Curl Paddle Wheel

cults3d

The curl paddle wheel shows off how the curl of a vector field measures up to its ability to cause rotations through force. It's also helpful for explaining circulation and Stokes' Theorem. For nearly two decades, I had been searching for a model that would illustrate this concept after struggling with whiteboard markers and other makeshift props scattered around my classroom. This was one of the first items I designed and 3D printed, and I've used it every semester since. Built using Mathematica.