Chaotic Coupled Rotors
Sometimes available on eBay:
From eBay: Search NOW Magnetron Chaotic Rotator
Click this link for other tosy featuring the math of chaos theory!
Chaotic Coupled Rotors: here’s a favorite from my archive of vintage desk toys, one that demonstrates kinetic energy being passed back and forth chaotically vis interaction of magnets (mounted on the ends of the spines) that repel. This toy was marketed under the name Magnetron and sold in the Natural Wonders shops in the 1990s.
Hologram Necklace
This new hologram is avaiable here: Uniicorn Hologram
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Hologram Necklace: it’s all unicorns and rainbows plus sparkle with this newly released dichromated gelatin hologram. The DCG technique produces some of the most vivid colors in holograms, but still needs a well positioned light source to bring out the full image. Astonishing physics of constructive and deconstructive interference of light.
Pearl Vault Puzzle
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.
Vortex Marble
A number of artists now offer vortex marble art on Etsy
From Etsy: BUY NOW Vortex Marbles
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Vortex Marble: glass art intersects with the physics of optics in this lampwork art form invented by Kevin O’Grady circa 1994- and this marble bears his signature mark on the back. The clear glass face on these marbles acts as a convex lens giving the illusion that the spiral goes deeper than the diameter of the marble. Different kinds of dichroic glass (doped with thin layers of metals and oxides) is mixed in to the borosilicate marble to create the intense colors.
Nimbus 2000
These floating broomstick pens are getting hard to find:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: HP Levitating Broomstick Pen
Check out these floating wands here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: HP Levitating Wand Pen
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Nimbus 2000: physics wizardry (via a 2D magnetic trap) creates the illusion of Harry Potter magic. This broomstick won’t fly, but will remain levitated due to a careful arrangement of permanent magnets in the base and bristles.
Star Wars Digital Hologram
In 2016 these sold for $250 for the stand and hologram! Sometimes avialable here:
From eBay: Search NOW Star Wars Digital Hologram
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Star Wars Digital Hologram: full color digital holography brings to life “A New Hope: Death Star Battle” using the latest technology in 3D imaging. This hologram image is comprised of 734000 hogels (hologram pixels) and comes with its own display stand that illuminates from below. Unlike photographs, holograms are recordings of the interference pattern of light waves. This interference pattern can encode moving 3D images which are revealed by illumination by a point source of light and viewing from an appropriate angle.
Floating Hourglass Puzzle
These hourglass puzzles were produced in France in the 1970s and are hard to find. Luck was with me when I found this on on Etsy last month! I've been looking for one ever since I learned about them in this book by Martin Gardner:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Smart Science Tricks
This book also has a lot of physics toys and home experiments to try:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Martin Gardner's Science Magic: Tricks and Puzzles
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Floating Hourglass Puzzle: famous physics puzzle- why does the hourglass not start rising right away? The glass only ascends after about half of the sand has transferred to the lower bulb. The hourglass is a normal glass timer, it is submersed in plain water, and the main tube has an inner diameter which is at least 5mm larger than the diameter of the glass. A simple physics property of the hourglass changes and explains this behavior.. Another puzzle made famous by Martin Gardner.
Floating Teapot Illusion Foutain
Get this USB and/or battery powered fountain here:
From Amazon:BUY NOW: Floating Teapot Fountain
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Levitating Teapot Fountain: water flows continuously from a small teapot seemingly floating in air. What physics do you think is involved in this battery powered fountain? An April First post for 2024!
Vintage Lenticular Disk
Sometimes available here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Vintage Lenticular Disks
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Vintage Lenticular Disks: kinetic images such as these are comprised of an array of thin cylindrical lenses placed over interlaced multiple images so that each eye sees a different view creating a perception of motion. A vintage 1970s vari-view flicker lenticular.
Pearlescent Metallic Lava Lamp
Search for metallic lava versions here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Metallic Lava Lamp
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The Lava Lamp: with new pearlescent metallic “lava”- kinetic art with an amazing amount of physics on display: convective heat flow, Archimedes principle, surface tension (note how the smaller blobs form into spheres), and immiscible liquids to name just some of the science behind this famous device. In this loop one can see shock waves ripple through the blobs as they detach, and as they recombine at the bottom. Manufactured by Mathmos and invented in 1963 by Edward Walker of Dorset, England.
