OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Prize Wheel 3D
Physics Wheel of Names That Clicks to a Stop
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How the 3D Prize Wheel works
This prize wheel 3D spinner picks a winner from your list. Type your options in the box, separated by commas, and press Restart to lay them out around the wheel. Press Spin, or click the wheel itself, and it whirls off with a slightly random kick each time. A spring loaded flapper at the top catches on the pegs around the rim, giving the familiar clatter and slowing the wheel down, until it stops and the status line names the winner. The stats show what is under the pointer right now, the wheel's speed in rpm and how many spins you have taken. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, Save PNG to keep the result.
Prize wheel 3D: what it does and why
Most online wheel pickers are an animation: a random number is drawn first and the wheel is then rotated to land on it. This one is a real physical wheel in a 3D physics engine running in your browser. The disc is a rigid body on a hinge with a little bearing friction, the pegs are solid cylinders fixed to its rim, and the flapper is a separate hinged body pulled back to the centre by a spring. Every click of the flapper takes a bit of energy out of the wheel, and the result is simply whichever segment happens to be under the pointer when the disc stops turning. Nothing decides the answer in advance.
Options is a comma separated list of up to twenty four entries. Two or more are needed for a wheel; commas inside an option can be avoided by putting each entry on its own line instead. Long names are trimmed to fit the segment. Change the list and press Restart to rebuild the wheel. Spin strength is the starting speed of the wheel in radians per second before the random kick is added. A weak spin makes a few turns and stops quickly; a strong one runs for a long time and the pegs rattle past the flapper in a blur before it slows down.
Because the spin includes a random component and the flapper's collisions are chaotic, the outcome is not predictable from the setting alone, which is what makes it a fair picker. Every segment is the same size so each option has the same chance. Everything is calculated locally in the page; nothing you type is uploaded.
FAQ
Is it really random?
The result comes from the physics: a random kick on top of the spin strength, then chaotic peg-and-flapper collisions. No number is drawn in advance and every segment is the same size, so each option has an equal chance.
Can I weight one option more than another?
Only by listing it more than once. Two entries of the same name give it two segments and twice the chance. The segments are placed where the entries fall in the list, so spread the duplicates out if you want them on opposite sides of the wheel.
What if the pointer stops on a line?
The result is whichever segment is under the pointer's tip when the wheel stops, and the pegs make it unlikely to stop exactly on a divider. If you want to argue, spin again.
Can I remove an option after a win?
Edit the list and press Restart; the wheel rebuilds with the remaining names. The spin count is kept, so you can run a series of draws from a shrinking list and still see how many spins it took.
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