Magneview Flim
Get some magnetic viewing film here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Magnetic Viewing Film
Magneview Flim: making the invisible visible and revealing the hidden physics of our everyday world. Microscopic cavities in this green film are filled with oil and tiny flakes of Nickel metal- like compass needles, the flakes align with the magnetic fields revealing the complexity of the north and south pole domains of these magnets. Two of the disk magnets have multiple north and south poles and look like gears with teeth- these are rotors from small motors.
Piezoelectric PZT Cell
This classroom demo in avaqilable here: WINSCO Piezo Demo
Here is a fun kit that uses a piezo ignghter to make small explosions:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Piezo Popper Kit
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Piezoelectric PZT Cell: encased in acrylic is a cylinder of ceramic PZT material which when suddenly compressed generates more than 30kV allowing a spark to jump across a 1cm gap. This vintage 1970s demonstration (still available) uses a lever and cam mechanism to compress the piezo ceramic which is connected via conductors to the spark gap. The piezoelectric effect is the ability of certain materials to generate electric charge when deformed under mechanical stress. Lead (Pb) Zirconate Titanate (PZT) is the world’s most widely used for making sparks- you probably own a piece in your lighter wands or on your barbecue or stove where a spring mechanism is used to strike the piezo cell.
Quantum Re-Excitation: Phosphorescence
Need a UV laser pointer? Get 3 lasers (one of each color) for under $10:
From Amazon: BUY NOW red+green+blue(UV) laser pointers
Get inexpensive phosphorescent sheet material here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Glow-in-the-dark sheet
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Quantum Re-Excitation: a green laser should not normally be able to induce a phosphorescent glow, but if the material is already excited a green laser can re-excite it as seen here. Glow-in-the-dark phosphorescence is a quantum mechanical phenomenon where high energy photons (like those from a near UV laser pointer) are absorbed by electrons which are then boosted to higher energy levels. The glow comes from these electrons emitting lower energy photons (green in this case) as they jump down through a series of energy levels back towards their ground state. If an electron is only partially down the cascade path, lower energy photons from a green laser can bump it back up to the excited state. Quantum mechanics is all about discrete jumps in energy like what is happening here.
Drinking Bird Engine Experiment
Get this famous physics toy from these sources:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW: Drinking Bird Engine
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Drinking Bird Engine
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Wikipedia has wonderful details about the rich history (and further descriptions of the operational principals) of the Drinking Bird.
Drinking Bird Engine Experiment: what happens if you feed a drinking bird alcohol? This experiment compares the drinking rate (time per one full engine cycle) of two identical bird devices- but the glass on the left is filled with 70% isopropyl alcohol whereas the glass on the right contains tap water. After wetting the tops of both birds we count how many times each one “takes a drink” over a 5 minute duration (shown at x6 speed). This classic physics toy is a functional heat engine where cooling by evaporation at the head/beak provides the operating temperature difference. Isopropyl alcohol has a more rapid evaporation rate than water for room temperature and low humidity- so which bird will win?
Horizontal Hand Boiler
This device available here:
From Edicational Innovations: BUY NOW: Horizontal Hand Boiler
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Horizontal Hand Boiler: liquid-gas phase transition. The boiling point of dichloromethane is slightly below body temperature and heat from a hand will induce vaporization of the liquid which increases pressure in one bulb pushing the red (dyed) liquid through the glass pipe to the other bulb. The process can repeat by switching the hand to the other side, but as both sides heat up the transfer is less vigorous. An inexpensive toy demonstrating phase changes and other thermodynamic physics.
WindGyro
Get one here!
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW: WindGyro
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WindGyro: Spin this top up with a puff of air! Small magnets keep the top secured to the base so that a stream of air will induce rotation as the air flows through the engineered turbine blades of the elegant spiral structure.
Static Spheres
Get this inexpensive device here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW: Static Spheres
Click here for other static electricity devices
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Static Spheres: triboelectric effect toy. The red acetate spheres are given an acquired net negative charge, and their mutual repulsion allows them to jump a centimeter or more as charge is manipulated on the PET plastic container. Bringing an object near the container momentarily moves electrons (charge) around creating repulsive forces (sphere v. sphere) and attractive forces (spheres and container) resulting in the observed motions. The red spheres interact with each other without coming into physical contact (as shown in 240 fps slow motion) as like charges repel. Shaking the system a bit allows the red spheres to pick up charge in the first place by colliding with the container.
The Dancing Helix
Get one here! Chose your color scheme and length, all come with the special motor and operating instructions:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW: Dancing Helix
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The Dancing Helix: This kinetic mobile's mesmerizing motion arises from pulsed torsion waves that propagate up and down the length of a series of weighed rods connected by an elastic ribbon (which acts as a torsion spring). The waves arise by a special pulsed motor from which the strand hangs, and only spins for a second or so out of each minute. The twisting waves then constructively and deconstructively interfere creating an array of flowing motions.
Van de Graaff Generator
This device is sold as the "Static Shocker" hands on lab. Get one here for $8.95! :
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Static Shocker Mini Van de Graaff
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Van de Graaff Generator: this miniature electrostatic generator can create potentials of more than 50,000 volts allowing sparks to jump a couple centimeters through dry air. Similar physics to the sparks created when shoes scuff on carpet, a moving rubber dielectric belt carries electrons away from the top sphere leaving it positive charged- as can be seen by the electrostatic repulsion of some Mylar strands. A small battery powered 3V motor drives the belt via the bottom pulley in this unit that costs less than $10 US.?With appreciation to @educational_innovations for sending me this device!
Reverse Cartesian Diver
Glass divers available here: From Amazon: BUY NOW Glass Divers
The reverse diver needs a bottle with a oval shaped cross section. I used the bottle from this product- it has the right shape and size and the label comes off easily:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Oval Shaped Bottle Source
Inexpensive and fun diver kits available here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Cartesian Diver Kits
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Wikipedia has the details on the Cartesian diver (and reverse diver).
Reverse Cartesian Diver: physics puzzle (swipe for hint). On the left is a Cartesian diver- pressing on the bottle forces water into the glass diver, which then compresses the bubble in diver’s head allowing it to sink. On the right is a reverse Cartesian diver- again the bottle is pinched but this time the diver ascends- why?
Switch Pitch Ball
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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.
Toroflux
Here is an affordable version of this device:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Flow Ring
The original version is available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Toroflux
Get one and flow with it!
From Art of Play: BUY NOW: The Toroflux
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Why does it look like a bubble when moving fast? Wikipedia has the details: when the object exceeds a certain speed the flicker fusion frequency of our vision produces the bubble illusion.
The physics of the toroflux is wonderfully illustrated and explained in this article by Daniel Walsh.
Toroflux: kinetic art toy made from a single continuous loop of stainless steel band. The band of spring metal is woven such that it forms a torus that can clamp on to and roll down a stick, segment of tubing, or even an arm. Amazing combination of math and kinetic art invented by Jochen Valett.
Magnetic Poles of Refrigerator Magnets
Get some magnetic viewing film here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Magnetic Viewing Film
From Amazon: BUY NOW Magnetic Viewing Film
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Magnetic Poles of Refrigerator Magnets: visualizing the invisible with Magnaview film- the secrets of refrigerator magnets revealed. A special orientation of the magnetic poles called a Halbach array allows for a strong magnetic field on one side and a very weak one on the other- refrigerator magnets only stick on one side by design!
Stainless Steel Rattleback
Metal version is available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Metal Rattleback
These acrylic versions work great and are inexpensive:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Rattlebacks
From Amazon: BUY NOW Rattlebacks
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Stainless Steel Rattleback: 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.