Have you ever wondered why you get dizzy? It’s all about how your body keeps its balance, and it turns out there’s some cool science behind it! Recently, I teamed up with Joe Hanson from “It’s Okay to be Smart” to explore dizziness in a fun way. We discovered that you can actually get dizzy in three different ways, and we decided to test them out with a piñata experiment.
When we talk about dizziness, we’re really talking about how our inner ear helps us balance. Inside your ear, there are three tiny tubes called semicircular canals. These canals are filled with fluid and help your brain figure out which way your head is moving. Each canal is positioned on a different axis: vertical, lateral, and left-right. When you spin around, the fluid moves, and that’s what makes you feel dizzy!
We wanted to see how spinning affects your ability to hit a piñata. So, we tried spinning in different ways: upright, with our heads down, and with our heads tilted. We used a phone app to measure how fast we were spinning and how dizzy we got. It was a lot of fun, but also a bit challenging!
Spinning on the vertical axis (head upright) seemed to be the best way to avoid getting too dizzy. This means you might have a better chance of hitting the piñata if you spin this way. We also tested some remedies for dizziness, like ginger gum and pressure bands. Ginger seemed to help reduce dizziness, and the pressure bands gave people more confidence while spinning.
If you want to be the piñata champion at your next party, here are some tips: spin with your head upright and try to spin slowly to avoid dizziness. Chewing ginger gum about 30 minutes before you spin might help, and wearing a pressure band could make you feel more stable. When it comes to hitting the piñata, aim for a vertical strike to maximize your chances of success.
Why not try this experiment at home? You can see how different spinning techniques affect your dizziness and share your results with friends. It’s a fun way to learn about science and have a great time at parties. Plus, if you’re curious about the science of dizziness, check out Joe’s channel, “It’s Okay to be Smart,” for more fascinating insights.
Thanks to the Google Science Journal app for helping us measure our spins. It’s a great tool for exploring scientific concepts using your phone’s sensors. Download it and start experimenting today!
Using simple materials like straws, water, and a small container, create a model of the semicircular canals in your ear. Observe how the water moves when you tilt or spin the model. This will help you understand how your inner ear detects motion and balance.
Download the Google Science Journal app on your phone. Spin in different ways (upright, head down, head tilted) and use the app to measure your spin speed and dizziness level. Record your findings and compare which position makes you the least dizzy.
Organize a piñata challenge with your friends. Try spinning in different ways before attempting to hit the piñata. Use the tips from the article, like spinning upright and using ginger gum, to see who can hit the piñata with the least dizziness.
Test different remedies for dizziness, such as ginger gum and pressure bands. Spin around and then try each remedy to see which one helps reduce dizziness the most. Share your results with the class and discuss why some remedies might work better than others.
Research more about the science of dizziness and balance. Create a presentation or poster to share with your classmates. Include interesting facts, diagrams of the inner ear, and tips for preventing dizziness. This will help reinforce your understanding of the topic.
Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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Your eyes are moving so much! They’re like rocketing back and forth. A few weeks ago, I visited Joe Hanson from It’s Okay to be Smart, and he convinced me that I could become dizzy in three different ways. They were all quite challenging.
As I explored the science of dizziness, I found that the main researchers studying motion sickness are military labs, trying to figure out how a navy can avoid motion sickness or how astronauts can work effectively in space. However, there was a gap in experiments looking at how ordinary civilians, like me, can manage dizziness in everyday situations. For example, tasks that involve spinning in a chair for practical purposes. There’s no research on the best way to spin to hit a piñata or on how well people can hit a piñata after spinning.
So, we decided to run a simple experiment. It might seem silly, but I felt it was an important experiment for the greater good, and there’s some fascinating science involved.
Now, on closer inspection of the piñata participant, it’s important to note that his head is facing down. I mentioned earlier that you can get dizzy in different ways, which relates to how we regulate balance via our ears. Your inner ear has three semicircular canals, each sitting on a different axis or plane, filled with fluid to sense how your body is oriented in space. A normal upright chair spin affects the vertical axis, but having your forehead facing down manipulates the lateral axis, and tilting your head affects the left-right axis. You can even see my eyes moving in different directions when I was spinning on these various axes.
