Flight consists of two vital components. One is forward motion, causing the boomerang to move, at first away from the thrower. The second is rotation, with the upper arm moving forwards and the lower arm backwards. The upper arm of the boomerang moves faster because its speed consists of forward motion plus the speed of rotation.
The lower arm moves more slowly, for it moves with the speed of forward motion less the speed of rotation. Once this is understood, the boomerang is no longer mysterious. The speed difference means that the upper arm is in a stronger air current than the lower arm. The difference in pressure exerts a more powerful pulling and pushing force on the upper arm. This force becomes strongest when the upper arm reaches its most forward, almost horizontal position.
It pulls the boomerang left, on its circular flight path. Once this happens, the strong pulling and pushing forces change from dragging the boomerang left and begin lifting it upwards. It is the speed of rotation that lifts the boomerang high in the air.
Boomerangs usually reach their highest position at up to 15 metres, after which they slow down. Anthropologists theorize that the first boomerangs were heavy projectile objects thrown by hunters to bludgeon a target with speed and accuracy. A happy accident, huh?
In his video , he demonstrates how to fashion a boomerang from three strips of cardboard, by crossing and stapling them together so that they jut radially outward from the center. But a phenomenon known as gyroscopic precession is the key to making a returning boomerang come back to its thrower. But don't worry if you don't have those tools, you can make your own boomerang out of simpler materials.
Check out the links below for instructions on how to make a boomerang out of a variety of common materials:. That's a sad story, Maya. Thanks for sharing it with us. To cheer you up, here's a link to some Wonders about Puppies! Well, at least you found it. Hope it didn't break anything on the way? Hi, Wonder Friend! We're sorry you didn't like this Wonder. We hope you keep exploring the site and the other Wonders archived here! We're sure you will find one you like better!
Thanks for sharing your comments today, Ms. Weyhrauch's Class! It's so much fun to listen to other's accents and compare them to our own! It seems like the second boomerang didn't work out like the first one-- perhaps it takes more practice than we thought! We hope you get some boomerangs of your own, or you can do some more WONDERing about them to learn how to perfectly throw them!
Keep up the great work, Wonder Friends! That's why we're here, Wonder Friend Ryk! We encourage you to Wonder-- take your time! What's your favorite topic to Wonder about? Hey Wonder Friend! Boomerangs are pretty neat, especially if you have one that comes back!
Did you try to make a new boomerang after your dog chewed it up? That's so thoughtful of you, Ryk! It's great to Wonder with our friends-- we are so glad you shared your comment! We Wonder if you have tested your boomerang WOW, how cool, Ryk! That sounds like a great present to receive from such a cool trip! We bet your dad was excited to present that awesome boomerang to you! We're glad you learned something new about the boomerang today, Ryan! Hi there, Dallas!
We're glad you think so, Jarmarius! Hi, Seeses Thanks so much for visiting Wonderopolis today! We're not sure if boomerangs were the only weapon used, but we bet there were some others! Thanks for visiting Wonderopolis! Thanks so much for letting us know!
Hello, Team Unger 3! There have been historical records of ancient boomerangs being found in different places all over the world, like Europe, Egypt and Australia! Thanks for sharing your comment with us today! Hello there, Saraya! We're glad you think Wonderopolis is cool We think it takes a lot of practice to learn to throw a boomerang in such a way that it will always come back to you.
We encourage you to keep practicing with your boomerang! We found that boomerangs can be made out of more materials than just wood! There are metal boomerangs and high-tech plastic boomerangs, too! Do you know what, Team McNeil 19? Thanks so much for visiting this Wonder today and for leaving us this cool comment to share some of the facts you learned about boomerangs!
That's a fun guess about tomorrow's Wonder, Mrs. Thanks for sharing it with everyone in Wonderopolis today! We think there are probably some different ways to throw boomerangs and still have them come back you you, but we don't know what those different ways might be. We liked learning about all the interesting uses for boomerangs, and we hope you did, too!
