Similar version currently avaiiable here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Impossible Pipe Elbows
Many other types of impossible objects are avialable- see these links and videos: Impossible Objects
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Impossible Pipe Elbows: made from standard pipe fittings held together only by their threads. No glue of any kind was used in its making. Design inspired by puzzle maker and artist Saul Bobroff.
Start your own physics toy collection with a subscrition to the Curiosity Box
This Curiotiry Box eclusive coin features an ambiagram
Get this inexpensive puzzle here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Coin Escape Puzzle
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Ambigram Coin Escape Puzzle: I just received this physics brain teaser in my @thecuriositybox The puzzle is the classic coin escape puzzle, and the special coin features a heads/tails ambigram as a humorous touch. A flick of a finger sets the device in motion to release the coin. Note that one metal ball got pinned for a bit! ✏️ the physics: centripetal acceleration and rotational kinetic energy will raise the small steel balls away from the center allowing the coin to fall through.
1x1x1 cube
Speed cube version available here:
From Amazon; BUY NOW: 1x1x1 cube
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Completing the collection: the 1x1x1 cube, a silly but logical addition to any twisty cube collection!
Availabel here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Uphill Ramp Illusion
or get the 3D print file here:
From Thingverse: Download Now: Uphill Illusion
Learn more: The amazing illusions of Kokichi Sugihara
See the many other Sugihara Illusions: in my collection
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Rolling Uphill Illusion: the ball bearings seemingly roll uphill as if attracted by magnets of some kind. What’s going on? Swipe for reveal as it is truly a matter of perspective. A wonderful take on an illusion invented by Kokichi Sugihara of Meiji University. 3D printed by my good friend @zathras5 (Roger Key) from a file designed by Julian Hardy.
Get these and many other interesting puzzles here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Puzzles from Jeux Efce
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Puzzle Proofs: three mathematical proofs in a physical form that use equivalent areas to make the case. The first puzzle illustrates one of the most famous equations concerning the sides of any right triangle, the Pythagorean Theorem. The area of a square with side c of the hypotenuse is indeed equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of side a and b. One of the most used formulas when calculating vectors in physics classes! 😬 In the second puzzle similar comparisons of areas illustrate two special binomial products (a+b)² and (a+b)(a-b), and connects these famous algebraic equations to simple geometry.
Get this inexpensive SomaCube here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Magnetic Soma Cube
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Magnetic Soma Cube: a new fun variant of the famous math toy invented by Danish scientist and artist Piet Hein, who claimed that this puzzle came to him as he was listening to a lecture on Quantum Mechanics by Werner Heisenberg (yes- that Heisenberg). The seven pieces of this puzzle are all the ways 3 or 4 cubes can be joined such that the piece has at least one inside corner. In this version small magnets are encased in cleverly designed cavities such that they will always flip over to attract a counterpart in another puzzle piece, allowing the puzzle to stick together- or hang from the side of the refrigerator. Amazingly there are 240 ways to make the cube from these 7 pieces- still not that easy!
Get this 3D printed puzzle here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: What the F? Puzzle
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What the F? Puzzle: fun math involved in the design of this puzzle, which illustrates how the concept of area can challenge our intuitions. A very nice version of the missing square dissection paradox puzzle by designer Dan Asay.
Get one here (color of your choice):
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Trisected Sphere Puzzle
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Trisected Sphere Puzzle: three identical pieces interlock to form a ball in this elegant 3D printed dissection puzzle. The sphere is sliced following a helical path from one pole to the opposite pole, creating a smooth disassembly and reassembly.
See other fun geometric puzzles here: dissection puzzles
Get the kit here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Polydensity Bottle Kit
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Folow the link above for details of the physics explanation.
Poly Density Puzzle: my favorite science brain teaser– white beads and blue beads “float” oddly separated beneath the surface of a clear liquid. If the contents are mixed by shaking the container, the white beads gather at the top and the blue sink to bottom! Adding to the mystery- within about 30 seconds the two layers of beads will slowly moved back to the middle. If you haven’t seen this demonstration before, what is your guess as to the physics behind this behavior?