I believe spinning on the vertical axis will lead to the best piñata technique. To truly determine this, we needed to do a lot of spinning. Since I left Joe in Texas, I recruited some new participants: Brian from Real Engineering, Matt from NandovMovies, Phillip from Volksgeist, and Devin from LegalEagle. I attached my phone to their heads using the Google Science Journal app to measure the acceleration on each axis.
We started with a control spin on each of the three axes. Everyone was really good at spinning on the spot without moving, which was impressive. There was a noticeable difference in the maximum speed along the test axis and average linear speed. Still, it was occasionally wobbly. Matt hit the ground at more than 16 m/s (which for a split second was equal to 60 km/h). Dizziness can be quite dangerous! Spinning with your forehead down led to the most subjective dizziness and recovery time, which could be useful information if you want to make a piñata game more challenging for your friends.
Next, I wanted to test if any over-the-counter motion sickness medication affected their level of dizziness. I gave Brian and Matt some ginger gum and Devin and Phillip a pressure band. I suspect there was a practice effect, as everyone spun faster on their second attempt. Brian turned the spinning into a competitive sport. Research shows that ginger can reduce motion sickness the most. In this case, people spun faster with the pressure bands than with the ginger or nothing at all. It could have just been confidence; they might have felt more stable, or maybe nothing is conclusive since this experiment only had four participants.
So, if you want to excel at your next party, we concluded that you should spin on the vertical axis (head upright) and with slower acceleration if possible. This leads to the least amount of dizziness and the highest likelihood of making contact with the piñata. Eating some ginger or ginger gum about 30 minutes beforehand could give you an advantage, and a pressure band could provide a confidence boost.
If you want to be a well-rounded piñata practitioner, there’s also the matter of the best way to hit it. Devin suggested hitting it in a way that utilizes the moment of inertia effectively. Brian mentioned that the stress concentration would be in the hook, as all the force would go through that point where it’s being held up. So, hitting it in a vertical manner will give you the best chance of knocking the piñata to the ground.
In theory, I want you to take these results and do one of two things: try to replicate this experiment and share the results with me, or go out and have fun while applying this science in social settings. This is the first piñata technique experiment ever conducted, and while I don’t want to call myself an innovator without justification, this is indeed a step forward.
For a deeper dive into how we feel dizzy, please head over to Joe’s channel, It’s Okay to be Smart. Believe it or not, there’s a lot more footage of me in that chair. Also, please consider subscribing to my wonderful participants for more insightful content. I want to thank the Google Science Journal app for sponsoring this world-class experiment. If you’re exploring scientific concepts, it uses your phone’s built-in sensors to measure everything from acceleration to sound intensity and pressure. Download it from your preferred app store and happy experimenting!
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This version removes any informal language and maintains a professional tone while preserving the core content and message.
Dizziness – A sensation of spinning around and losing one’s balance, often caused by a disturbance in the inner ear. – After the roller coaster ride, Sarah felt dizziness because her inner ear was affected by the rapid movements.
Balance – The ability to maintain a stable position without falling, often involving the coordination of the inner ear, eyes, and muscles. – In physics class, we learned how tightrope walkers use a long pole to help maintain their balance.
Science – The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. – In science class, we conducted an experiment to understand how different materials conduct electricity.
Experiment – A scientific procedure undertaken to test a hypothesis by collecting data under controlled conditions. – Our experiment involved measuring the time it took for different objects to fall from the same height.
Spinning – Rotating rapidly around an axis. – The spinning top demonstrated the principle of angular momentum in our physics lesson.
Canals – In the context of the human body, these are the semicircular canals in the inner ear that help maintain balance. – The semicircular canals in our ears send signals to the brain to help us keep our balance.
Fluid – A substance that has no fixed shape and yields easily to external pressure; a liquid or gas. – The fluid in the semicircular canals of the ear moves when we turn our heads, helping us maintain balance.
Ginger – A plant root often used as a spice or medicine, known for its ability to help reduce nausea and dizziness. – Some people drink ginger tea to help alleviate dizziness after a long car ride.
Pressure – The force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area. – We learned that air pressure decreases as we climb higher in altitude during our science class.
Vertical – Being in a position or direction perpendicular to the horizon; upright. – The teacher asked us to draw a vertical line on the graph to represent the object’s height over time.
