Often avilable here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW; 3 Shape Puzzle
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Three Shapes One Object: a simple toy that exemplifies the phrase “it’s a matter of perspective”. Another well made wooden puzzle toy from Creative Crafthouse.
Get this fun magnetic game here (many variations to choose from):
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Kluster Magnet Game
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Kluster Magnetic Challenge Game: explore mysterious action at distance via magnetic fields with this fun game setup. Note how the polished barium-strontium ferrite ceramic magnets repel each other when properly oriented, but once one flips over the unstable equilibrium gives way to the north/south attraction, and they quickly snap together. The game is played by taking turns placing the magnets within the boundary of the cord without any jumping together- the first to place all their magnets in the loop without any “clustering” wins, if some do cluster you take those magnets and lose your turn. Comes with the cord and a nice velvet storage bag.
Each constructed by hand, each a work of art- get a personalized bottle here:
From The Bottleologist website: BUY NOW: Impossible Bottle with Frame
From his Etsy store: BUY NOW: Impossible Bottles
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Doubly Impossible Bottle: the newest seemingly impossible object in my collection from craftsman/artist Grant Wicks @thebottleologist. An “impossible nail” object was somehow assembled within a Fannys Bay Whisky bottle- and personalized with my logo too! 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 inside.
Get this version of the famous cube here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Rubik's Phantom
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Rubik’s Phantom: is the 3X3 cube not challenging enough for you? Here’s one where the colors are activated by the heat of your hands (or better- a light bulb) and fade back to dark as you try to solve. A thermochromic twist to this most famous of puzzles. The heating and cooling was sped up by a factor of three here to keep it interesting.
Get this well made demonstration here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Gravity Path Demo Puzzle
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Gravity Drop Challenge: starting at the same height, and ending at a same lower height, which path will take the shortest amount of time? The straight line (red marble) or the wavy longer path (blue marble)? The weird thing is that both marbles will have identical speeds at the finish line- yet one gets there quicker. The physics problem of finding the curve of fastest descent is called the brachistochrone problem- from the Greek words brakhistos ‘shortest’ and khronos ‘time’- and it is not a straight line. The fastest curve turns out to be the cycloid- a topic for a future post.
Contact Davide to obtain one of his amazing sculptures:
Get his new book here: BUY NOW: Impossibilia Book
Click here to see other items in my collection of Impossible Objects
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Impossible Fold: one more work of art by @dp.fumagalli. This standard card was cut (but not cut apart) and somehow folded back on itself. The puzzle aspect is to consider how the fold was produced (I personally have some theories- but I do not know the secrets of this artist). With thanks to Davide Fumagalli (aka the Impossible Maker) for this addition to my collection.
Get this affordable and fun kit here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Mystery Marbles Puzzle Kit
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Mystery Marbles Puzzle: a physics brain teaser (now available as a kit) what's going on here? Three glass marbles can move but stay separated in this liquid filled tube no matter the orientation- why do they not touch? Swipe for reveal of components.
See also: Poly-acrylamide Polymer Vanishing Act
This puzzle is hard to find, here is a version by the same inventor: Atomic Cherries
Elastic Equilibrium Puzzle: six spheres held together by three wooden springs. When assembled each sphere exerts the same force on its four neighboring spheres, producing this equilibrium state only if all six spheres are used to balance all the forces. A fun configuration to analyze in a 1st year physics course. “3 Cs” is a puzzle invented by Dick Esterle and shared at G4G16.
Get this mug here:
From ACME: BUY NOW: Mug of Tantalus
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Learn more about the Pythagorean Cup on Wikipedia
Greedy Mug: a new design on the Pythagorean cup, this time with the siphon built into the handle. Pour in a tad too much tea and the whole mug drains out the side, but if only half full or so it’s safe from any leaks. I got this mug from the glass seller legend Cliff Stoll, of ACME Klein bottle fame. A fun physics toy with a deep history that traces back to Hero of Alexandria.
