Tokyo, Japan, February 15, 2010 - NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Norio Otsuka) held an experiments workshop entitled “Revealing Friction” on Thursday, February 11, at the Science Museum in Tokyo.
This was the third experiments workshop that NSK has held at the Science Museum and 17 elementary school student members of the Science Club* participated. The workshop was based on experiments involving friction, a force that cannot usually be recognized, with the theme of the event “How many children would it take to move the Great Buddha statue situated in Kamakura ”
The program consisted of learning about the principles of sliding friction and rolling friction, and participants joined forces with NSK engineers to consider how Kamakura's 120-t Giant Buddha could be moved. After predicting how many children would be needed to move the Giant Buddha, experimental tools were assembled and experiments carried out. Following this, verification was conducted by pulling a trolley with an adult sitting on it. By offering the children a real feel of the different frictional forces that operate, the simulations and experiments provided the participants with a hands-on experience simulating what an engineer's work actually comprises of.
NSK offers its hands-on science workshops for children in order to generate an interest in science among young people, whom the future rests on. NSK is committed to promoting activities that contribute to the training and development of the next generation of science and technology personnel through programs like this.
| Science Club: | The Science Museum's Science Club operates on a membership system. It offers tours of its facilities and a variety of fun events including workshops, experiments, computer classes and nature appreciation classes, with the aim of nurturing children's love for science and allowing them to enjoy the experience of creating things. |
