Motion of Rolling Sphericons
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: Hexacon and Sphericon Rollers
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Sphericons are unique solids that roll in such a way that every point on their surface comes in contact with the plane. Solids from the sphericon family all have one side and two edges. Each sphericon is based on an even sided regular polygon, with the basic sphericon derived from a square, and the next two possible shapes are the hexa-sphericon and octo-sphericon, each rolling with a more complicated path.
String Hyperboloid
Visit the Exploratorium
This exhibit reminds me of an amazing geometric sculpture where I used to work: Tractricious by Robert Wilson, founding director of Fermi National Accelerator Lab
Click this link for inexpensive hyperboloids you can own!
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String Hyperboloid @exploratorium : 26 strings held straight by hanging weights can be rotated as a set to produce a hyperboliod- the quadric surface related to the revolution of hyperbola around its axis of symmetry. Note that although this 3D shape is curved, an a infinite set of straight lines (like those of the strings) lie on its surface. Turning the top disk of this exhibit raises the weights on each string so that when it is released the potential energy will transfer back and forth to kinetic energy of rotation until the energy is damped out due to friction. ? With thanks to the Exploratorium!
Hyperboloid Spinner
Kit available here:
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Hyperboloid Spinner: HypnoGizmo
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Hyperboloid Spinner: the HypnoGizmo toy consists of a set of slanted straight nylon lines arranged to form the outline of a hyperboliod- the quadratic surface related to the revolution of hyperbola around its axis of symmetry. As the device rotates the beads slide along in succession on one of the straight paths leading to the complex visual display. So much fun math in this toy!
Kostick Stars
Two versions available here:
From Art of Play: BUY NOW: Kostick's Stars
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Here is the detail of the connections of the 6 star from the patent document:
Learn more about John Kostick here: John and Jane Kostick handcrafted mathematical constructions
Kostick Stars: The geometric forms of these kinetic sculptures snap into place due only to the balanced tension forces between thear slightly bent bronze wires. The large star is comprised of six struts, each made of 5 wires, which are made to intersect and weave though each other with beautiful geometric regularity. Similarly the small star has 4 struts each made of 3 wires. The ends of the 6 struts of the large star become the 12 vertices of an icosahedron, and the ends of the 4 struts of the small star point to the 8 corners of a cube. Both stars can be collapsed along many of the symmetry axes. Invented and patented in 1970, these stars are still produced and sold by artist and designer John Kostick.
Chiral Aperiodic Monotile Puzzle
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: Specter Tile Set by Nervous Syestem
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Read the published paper: A chiral aperiodic monotile
Chiral Aperiodic Monotile: these puzzle pieces are all identical in shape, based on special family of forms called “specters”, and are key to a major mathematical discovery in May of 2023. Specters will tessellate a plane to infinity, similar to how squares or hexagons can tile out with no gaps. However specters are identically shaped tiles which fill the plane aperiodically- if one tries to shift a part of a specter tiling, the shifted part will not align or match up with any other part of the same tiling- all the way out to infinity! The fact that aperiodic tessellations exist at all is pretty amazing, and Sir Roger Penrose (Nobel prize in physics 2020) is also famous for discovering a pair of regularly shaped polygons in the 1970s that tile in this aperiodic way. Specters were discovered by the same team of mathematicians (Smith, Myers, Kaplan, and Goodman-Strauss) who discovered “the hat” aperiodic monotile in March 2023, but the hat needs its mirror image to complete the tiling whereas the specter does not. An amazing development found only two months after the initial major breakthrough. Credit to the @nervous.system design team for modifying the specter into an interlocking puzzle piece form- and assembling these without gaps is a fair challenge!
Spinning Liquid Pen
Get this pen set here (dolphin, turtle, polar bear, penguin):
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Spinning Liquid Motion Pens
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Spinning Liquid Pen: two immiscible fluids (three if you count the air bubble) are sorted under gravity by density with the densest on the bottom and the lightest on top. When the container is rotated, the boundary between the layers forms a parabola due to the added influence of centripetal acceleration as seen here in 240 fps slow motion. The plastic dolphin has a density between that of the two liquids so it stays at the boundary layer. A rather silly toy- but so much physics to explore here!
