Get one here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Vortex II Coin Bank
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Vortex II Coin Bank: interplay of potential energy of gravity and conservation of angular momentum- a simulation of a decaying orbit. Fun with every coin saved!
Many models and colors to choose from, available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW
Heng Balance Lamp
Heng Balance Lamp: magnetic suspension sculpture and light- with two neodymium magnets on cords suspended by their mutual magnetic attraction. In this design by Zanwen Li, the bottom cord engages the light switch.
Get this amazing Galton Board probabutly demonstrator here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Galton Board (comes with an wonderful fact filled booklet).
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Mini Galton Board: 4280 steel balls (and one gold bead) fall through 14 levels of branching paths and always end up matching a bell curve distribution. Another elegant design by Philip Poissant, this device is a modern version of the Galton Board, invented by Sir Francis Galton(1894) to demonstrate the Central Limit Theorem and show how random processes gather around the mean. Each ball has a 50/50 chance of going left or right at each branch such that the balls are distributed at the bottom by the mathematical binomial distribution. In addition the number of balls in each bin can be predicted by Pascal’s triangle, where the number on each hexagonal branch point represents the number of possible paths to reach that point from the top. See if your eyes can follow the path of the gold bead (representing a single random path) in the 240fps slow motion segment of the video. Made and distributed by Four Pines Publishing Inc. and IFA.com the device can also illustrate fluctuations in market earnings.
Get one here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Beam Down Star Trek Mug
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Thermochromic Beam Down Mug: Pour up some hot coffee and watch the crew of the USS Enterprise leave the ship and rematerialize on the planet surface with this color-changing physics mug. The color change employs leuco dyes, thermochromic chemicals that have two reversible forms, one colorless when wqrmed above a theshold temperature.
The smallest Magswitch in this product line, yet it can lift 17 lbs! The Magjig 60:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Magswitch 60
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Magswitch: switchable permanent magnet- a twist of a knob turns on a magnetic field strong enough to lift this 5.2 kilogram (11 pound) chunk of railroad rail. Magnetic fields, when combined, can be either additive or subtractive. This Magswitch model, the Magjig 60, works by aligning and counter-aligning two strong neodymium dipole magnets within a field channeling ferromagnetic casing.
Similar cups available here- some change with hot water, some with cold:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Cherry Blossom Color Change Cup
Check out these other thermochomic physics toys
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Cherry Blossom Sake Cups: ice cold liquid produces blue blossoms on the initially bare branch, but pour in a hot beverage and the branch fills with pink flowers! The designs at the bottom of these ceramic color-changing cups employ leuco dyes, thermochromic chemicals that have reversible forms, one colorless.
Another amazing spinning device by Prof. Ken Brecher! Get his spinning tops here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW: phoTOP
From Etsy: BUY NOW: phoTOP, PiTOP, eTOP, iTOP, DeltaCELT
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The PhoTOP: phosphorescent glow illuminates the intricate path of a 405nm laser pointer beam on a balanced spinning disk. Let the disk set alone for a few minutes to allow the traces to fade- and repeat again and again to experiment making new patterns.
Get this quality flying disk here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: UV Chameleon by Discraft
You may also want a powerful UV flashlight:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: High Power UV Light
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Photochromic Frisbee: the plastic of the UV Chameleon by Discraft contains photochromic pigment molecules that actually change shape when struck by photons of UV light, and the new shape alters their absorption properties such that they reflect a deep purple color. The color is temporary- room temperature thermal energy bumps the molecules back into their original configuration, and the color fades back to white in about 3 minutes (shown here sped up x7). A long wave UV flashlight is used to “paint” the disk purple, and sunlight will do the same very quickly.
Get one here:
From Edicational Innovations: BUY NOW: Switch Pitch Ball
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Switch Pitch Ball: this spherical assembly changes color by turning inside out when tossed into the air. A favorite of my mechanical toys with surprising physics. Interestingly the advertisements for this toy incorrectly claim air drag is involved in the transformation. To understand why the ball inverts first note that the ball is made of multiple components hinged together. In launching the ball from the hand an upward acceleration results in a torque that pivots each component around its center of mass, causing the rotation of these components in an organized way leading to the transformation. Imagine tossing a stick straight up. If the stick is perfectly vertical upon launch it will move straight up- but if it is initially slanted at all it will also begin to rotate upon launch. Similar physics underlies the motion of each component of the ball- shown here in 240 fps slow motion. The Switch Pitch is produced by the makers of the Hoberman Sphere.
These acrylic versions work great and are inexpensive:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Rattlebacks
From Amazon: BUY NOW Rattlebacks
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Acrylic Rattleback: a favorite from my collection- prefers to spin counter clockwise. If spun clockwise, a complicated combination of friction, precession, and instability induced vibrations transforms the rotational energy into into rattling (energy of oscillations) and then into rotational energy in the opposite direction! This behavior is related to the asymmetric shape of the bottom of this kind of rattleback, it's somewhat propeller shaped with an "S" curve along the bottom ridge
Many styles/colors to choose from:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Lollipopter Kinetic Art
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The Lollipopter (The Helicone): one of my favorite interactive kinetic sculpture designs. With a bit of practice one can master the transformation in both directions: A snap of the wrist imparts angular momentum to the "petals" which then rotate until an internal mechanism stops their motion with predetermined spacing- a helix transforms to an abstract pine cone. A second snap of the wrist in the opposite direction returns the helix. A creation by artist John Edmark.
