Moment Teaching Scale

myminifactory

This educational tool was created to introduce engineering students or high school students in an engineering fundamentals class to moments. Moments are a crucial concept across various engineering disciplines, and this device makes it accessible. The scale is designed to be used with a stack of US pennies - six pennies per scale is recommended. The holes on the beam are evenly spaced from its centerline; two pennies on one hole equal one penny on the other side's farther hole. This visual representation clearly shows that there's a direct relationship between the distance from the axis of rotation (the chosen penny stack hole) and the force (weight of pennies), teaching students the fundamentals of moments. "The magnitude of the moment of a force acting about a point or axis is directly proportional to the distance of the force from the point or axis" - Shaeffer, R.E. Elementary Structures for Architects and Builders, pp. 33-39. Moment = (Force) x (distance) Production cost: $1.12 (assuming a filament price of $20/kg).