The secrets hidden in the seesaw

Here there is a riddle, “A horse is rode by two people, one side is high and the other side is low. The horse cannot run, but the two people ride it with a smile. ”Do you know the answer of the riddle? The answer is seesaw. The seesaw is a kind of children’s outdoor game that we are all very familiar with. No matter it is in the kindergarten or in the community, the children like to play it very much. In the past, children only can play metal seesaw or wooden seesaw with playmates. Nowadays, they also can play plastic seesaw at home. And plastic seesaw has beautiful animal patterns and colors, the children love it very much. Seesaw looks very simple. It only has a long board, and there is a pivot in the middle. But it is very useful. Archimedes said that give me a pivot, I can move the earth. It means seesaw. If you want to know more secrets of the seesaw, just read this article with me together.

Firstly let us see how the children play balance seesaw. The seesaw principle is based on the lever principle. The pressure of a person on the seesaw is power and resistance, and the distance between the person and the fixed point of the seesaw is the force arm. The acceleration of gravity causes one up and one down, and the gravity acceleration of the higher one is greater than the lower one, so the higher one drops, and the lower one is lifted up in the condition of the principle of leverage, and so on.

We all know the playing way about the children’s seesaw. Usually the two children with the same weight sit on each end of the seesaw. Now think about it: if an adult and a child are playing a seesaw, how should they sit? This involves the knowledge of lever. The child stays away from the fixed point of the seesaw, and the adult is close to the fixed point of the seesaw, it can work normally and the adult can be lifted up by a child. In fact, the principle of a simple seesaw has been widely used in our daily life, such as balance scale, screwdrivers, crane, scissors, pliers, automatic locks, bicycles and so on. For example, a seesaw can be used to generate electricity after it is connected to a turbine. And it also can be connected to pumping mechanisms for water. In rural areas, it is often used for these purposes. So don’t look down upon the small seesaw, its principle is really practical in our life.

The seesaw also can be used in acrobatics. The trained acrobats can achieve more momentum to complete some complicated flip actions and do a range of tricks with partners by the seesaw. It just likes a springboard to some extent when it is used by the professional acrobats. It is interesting but very dangerous. Until now, there are still many secrets about it, which wait people to explore.