What happens when a spinning skater pulls her arms in?
Watch a figure skater pull her arms in and suddenly whirl like a top — no push, just physics.
Talk about it
- Try it yourself: sit on a swivel chair, give yourself a spin, then pull your arms in tight — feel the speedup?
- Watch figure skating on TV together and count how fast the skater spins before and after pulling her arms in.
- Ask: where does the extra speed come from if nobody pushes her?