Polaroid Glare Reduction
These vintage displays are currently available on eBay: surfer, skier, or fisherman
From eBay: BUY NOW Polarizer Test Display
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Polaroid Glare Reduction: this retail display illustrates an amazing property of reflected light waves and Polaroid sunglasses. In this Oakley display a white surface is aligned by design so that the light from the white surface is reflected off an image of a surfer such that the glare is so extreme the photo is obscured- however all the glare light can be eliminated with a polarizing filter oriented correctly. Light waves that are reflected leave the surface with a high percentage of the waves polarized parallel to the surface- if one wears sunglasses that have vertically oriented polarizing filters any reflected light off horizontal surfaces is mostly blocked. At a particular angle for a given surface material (called Brewster’s angle) the reflected waves are 100% polarized.
UFO Mirascope
Similar devices available here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Mirascope
From Amazon: BUY NOW Mirascope
Alien version available here
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UFO Mirascope: two parabolic mirrors create a 3D image above the actual object. The image of the tiny alien made here is not a hologram and is produced solely by reflection of light rays between special concave mirrors. Love the space saucer theme on this version. The mirascope design principle was discovered circa 1969 by Landry and Elings at UC Santa Barbara.
South Pointing Chariot
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.
Cartesian Diver
Glass divers available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Glass Divers
Inexpensive and fun diver kits to make in a bottle available here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Cartesian Diver Kits
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Cartesian Divers: increasing pressure on the water compresses the air bubbles in the small glass vials filling them further with water making them sink. Pascal's principle states that any change in pressure on an enclosed fluid (such as pushing on the rubber cover) is transmitted evenly to every part of the fluid- the physics of hydraulic brakes! Named after the physicist and philosopher Rene Descartes.
Hexagram Hexastix Sculptures
See the artist's webpage here: andurielstudios.com
​Make your own! Anduriel explains how to make these and related configurations- part puzzle, and part art, exploring math and symmetries:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Polystix Adventures
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Hexagram Hexastix Sculptures: symmetries explored with toothpicks and glue- polystix structures are regular packings of parallel rods, and hexastix describes a specific arrangement that features four sets of parallel rods pointing in four different directions packed tightly. The first sculpture is composed of 192 toothpicks, 96 black and 96 white. The second sculpture has 144 toothpicks, 36 in each direction and then cut off at the intersecting planes to reveal a stellated rhombic dodecahedron (specifically the 3rd stellation).
Mirror Anamorphic Cup & Saucer
These cup & saucer sets are out of production but can be found here:
From eBay: Search NOW: Animorphic Pylones
See many other examples of Mirror Animorphosis in my collection that you can find online.
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Mirror Anamorphic Cup & Saucer: the cylindrical mirror of the silver demitasse cup reflects and reveals the bedroom of the famous artist Van Gogh. The shape of the mirror allows for a mathematical operation, a type of affine transformation, to map the distorted image on the plate to the restored image reflected on the cup. One in the Narcisse series by Pylones Paris featuring famous paintings and a nice example of mirror anamorphosis through the medium of ceramics.
Colorwheel Manipuable Art
Learn more from the artist's page: Colorwheel
Colorwheel Manipulable Wall Art: three 18 inch acrylic disks with hand rolled inky paint turn on a central axis allowing the addition and subtraction of densities of cyan, magenta, and yellow and thereby producing “all the colors”. Another exploration of the psychophysics and physics of color vision. Produced by artist Peter Nivens in his studio
Tuning Fork Resonace
Get this inexpensive demo here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Sypathetic Resonace Tuning Forks
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Sympathetic Resonance: mechanical energy is transmitted from one vibrating tuning fork to the other via sound- as revealed by a wood bead on a string. A beautiful example of resonance phenomena where tiny periodic accelerations (such as sound waves) can produce much larger scale accelerations and displacements if the frequency matches the natural frequency (or an overtone) of the structure. This set of tuning forks are manufactured to vibrate at the same frequency and are mounted on resonating cavities to direct the sound over a distance of a meter or so. A great demo of energy transfer for the classroom.
Icosidodecahedron Bouncy Ball
this inexpensive toy avialabe here: Loop Bouncy Ball
Icosidodecahedron Bouncy Ball: this bouncy ball contains some fun mathematical symmetries which is explored showing the same shape when viewed after rotations. Just six interlocking wavy shaped loops (pink, blue, green, purple, orange, yellow) weave together to create 12 pentagonal faces along with 20 triangular faces. Each loop also forms an equatorial great circle, producing the underlying polyhedral form of this toy, an icosidodecahedron.
