Pass a Straight Line Through a Curved Slot

The angled straw in the photograph above rotates around the vertical straw and passes through the curved slot in the paper without touching the paper. This is quite an interesting effect and is possible because a hyperboloid of one sheet is a ruled surface. This project is one of the many activities in my book Amazing Math Projects You Can Build Yourself.

Links

• For instructions on how to make this project and many others check out the book Amazing Math Projects You Can Build Yourself written for kids 9 to 14 years old.

References

• (Chyatte 2009, 16)