You're right about that, Saad! That's OK, Halei! We think boomerangs are really neat, too, Annie! We really appreciate hearing that! We can't wait to find out what tomorrow's Wonder will be, Alice!
We like your guess for what it might be about, too! Hello, Team McNeil 13! We appreciate hearing that you enjoyed this Wonder and that you would like to explore more Wonders like this in the future! We think it takes a LOT of practice to learn to throw a boomerang the correct way in order for it to come back. It is definitely a skill that has to be learned! Thanks so much for sharing the cool vocab words and facts you learned today, too! You sure learned some cool new facts about boomerangs today, Molly!
Thank you for sharing them with us today, and thanks for letting us know about your own boomerang experience! Are you guys ready, KF Dragons? That was FUN! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about today's Wonder, Emily and Evan!
Thanks so much for sharing your boomerang story with us, Kelly! We really DID have a happy Thursday! Do you know why?
It looks like you and Wonder Friend, Alyssa, sure like ponies, Jenna! We're not sure what tomorrow's Wonder will be about Ponies would be FUN to learn about, Alyssa!
Thanks for sharing this comment with us today You're right, E. We think the expert in the video for today's Wonder could probably get his boomerang to return more than the average person, though! He was super skilled at throwing a boomerang! That's a really super guess, Lima Bean Machine! We'll have to wait for tomorrow's Wonder to see if your guess was correct! We're super glad to hear that you thought today's Wonder was great, Sara! We hope you learned LOTS of cool new facts about boomerangs!
We think it's great that you shared a part of today's Wonder you thought was interesting, Borshay! Thanks for sharing your personal experience with boomerangs, Emily! We appreciate hearing from you today! It would probably be worth a lot of money to a museum, but the cultural and historical value for society would be worth even MORE!
Thanks for sharing your comment with us. We liked the facts and vocab words you picked to share! Hi, Jelin! Thanks so much for letting us know you liked today's Wonder! We appreciate hearing from you! That sounds like so much FUN, Ms. Please let us know how your boomerangs fly and if they come back! We think you guys ROCK for trying something new and learning more about how boomerangs work today! Thanks for sharing a cool fact you learned about boomerangs today, Emily!
We invite you to go on a Wonder Journey of your own to find the answer to your question about how long boomerangs stay in the air! We know there is a record for the world's longest boomerang throw, maybe there is one about the time a boomerang stayed in the air, too? WOW, Taylor! We're not sure about the answers to your questions We really liked reading it! Thanks for sharing it with us today, and thanks for letting us know you liked the boomerang video!
We did, too! Thanks so much for asking! We really enjoyed hearing about your boomerang story! Maybe you can practice learning to throw it outside sometime soon? Hi, Rey! When you do nice things for people, that kindness always seems to have a way of finding itself back to you Thanks for letting us know you liked the video for today's Wonder and that some of you even have boomerangs of your very own, Mr. We're glad you liked the stick joke, too! It made us "LOL!
What a neat way to think about throwing boomerangs, Monkey! It is a little like math we think math is super fun, too, by the way!
We appreciate your comment today! We're proud of you guys for always trying to guess what the next Wonder will be Did you like the funny joke that a "stick" is what you call a boomerang that doesn't come back, Kassy?
It made us laugh! Thanks so much for leaving us a comment today and letting us know you thought today's Wonder was cool! Happy Thursday, Sydney! Thanks so much for sharing what you think about boomerangs! Thanks for sharing your opinion about today's Wonder, Devan! We appreciate your comment and hope you have fun learning in Wonderopolis today! Hi, Drake! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about boomerangs!
Thanks for sharing about your boomerang experience, Cassidy! We thought it might be easy to learn to throw, but after seeing the video for today's Wonder, and hearing about your experience, we know it's going to take some practice and patience! We're up for the challenge, though, and we hope you are, too! Way to go, Rahul! We'll all have to return like a boomerang We can't wait!
We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature. Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. Want to add a little wonder to your website? Help spread the wonder of families learning together.
0コメント