Available for all the planets and several versions of Earth:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Mova Globes: all types
From Amazon: BUY NOW Mova Globes: Jupiter
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From movaglobes.com: BUY NOW Mova Globe: Jupiter
Jupiter Globe by Mova: rotating counterweighted globe sealed within a clear liquid filled acrylic sphere. The rotation is powered by light that shines through the semi-transparent Jupiter globe on to solar cells within the globe which drive a motor. But what does the motor push against to maintain the rotation? Believe it or not it uses magnets to push against the Earth's magnetic field like a compass needle. Wonderful physics of all kinds in the design of this clever device.
Get this puzzle here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Missing Edge Puzzle Card
See the simiar and amazing: Matsuyama's Puzzle
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Missing Edge Piece Puzzle: fun math involved in the design of this puzzle, which illustrates how the concept of area can challenge our intuitions. Swipe to see the similar and amazing Matsuyama’s Paradox puzzle. A precision crafted puzzle by Jeux Efcé game shop.
Create amazing Telsa coil lighning at an affordable price! Please be sure to employ all appropriate safety precautions when utilizing any electrical circuity.
From engineDIY: BUY NOW: Disk Tesla Coil
Click here for similar amazing devices from engineDIY
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Disk Tesla Coil: incredible coronal brush discharges form intricate miniature lightning in this variation of the famous air core double-tuned resonate transformer invented by Nikola Tesla in 1891. In this novel design the coil is created using modern printed circuit board (PCB) technology producing a spiral of many conductive windings, so thin and close together it looks a bit like a gold phonograph record. The 10 cm long sparks are made possible by a very high voltage, but also a very fast discharge of a capacitor, and each lightning flash is accompanied by a dramatic popping sound characteristic of capacitor discharge (shown up close in 240fps slow motion). Powered by a 24V DC supply, this unit is fairly safe due to a low current (mA)- the discharge feels like a light tickle (but don’t touch the electrode- it gets hot).
Variations (bear, spaceman) avaialable from these sources:
From Etsy: BUY NOW Fireworks Infinity Lamps
From Amazon: BUY NOW Fireworks Infinity Lamps
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The Kitty Cat Lamp I found: here
Kitty Cat Fireworks Lamp: illusion of depth from multiple refections. This glass cat sculpture is partially coated inside and out with a thin metal layer. The metal layer is made thinner in a pattern of small circles and stars to produce iridescent colors through thin-film interference effects. When lit from within by white LEDs, multiple reflections on the curved contour of the glass creates the firework like spray of light and color.
Now available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Anamorphic Wavy Cups & Saucers
See all the amazing illusions and art avaialble from Luycho: Luycho | A New world on Mirrors
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Mirror Anamorphic Lenticular Cup & Saucer: a toucan sits in a nest of flowers, revealed when the cylindrical mirrored cup is put in place. This beautiful design by Luycho uses both mirror anamorphic reflection and an accordion type lenticular dual image (turning the plate 180 degrees trades images). Art meets math and physics!
The Nixie Tube Clock in the video is of amazing craftsmanship- real hardwood with brass accents and solid construction. Get one from this excellent shop:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Nixie Tube Clocks
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Nixie Tube Clock V2: long before there were 7 segment LED displays there was the Nixie- cold cathode tubes with a wire mesh and 10 cathodes shaped in the form of numerals 0-9 that illuminate through neon glow discharge. The “Numeric Indicator eXperimental 1” or NIX 1 was introduced in 1955 by Burroughs Corporation and manufactured until the 1990s. This clock uses modern electronics to power Russian versions called the ИH-12A where the numbers are stacked so the front symbols obscure each lighted cathode minimally: from back to front 162750483.
I made the display holder and I got this set of gas tubes here (about $7 per tube):
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Gas Pure Element Samples
Here is the miniture tesla coil used in the video:
From engineDIY: BUY NOW: Mini Tesla Coil
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The breakdown voltages of the elements featured in this post are described by Paschen's Law:
Here is a excellent article with an overview of the physics of glow discharge and its application in lighting and other technologies.
Gas Collection for Emission Spectra: pure samples of hydrogen, nitrogen and five noble gasses are subjected to the high frequency pulsed field of a miniature Tesla coil. Each gas has a characteristic breakdown voltage and emission spectrum- note that Nitrogen has the highest breakdown voltage and only glows when very near the coil where the field is most intense whereas Neon and Helium have the lowest breakdown voltage and begin to glow many centimeters away from the coil. The color of each gas is due to a mix of the colors emitted from electron energy transitions specific to each element- the basis of spectroscopy. The Krypton tube also exhibits interesting oscillations with this particular Tesla coil.