Using a side-cutter, cut the top of the hanger off, just below the twisted wires. The wire is thick, so you may need the help of an adult to do this. This is something you can prep ahead of time for your students.

Now, straighten the wire with your fingers and then use pliers on all the kinks until it is nice and straight.

Use a tape measure to find the middle of the wire and mark it with a pencil.

Next, make a mark on either side of the middle mark, 7cm away from that point.

First, bend the wire in half at the middle point.

Now bend each “leg” downward at the two 7cm marks. The easiest way to bend it is to use your thumbs to hold and shape the downward bends. The wire should look like an “M” with both sides looking the same when you are done.

Spend time getting the shape right, as this will help the “M” balance correctly. Which we just learned is important!

Adding the two tennis balls

Using an awl, make a hole in each of the balls. DO NOT MAKE HUGE BIG HOLES! The tennis ball should not slide off the wire easily. Once again, you may need the strength of an adult to do this depending on the age of your students. Push the wire into each ball so that the end touches the opposite side of the tennis ball.

Checking the balance of the Inertia Hat

If you have someone at home with you, you can use their head to check if the Inertia Hat is balancing correctly. I didn’t have another head readily available, so I used a water bottle, filled with water. This is a great chance for students to work in teams.

Now, adjust the bends and check that the “legs” are longer than the “V” in the middle and that the legs are not hanging straight down but at an angle outwards.

Once it is balanced correctly, give it a gentle push, and it should spin around quickly.

Now for some fun, ask your person to turn around. Watch and see how the Inertia Hat stays still when the person turns their whole body around!

I used an old Lazy Susan and the bottle to do this but then I found a cardboard sculpture of a boy I made a few years ago and it worked perfectly! YAY!

Your Inertia Hat should be working well. If not, take a breath, you are a STEMist and can fix this! Fiddle around with the shape of the wire and test, test, test. You will succeed! Remember, Makers never give up! We keep trying until we get it right!

Before you head out on the town to show off your new amazing hat, let’s chat about the science of how the inertia hat works, so you can really wow all your new fans of your fashionable accessory!

The Science of an Inertia Hat

When you push the tennis ball on one side of the inertia hat on your head, the hat starts spinning, and the friction between your head and the point of the hanger on your head will eventually stop the motion of the hat. The hat will keep moving if friction does not prevent it from moving.

The same is true when you have the hat on your head and you spin yourself around and around, the
hat stays still. The hat will stay at rest because of inertia.

Another fun idea to display inertia

Let’s get creative and make your hat unique! You could remove the tennis balls and replace them with pictures of birds, planes, helicopters or even skydivers drawn on and cut out of thick cardboard or even small toys and use the bottles filled with water as your axis point, like I did in the video.

Classroom Extensions for Inertia

Ask your students about any other examples of inertia that they have experienced.

Challenge them to build a small-scale model of these real world inertia examples.

Why not challenge your STEM class or club to come up with a BIG inertia project. Something with big wow factor! This would be a great project idea for the Science Fair or end of the school year.