Perhaps the most interesting thing to happen to tops since the Beyblade (perhaps more interesting than the Beyblade itself), this is the Topsy Turvy Top, conceptualized and designed by Lee Krasnow, and shown off in the video above by avid YouTuber, Michael Stevens. The way the top works is rather interesting. The design contains an outer and an inner top. Get the outer top to spin and the inner top spins too, because it’s being held by the outer top. Now flip the outer top over and stop its spinning and the gates at the base of the outer top open in grand fashion to reveal the inner top that continues spinning after the outer top has been stopped.
Designed to display the inertia of motion as well as centrifugal forces, Krasnow’s top is a fun, educational 3D printed toy. With a handful of parts that can either be put together on your own, or bought assembled from Krasnow’s Etsy store, the Topsy Turvy Top does a wonderful job of displaying the transfer of forces of energy, and the video above even breaks down the centrifugal forces that cause the gates on the larger top’s base to swing open, and the inertia that causes the inner top to remain spinning. It’s worth noting that the inner top tends to spin in the same direction as the outer one, even when you flip the outer top upside down (causing it to spin in the opposite direction). Suck on that, fidget-spinner-that-does-nothing.
Designer: Lee Krasnow (PacificPuzzleWorks)
