  We compute the hydrodynamic torque on a dumbbell (two spheres linked by a
massless rigid rod) settling in a quiescent fluid at small but finite Reynolds
number. The spheres have the same mass densities but different sizes. When the
sizes are quite different the dumbbell settles vertically, aligned with the
direction of gravity, the largest sphere first. But when the size difference is
sufficiently small then its steady-state angle is determined by a competition
between the size difference and the Reynolds number. When the sizes of the
spheres are exactly equal then fluid inertia causes the dumbbell to settle in a
horizontal orientation.
