The bead on a rotating hoop is a typical problem in mechanics, frequently posed to junior science
and engineering students in basic physics courses. Although this system has a rich dynamics, it is
usually not analysed beyond the point particle approximation in undergraduate textbooks, nor
empirically investigated. Advanced textbooks show the existence of bifurcations owing to the
system’s nonlinear nature, and some papers demonstrate, from a theoretical standpoint, its points of
contact with phase transition phenomena. However, scarce experimental research has been conducted to
better understand its behaviour. We show in this paper that a minor modification to the problem
leads to appealing consequences that can be studied both theoretically and empirically with the
basic conceptual tools and experimental skills available to junior students. In particular, we go
beyond the point particle approximation by treating the bead as a rigid spherical body, and explore
the effect of a sl…