Fig. 44.
Fig. 47.
102. Curious Experiments.—You can not hang a pail of water on a stick laid upon a table, as represented in Fig. 44, for the centre of gravity is not supported. But if you place another stick a as a brace, in the manner represented in Fig. 45 (p. 73), so as to push the pail under the table, it will hang securely, because the centre of gravity is now under the point of suspension. The explanation of the following experiment is the same: Run a large needle through a cork; fasten to the cork a fork, and you can suspend the whole on the edge of a table, as seen in Fig. 46. Here the centre of gravity is directly under the point of suspension, which is at the point of the needle. The same can be said of the very common toy represented in Fig. 47. The horse, made of very light material, stands securely, because the centre of gravity of the whole is in the heavy ball, which is under the point of suspension. If the horse be made to rock back and forth, the centre of gravity in the ball moves in a curved line, as in the case of a ball suspended by a string (Fig. 39). It is at its lowest place only when the horse is at rest. The hanging of a cane with a hook-shaped handle on the edge of a table is to be explained in the same way.
Fig. 45. Fig. 46.
Fig. 48. Fig. 49. Fig. 50.
