tag:techtv.mit.edu,:Array/225252860 2009-06-03 15:26:02 -0400 MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group Odd-shaped objects with their centers of mass marked by orange paint are thrown. While the objects appear to follow very wobbly trajectories when viewed under bright lights, under black lights you can see that their centers of mass travel in smooth parabolas. <br><br> Then center of mass is not necessarily in the center of an object, as demonstrated by the last object in the video (a weighted disk). 91 tag:techtv.mit.edu,:Array/225230220 2009-06-18 13:08:48 -0400 MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group A cart moving at constant velocity shoots a ball straight upwards. Since the ball has the same translational velocity as the cart, it is caught when it comes back down. 68 tag:techtv.mit.edu,:Array/225208820 2009-08-19 11:28:08 -0400 MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group Two demonstrators sit at either end of a rotating platform and toss a ball back and forth. When viewed from the rest frame (when the camera is mounted to the ground), the ball follow a straight line but doesn't reach its target because during the ball's flight the target rotates away. When viewed from the rotating frame (when the camera is mounted to the rotating platform), the ball appears to experience a force that pulls it away from the target. <br><br> This curved trajectory in the rotating frame is known as the "Coriolis Effect", sometimes called the "Coriolis Force", though it disappears in the rest frame. The Coriolis Effect can be seen in many situations where rotating frames are encountered, especially meteorology and astronomy. Atmospheric systems, for example, often follow circular patterns due to the Coriolis effect. Airplanes and missiles appear to follow curved trajectories when seen by observers on Earth as the planet rotates underneath. 181