Balancing Bottles Wine Rack
Get a similar well crafted wine display here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Double Balance Wine Rack
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Balancing Bottles: serve with physics style using this design where the combined center of mass of the wine rack and two bottles is directly above the base of the wood rack. Perhaps not the best for earthquake prone regions or homes with cats- yet an eye catching and elegant display of unstable equilibrium.
Gyroscopically Stabilized Rail Runner
Get this inexpensive toy here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Gyroscope Rail Toy
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Gyroscopically Stabilized Rail Runner: this toy remains upright on a single wheel as it travels along any thin rail or tightrope. A flywheel with considerable mass is ramped up to high RPMs via a small motor powered by two AA batteries (a stand is provided for this initial process to complete). Once operating speed is obtained the device will keep its orientation due to conservation of angular momentum, allowing it to seemingly magically balance on one point. The motor also turns the drive wheel which propels the device along any thin guide rail.
Shadow Stereographic Projection
These mathematical art objects are created by Henry Segerman and the print files are available here:
From Thingverse: Download NOW Mathematical Art
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Wikipedia has a nice introduction to the math and applications of stereographic projection.
Shadow Stereographic Projection: 3D printed sculptures that cast geometric shadows. When illuminated by a point source of light (placed at the top pole of the sphere) the shadow cast by the rays of light represent a one to one mapping of the points on the sphere to points on the plane- creating a square grid, and a honeycomb of regular hexagons. Stereographic projection is often used in representing the geography of the globe of our planet on to a flat map. Mathematical art by Henry Segerman.
Heterodyne Bat Detector
This exect model availble here:
From ebay: BUY NOW: Bat Detector
More expensive models here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Bat Detector
and an inexpensive kit here: Bat Detector Kit
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Heterodyne Bat Detector: when bats are out hunting they emit echolocation chirps that fill the air with sound we can’t hear. Using a special microphone this device receives the inaudible 25kHz-100kHz acoustic emissions of these flying mammals and mixes them with a generated frequency to produce beat frequencies below 17kHz that humans can hear (signal processing of a heterodyne). Different bat species produce different frequency echolocation chirps and a knob on the device allows selection of the generated frequency to select out what signals are in the air that evening.
Silicon Integrated Circuit Wafer
Similar affordable wafer samples available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Silicon Wafer
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Silicon Integrated Circuit Wafer: this shiny disk comes from an intermediate step in the production of electronic microcircuits and serves as a reminder of the astonishing technological achievements of semiconductor physics. The disk itself is a polished slice of lab grown nearly defect free 99.9999999% pure silicon crystal. Upon this particular disk is an array of more than 11000 rectangular integrated circuits that in the next step would be diced and placed into a pinned package for installation onto a circuit board. Within each 1mm wide rectangle is a collection of hundreds of circuit components such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, all interconnected via conductive channels and created through a myriad of processes including photolithography, acid etching, ion implantation, and thin film deposition to create 3D structures at this microscopic scale. This wafer was tested defective and made available for educational purposes, showcasing how physics is at the core of our daily use of technology.
3D Print Kaleidocycle
Get this beautiful 3D Print here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Kaleidocycle Fidget
Or print it yourself: Kaleidocycle print files
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
3D Print Kaleidocycle: this kinetic manipulation fidget toy is comprised of six hinges such that it can twist inwards continuously. Amazingly this item is 3D “printed-in-place”, which means it comes off the printer already assembled with movable links and ensures the color gradient is continuous across the joints. Designed and engineered by maker Enrique Coiras.
Thermochromic Beam Down Mug
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.
Assassin's Water Bottle
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).
Reversible PEM Fuel Cell
This kit includes the fun gas collection cylynders and all compnents needed:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Horizon PEM Fuel Cell kit
Affordable PEM fuel cells are available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: PEM Fuel Cells
The physics and chemisty are complex (with cool microsope images of a membrane): Wikipedia on PEMs
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Reversible PEM Fuel Cell: this blue unit contains a Proton Exchange Membrane and platinum catalyst that enables an electrochemical reaction to generate electricity from combining hydrogen and oxygen into water (a hydrogen fuel cell), and if a current is supplied (say with two AA batteries) the process runs in reverse with the PEM assembly converting water in to hydrogen and oxygen (one side delivers O2 the other H2). This kit uses little “diving bell” structures to capture the gasses that can then be used as fuel to power a motor. Note that the amount of hydrogen produced is exactly twice that of oxygen- reflecting the composition of water H2O! The fabrication of PEMs is a complex process at the forefront of physics and chemistry under refinement since the 1960s. Note the amazing dual use of PEMs, as a source of electrical energy when supplied hydrogen, or as a means to store energy in the form of hydrogen.