Inspired by rattleback toys, we created small chiral wires that rotate in a preferred direction on a vertically oscillating platform and quantified their motion with experiment and simulation. We demonstrate experimentally that angular momentum of rotation about particle centers of mass is converted to collective angular momentum of center-of-mass motion in a granular gas of these wires, and we introduce a continuum model that explains our observations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.