Get this puzzle here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Pearl Vault Puzzle
Pearl Vault Puzzle: a tetrahedron assembly of four identical pieces traps within a pearl. Three challenge aspects to this puzzle: 1) get the pearl out from the center, 2) explain the physics of how the disassembly occurs, and 3) reassemble- for which 3) might be the most challenging. Swipe for reveal and note the conservation of momentum aspect of the solution. Designed by Bruce Patterson and expertly produced by Pyrigan Puzzles.
Precision machined and available in brass or stainless steel:
From Eureka Puzzles and Games: BUY NOW: Nova Plexus Puzzle
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Nova Plexus Puzzle: 12 identical brass rods can create 4 interlocking triangles in a perfect symmetry- look carefully and you can see that each rod is in an identical configuration with the 5 others that connect with it. Precision machined notches on the ends of the rods allow them to interlock with elastic tension such that vector sum of the 5 forces on each rod is zero- creating this astonishing geometry as the equilibrium state. Unlock the ends of any two rods and the system instantly disassembles (swipe to view process in slow motion). Invented/designed by artist and computer scientist Geoff Wyvill in 1978, this puzzle has just recently been made available for sale with a limited production run.
Get this beautifully made puzzle here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Flummoxagon
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Polyhex Puzzle: when geometrical objects conspire into a fun assembly. This puzzle involves all the ways 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 small hexagons can be connected by a side. There are 33 ways 5 hexagons can be connected, 10 ways to connect 4, just 3 ways to connect 3, and of course just one way to connect 2. Including the single hexagon, the total number of hexagons is 217 which can be assembled into one big hexagon, and so far only 10 solutions have been found- here is one! How many solutions exist is an open question.
This dino puzzle available here: BUY NOW: Dino Puzzle
Get beautiful acrylic pentomino puzzles here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Pentomino Puzzle
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Pentomino Dino: the 12 possible arrangements of five identical squares, joined edge to edge, form the set of all pentominoes. Since 12x5=60, the pentominoes can tile a 6 x 10 rectangle with no gaps (2339 ways to do this- yet even finding one solution is a challenge). Further puzzle challenges include building the outlines of familiar objects similar to Tangrams- here a laser cut birch wood frame sets the pattern of an apatosaurus which is surprisingly hard to solve.
Get this d6 version here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Shashibo d6 to d12
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Shashibo d6 to 12: a clever take on this popular puzzle where a d6 die transforms to a rhombic dodecahedron d12 die. The math recipe of the Shashibo: dissect a cube into 12 equal irregular tetrahedra and then connect these pieces symmetrically with hinges and mix in 36 magnets. The result: a device with more than 70 geometrically stable and aesthetic configurations.
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Shashibo Geometric Art
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Shashibo Geometric Art: dissect a cube into 12 equal irregular tetrahedra, connect these pieces symmetrically with hinges, and add 36 magnets to create a device with more that 70 geometrically interesting and aesthetic configurations.
Available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Shashibo Earth
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Shashibo Earth: the globe of the Earth is mapped to a rhombic dodecahedron in this new design of the Shashibo shape shifting puzzle. Dissect a cube into 12 equal irregular tetrahedra, connect these pieces symmetrically with hinges and add 36 magnets to create the Shashibo- a device with more that 70 geometrically interesting and aesthetic configurations (a few are shown here as the dodecahedron is transformed to a cube).
Only available from these aritist/craftsmen:
From twobrassmonkeys: BUY NOW: Impossible Bolt & Nuts
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Impossible Bolt: one nut threads on clockwise as normal- the other threads on counterclockwise on the same bolt! Not impossible- but carefully engineered and machined. This puzzling curiosity was inverted by Scott Eliott and machined in solid brass by puzzle crafters Steve Nicholls and Ali Morris of TwoBrassMonkeys.
Get this fun 3D puzzle/physics toy here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Biplane 3D Puzzle
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Biplane Balance: this cute kinetic biplane model, complete with pilot, is actually a 163 piece 3D puzzle. When assembled the plane + counterweight form a system with a center of mass below the pivot contact point, creating a situation of stable equilibrium about which oscillations can be induced, trading kinetic and potential energy until friction damps the system to rest. A fun build made by ROKR puzzles.