Drop an imaginary line
Project the combined center of mass vertically onto the ground.
Tower Tipping Test
Move a top load and widen a tower base to compare center of mass with support.
Grades 3–5 · Physics
Your goal
Test a 2 m wide tower base carrying a 4 kg top load 3 m right of center. Predict whether it is tips right from the center of mass.
Reduced motion is on. The controls still update the scene.
Combined center of mass is 0.00 m right of center. The support extends 1 m on either side. Set the top load and test your prediction.
m
kg
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The tower and base together have a fixed 4 kg mass centered at zero. The top rail has negligible mass and carries a rigidly attached load. The model checks static support on level ground without sliding or wind. A wider base keeps the same tower mass. The drawing shows the position before any fall.
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Learn with Tower Tipping Test
Tower Tipping Test helps elementary students investigate why a wide base can prevent a structure from falling. Adjust the base width, choose a top load, and move that load left or right along a rigid rail. A marked center of mass and a vertical weight line show how the tower and load act together. Test each arrangement to find stable positions, tipping positions and the special case of alignment with an edge. The guided goals encourage children to compare the weight line with the entire support region instead of looking only at the load position.
What to look for
Check both support edges
A projection outside the base makes the tower tip toward that side.
Treat the edge carefully
A projection exactly on an edge is marginal rather than safely stable.
For teachers and curious learners
Predict stability by checking whether the combined center of mass lies above the support region. Ask students to predict what will happen, change one setting, and explain what they observe. Learn gives a starting point. Practice and Challenge offer new goals with the same scene.
A rigid four kilogram tower and base carry a top load on a massless rail. Static stability uses the combined center of mass and level support, without wind or sliding. Edge alignment is marginal.