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6J11.32 - Colored Fan with Strobe

 

Instructions
A four-bladed fan has each blade painted a different color: red, blue, green and yellow. By illuminating the fan with a strong strobe light, many different colorful arrangements are possible. Start with the highest flash rate and slowly decrease the rate. When the strobe rate is four times the fan speed, the fan appears to have stopped and all the blades are the same color, usually a dull yellow or tan. When the strobe rate decreases to two times the fan speed, two colors appear. Depending on the sequence of the blades, these two colors can be either blue and yellow, or magenta and light yellow. When the strobe rate is at the same speed as the fan, the fan appears to have stopped and each blade is a different color, red, blue, green and yellow. Using the strobe, the motion of the fan can be slowed down, stopped, or "reversed." The idea of how a stroboscope works, the nature of rotary motion and high speed harmonic motion can be discussed. ​