Set 1
Run 01 - Large nylon object 1
This large nylon object is out of focus and does not appear to rotate much.
Run 02 - Large nylon object 2
This large nylon object displays no visible rotation and little tumbling as it sediments.
Run 04 - Large nylon object 4
This large nylon object tumbles as it sinks, but does not appear to rotate.
Run 05 - Small nylon object 1
This small nylon object does not appear to rotate at all as it sediments.
Run 06 - Medium nylon object 1
This nylon object goes through an initial transient where it reorients itself, and then sinks.
Run 08 - Small nylon object 3
This small nylon object seems to rotate, but so slowly that it is difficult to see. Runs 13-15
Run 09 - Small plastic object 1
This small plastic object was roughly cut into the shape of a three-pointed star. It is very
Run 10 - Small nylon object 4
This small nylon object appears to sink straight down. If it does rotate, it does so very slowly.
Run 11 - Large nylon object 5
This large nylon object falls very quickly and displays almost no rotation or tumbling.
Run 12 - Large nylon object 6
This object displays a slight tumbling motion, but no rotation, as it quickly sediments.
Run 13 - Small nylon object 5
The object cut from a piece of nylon demonstrates rotation as it sinks. There is a slight jump in
Run 14 - Small nylon object 5
The small nylon object from Run 13 again appears to rotate fine, but a camera malfunction causes
Run 15 - Small nylon object 5
The small nylon object from Runs 13 and 14 is again clearly rotating as it sinks. Below is a
Run 16 - Large copper twist
A length of copper wire was bent into a twisted shape and dropped. It appears to twist, but is so
Run 17 - Large copper twist
As in Run 16, this twist of copper falls too quickly to see the rotation well.
Run 18 - Small copper twist
A smaller gauge copper wire than in Runs 16 and 17 gives slower sedimentation. As the object
Run 19 - Small copper twist
The twist of copper wire clearly rotates as it sediments along a helical path. A multiple-exposure
Run 20 - Small nylon object 5
This small piece of nylon shows clear rotation is it falls in a narrow helix; see Run 24 for a
Run 21 - Small copper knot
The small knot of copper wire falls very quickly and appears to tumble rather than rotate. The
Run 22 - Small copper knot
The small knot made of copper falls quickly, but it is still possible to see a full rotation.
Run 23 - Large copper knot
The large knot made from copper wire sinks very quickly and appears to tumble rather than rotate.
Run 24 - Small nylon object 5
The nylon piece rotates in a tight helix as it sinks. Below is a multiple-exposure zoomed image of
Run 25 - Small copper twist
From the top, the copper twist is very hard to see with this lighting. Try Run 26 instead.
Run 26 - Small copper twist
In a top view, the copper twist shows up better with the bright lighting
Run 27 - Small nylon object 5
In the bright light, it is very difficult to see the nylon sedimenting. Try Run 24 instead.
The objects in this set sedimented in a beaker filled with vegetable oil. Movies were taken by combining still images taken at 3 Hz.
The first several runs did not show significant rotation. Occasionally they quickly tumbled to some preferred orientation, but they fell quickly enough that they reached the bottom of the beaker before undergoing significant rotation. Run 13 is the first that shows a very pronounced rotation.
The last four runs show a top view, with two different types of lighting. One is better for viewing a sedimenting nylon object, and the other is better for viewing a sedimenting twist of copper wire. From this view it is easier to see that the nylon sediments in a helix.