Shashibo Puzzle Dissected
Get this cube puzzle (in a variety of colors and patterns) here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Shashibo Cube
From Art of Play: BUY NOW : Shashibo Geometric Art
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Shashibo Puzzle Dissected: I cut apart one of these puzzles to better understand the geometry: it is indeed a cube dissected into 12 equal irregular tetrahedra as seen here. The embedded magnets still allow construction of the cube. Of course the symmetrically placed hinges (along with strategically placed magnets) creates the real magic of the Shashibo puzzle- a device with more that 70 geometrically interesting and aesthetic configurations including a rhombic dodecahedron as well as the cube.
Mirror Rattleback Pair
The amazing work of Emmanuel Péluchon can be purchased here:
From Boisselier.ca: BUY NOW: Fine Woodworked Rattleback
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Other rattlebacks variations found here- check them out: physicsfun rattlebacks
Enantiomorphic Rattlebacks: due to mirror reflection construction, one prefers to spin counter clockwise the other prefers clockwise. This behavior is related to an asymmetry in weight along the left/right symmetry axis of these beautifully crafted objects- the dark wood is Apple which has twice the density of the light colored Basswood(Linden). This asymmetry in weight induces an instability, quite like the vibrations that arise from an unbalanced tire, that transfers the rotational energy to the intermediate rocking vibrations. This amazing set was made by Emmanuel Péluchon, fine woodworker and artist.
Zulu Telephone Wire Bowl
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: Zulu Wire Bowls
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Geometric Weaving: this Zulu telephone wire bowl, made in the traditions of South Africa, features a brilliant spiral pattern. The bright colors come from weaving strands of colored wires- the kind used to connect phones throughout buildings. This particular pattern inspired using a rotating base to display this bowl as kinetic sculpture.
Center of Mass Tops
Similar tops available here: Center of Mass tops
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Asymmetric Spinning Tops: any 2D shape will spin nicely if spun about an axis through its center of mass. Here cutouts of animal shapes rotate about their centers of mass. The axis through the bear’s CoM seems to have missed slightly and is not quite as stable.
100 Carat Diamond Timer
This item came in my Curiosity Box subscription. Join today to expand your science toy collection!
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100 Carat Diamond Timer: a classic one minute timer glass but filled with tiny diamonds! Another novel creation that just arrived in my @thecuriositybox — ideal timing for a New Years day post. Actual diamonds but synthetic from a process called chemical vapor deposition, think less gemstone and more industrial- such as those used in diamond tipped saw blades used to cut gemstones. Yellow gold in color due to nitrogen impurities that facilitate the carbon atoms to join into the diamond lattice structure. These tiny crystals seem to be quite elastic and they rebound energetically as they hit glass below.
Map of the Universe: 2dFGRS
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: 2dFGRS Crystal Sculpture
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Map of the Universe: actual astrophysical data with 221,000 laser etched dots, each dot representing a galaxy of stars and revealing the largest scale structures of our universe. This glass cube contains a 3D mapping of galaxies using the data from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey completed in 2003 which revealed the large scale clumping and voids of galaxies, the true structure of our universe out to about 2.5 billion lightyears. The 3.9 meter wide telescope took about 5 years to collect the spectra of each galaxy in two thin slices of the sky, representing about 4% of the total. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has since expanded on this to about 40% of the sky now mapped to 12 billion lightyears. Hold and explore this mapped chunk of the universe in your own hands!
HoverPen Interstellar Edition
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From Amazon: BUY NOW: HoverPen Interstellar
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The HoverPen (Interstellar Edition): A sleek writing pen trapped against gravity- at an elegant angle of 23 degrees - by a magnetic field via precision engineered placement of neodymium magnets in the base. Produced by the Novium line of awesome physics based products- and a financial supporter of science education including a personal favorite YouTube channel: PBS SpaceTime.
Holographic Angel Specs
Get these this animated angel design and many more here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Holiday Specs Holographic Glasses
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See more designes here: Holospecs & Tree Lights
Holographic Angel Specs: put on these spectacles and fairy-like tiny angels will suddenly appear around every point source of light!- fluttering their wings as you tilt your head. The “lenses” in these glasses are actually transmission holograms but with the image located at the farthest point in the depth of field. Made by @americanpaperoptics3d with many more images available(see recent post), and some incorporate animation, like the wings on these angels.