Get this water bottle (and accessories) here:
From InqFactory: BUY NOW: Assassin's Water Bottle
See Steve's excellent video on the Assasin's Teapot
Get the working teapot replica here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Assassin's Teapot
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Assassin’s Water Bottle: a very modern take on the ceramic assassin’s teapot novelty vessel that harbors a hidden chamber and can clandestinely dispense two different liquids. Similar to the teapot, covering one of two small holes of this bottle limits access to atmospheric pressure and determines from which chamber liquid is poured (in this case red or blue Powerade). This modern version is the brainchild of my friends @stevemouldscience and @electricpants and features as a logo the two states of Schrödinger’s cat- and also comes with insulating covers to hide the chambers (if desired).
Get the files to print one yourself: From Printables: South Pointing Chariot
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South-Pointing Chariot: no matter the direction carriage moves, or how many times it turns, the arrow remains pointing south (or whatever direction it was placed initially). This amazing mechanism utilizes a differential gear train, the famous device used in cars to allow wheels to rotate at different rates when cornering. Differential gear trains have the following property, the rotation rate of one shaft is equal to the average rotations rates of the other two shafts. Each wheel of this device drives one of two input shafts, with one geared in reverse, so that if the carriage is moving in a straight line the two rates average out to zero, and the output shaft connected to the top arrow stays stationary. If, however, the carriage turns a corner, one wheel then rotates faster, and the average rate then turns the top arrow at exactly the right rate to stay pointing in the same direction. This design is the most likely basis for the ancient (about 200 CE) Chinese South-Pointing Chariot, described in historical manuscripts which describes a statue on the carriage with an arm extended pointing South. This version was designed by software engineer and tinkerer extraordinaire Matt Keveney, and expertly printed by Alex Kling.
A similar puzzle (but taking advantage of horizontal symmetry with the words "DIOXIDE GLASS") available here:
From Haines Educational: BUY NOW Cylindrical Lens Puzzle
Or better: make your own version with this acrylic rod:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Clear Acrylic Rod
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Cylindrical Lens Puzzle: this cylinder of acrylic acts as lens that focuses light along a line rather than a point- and thus it can invert an image along its symmetry axis. Puzzle question: the word "GREEN" is flipped by this lens but the word "TOMATO" seems unaffected. Is the physics significantly different for red wavelengths as compare to green? Or is there another explanation/trick?
Nice Impossible bottles are often available on Etsy:
From Etsy: BUY NOW Impossible Bottles
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Impossible Bottle Sculpture Puzzle: seemingly impossible, but created with clever engineering, this “impossible” bottle contains a padlock and full deck of cards still in the wrapper (a cut out in the side of the box reveals that all the cards are inside). The puzzle aspect is to consider how the bottle was produced (I personally have some theories- but I do not know the secrets of this artist). I can tell you with high certainty that the bottle was never cut or altered in anyway, and it was not somehow formed around the objects. This bottle by Phil Evans is one of the best I’ve seen.
Available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Magic Wallet
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Impossible Wallet: this pocketbook has a special double hinge that allows the wallet to be opened from either side, and leads to some rather nonintuitive consequences. Note that once inserted, the bill shows the same face independent of which way the wallet is opened. The construction of this magic (or flip) wallet is similar to the famous Jacob's Ladder toy.
Get this "impossible" jar and other amazing things from this shop:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Impossible Jar & Golf Ball
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Impossible Jar with Golf Ball: a regular off the shelf golf ball somehow trapped within a standard glass jar. Neither the ball nor the jar were cut or glued in the fabrication process. The puzzle aspect is to consider how this object was produced (again, I have some theories- but I do not know the secrets of this artist). This incredible piece was made by craftsman and artist Nathan Nickerson, and comes with the golf tee display stand (a nice touch!)
Make your own: Impossible Flap
See my other "Impossible Objects"
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Impossible Flap Joint: a recent antique store find- a metal version of the famous puzzle of how such a flap could be made from an initial flat piece, with no glue or welds. Hozitdun? as the bottom label asks (swipe for reveal).