Narwhal Automaton
Get this delightful narwhal here:
From engineDIY: BUY NOW: Narwhal Automaton
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Narwhal Automaton: a flick of a switch sends this narwhal swimming via slender linkages to a rotating cam shaft in the base. Wonderful use of mechanical translation from rotational motion to the complex motion of this long toothed cetacean. This kinetic sculpture’s motor is powered by one AAA battery which also turns a music box.
Balancing Lelo Triangle
Get this device here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Balancing Triangle
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Balancing Triangle: a very high tech physics toy that uses the design principles of reaction-wheel-stabilized satellites. A massive flywheel can be accelerated in either direction to counter the torque of gravity and keep the triangle balanced on its tip. The key components are nicely displayed on the exposed circuit board including an ESP32 as the MCU which is fed data from an IMU (MPU6050) 3-axis gyro/accelerometer unit. The closed loop programming allows for fast control of the brushless motor that drives the reaction wheel. Why not add come colorful LEDs? Often sold as a “Lelo Triangle” which is an interesting translation of Reuleaux triangle from Chinese.
Hero's Engine
This live steam engine is available here:
From EngineDIY: BUY NOW: Hero's Engine
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Hero’s Engine: the very first steam engine ever devised, the Aeolipile is a radial steam jet reaction turbine, an a invention attributed to Hero of Alexandria in the year 1 AD. Water within the spherical container is heated to produce steam which exits through nozzles directed at right angles to the radial direction, and by Newton’s third law these jets produce a torque about the rotation axis. There is no historical record of this engine being put to practical use in ancient times- except perhaps as the world’s first physics toy!
Electrostatic Interactions
Get a similar and fun DIY kit here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Electrostatics Kit
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Electrostatic Interactions: a triboelectric effect toy from the 1990s. The styrofoam spheres are given an acquired net negative charge by shaking the PET plastic container, and the foam beads are then attracted to the container wall but repel each other. (The foam balls pick up electrons when they strike the container walls.) A segment of PVC pipe also acquires a negative charge when rubbed with a paper towel, and here the foam spheres jump a centimeter or more when the pipe segment is brought near. In contrast, a segment of acrylic tube can acquire a positive charge, and will instead attract the styrofoam pellets as it is brought near the container. A demonstration of the invisible electric fields that are part of our everyday world.
ORA Kinetic Illusion
Similar kinetic objects available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Kinetic Desk Sclupture
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ORA Kinetic Illusion Sculpture: precision machined and crafted, this kinetic desk toy exhibits opposing helical motion illusions. Very smooth bearings provide long spin times. Yet another astonishing design by Kristoph Krisjans.
Natural Fluorescence and Phosphorescence
Get ruby in matrix stones and jewelry here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Ruby Glow Stones
and find the sodalite bright orange fluorescent syenite here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Orange Glow Stones
You will also want an awesome UV flashlight like this one:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: High Power UV Light
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Mineral Fluorescence and Phosphorescence: an obelisk carved from the natural green fuchsite- with red ruby inclusions and veins of white calcite. When exposed to long wavelength UV light the ruby fluoresces bright red, and the calcite emits an afterglow from phosphorescence- like the flash from a miniature lightning bolt!
Simple Polariscope
This kit has everything needed to make your own polariscope:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Polarizing Film Kit
The kit also includes a birefringent crystal, colorful optically active mica sheets, and a polarimetry demo that reveals when structures are under stress. A great value for so much physics fun!
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Simple Polariscope: polarized light reveals the hidden rainbows due to internal stresses imposed on polymer materials such as these pieces of polystyrene flatware, a technique used to model stress distribution patterns in engineering. Place the polymer samples between two linear polarizer filters and the internal stresses created by the molding process during manufacturing produce colors through birefringence due to photoelasticity.
Einstein's Drinking Bird Toy
Get a Drinking Bird here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Drinking Bird Engine
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Vintage Drinking Bird
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Wikipedia has wonderful details about the rich history (and further descriptions of the operational principals) of the Drinking Bird.
Einstein’s Drinking Bird: this antique drinking bird toy was made in 1946, and this exact version sat on the kitchen table of Albert Einstein where many reports by friends and family told how the famous physicist was greatly amused by it, and that over a period of a few weeks he figured out its hidden operating principles. It turns out that this classic physics toy is a functional heat engine (swipe to see a familiar modern version) where cooling by evaporation at the head/beak leads to lower pressure in the top bulb, the pressure in the bottom bulb pushes the dichloromethane fluid (here dyed red) up the neck making the bird top heavy and the bird tips over dipping its beak and letting the fluid return to the bottom bulb. The process repeats, and as long as the top bulb stays wet and cooler than the bottom this heat engine will continue to cycle.