Get one here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Magnetic Field Viewer Cube
From Amazon: BUY NOW Magnetic Field Viewer
Magnetic Field Viewer: visualizing the invisible- tiny iron filings suspended in viscous oil gracefully chain up along the magnetic field lines of the ferromagnet, revealing its dipole configuration.
Available from these fine sources:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Magnetic Field Viewer Set (get the demo set)
Similar device here:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Magnetic Field Viewer with Magnet
Iron Filings in Silicone Oil Suspension ( Iron filing field detector ): visualizing the invisible- the magnetic field lines around a horseshoe magnet. In the presence of a magnetic field, ferromagnetic materials (such as iron) temporarily become magnets. Here the iron filings become dipole magnets and link up and align like tiny compass needles to follow and reveal the magnetic field lines associated with the permanent magnet underneath. Viscous silicone oil temporarily keeps the iron particles suspended yet allows for rotation and repositioning under the influence of the magnetic field.
Get (or give!) a Curiosity Box subscription here: JOIN NOW: The Curiosity Box
I love VSauce!
The famous YouTube team puts together 4 boxes of "brain food" each year with fantastic and surprising stuff in each- and a great way to start a science toy collection!
Get a squish Inq the Octopus here: BUY NOW: Squish Inq or check out Inq's Shop
Levitating Inq Lamp: Inq (the curious orange octopus) hangs illuminated and suspended by magnetic forces. I modified this lamp to incorporate the squish version of the @thecuriositybox mascot with a powerful neodymium magnet on top and a smaller magnet embedded with in Inq’s head- when the octopus is floating the bottom cord engages the light switch.
Many colors to choose from:
From MagneticCube.com: BUY NOW Magnetic Dice Cube
See also the original indestructibles post: Magnetic Acrylic Rubik's Cube
Magnetic Cube: a twisty Rubik’s Cube puzzle made from 27 dice and 108 neodymium magnets. This cube includes the scrambled states and solutions of the original 3x3 Rubik’s Cube but is held together only by magnets! The magnets, in this special configuration, lock the dice together with a satisfying click upon rotation. This beautiful cube was produced by Owen Lillywhite of magneticcube.com and is based on a gfixler design posted on instructables.
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.
These tops will work with a paperclip too:
From eBay: BUY NOW Magnetic Tipped Top
Here is a very nice version:
From Grand Illusions Ltd: BUY NOW: Magnetic Tipped Top
Paperclip Magnetic Top: the magnetic tipped top attaches to the perimeter of the paperclip- but since the top has much more mass, the paperclip is put into curious motion due to Newton's 3rd law and the top's rotational inertia. This transparent version allows full view of the moving clip. Patented in 1946 under the name Hoy-Poy Top, this antique kinetic art toy made it into my collection as a gift from the folks at @shirepostmint- thanks!
Available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Penultimate Floating Pen
From eBay: BUY NOW Penultimate Floating Pen
Penultimate: magnetic levitation pen. A two dimensional magnetic trap suspends a ball point pen- in this design the point of the pen against a polished acrylic acts as a bearing to let the pen spin with minimal friction.
Currently available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Magnetic Chaotic Pendulum
Chick here for similar chaotic systems
Magnetic Chaotic Pendulum: adding magnetic forces to gravity gives this pendulum chaotic motion- not random, but very sensitive to slight differences in initial launch conditions. Arranging the dipoles magnets on the base leads to different patterns of motion- here the center magnet attracts and the rest are set to repel. ROMP pendulum by Hog Wild toy company.
Neodymium magnets will produce the largest gap when suspending a nail or other iron rich objects.
Please use exterme caution when handling these magnets.
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Neodymium Super Magnet
In Defiance of Gravity: a 3 oz plumb bob in suspension between a chain and a powerful neodymium magnet. Ferromagnetic attraction over a distance of many millimeters, and a reminder of the presence of the typically invisible electromagnetic forces all around us. Sculpture: oak, stainless steel chain and hardware, neodymium super magnet, standard plumb bob tool. Iron filings in oil align and chain together to reveal the magnetic field lines of the equilibrium configuration.
Starter set of 10mm cubes of 99.9% pure elemets available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Pure Element Cube Samples
The main 4 ferromagnetic elements are: Fe, Co, Ni, and Gd.
Ferromagnetic Elements: which metals from the periodic table experience strong attraction towards a magnet? Here are seven samples- 1 cm cubes of 99% pure elements: Ti (titanium), Fe (iron), Co (cobalt), Ni (nickel), Cu (copper), Gd (gadolinium), and W (tungsten)- which of these metals are ferromagnetic? Swipe once to check your answer, swipe twice to see how some are more strongly ferromagnetic than others. Although magnets are familiar objects, the physics of ferromagnetism is very complex and is described by the quantum mechanics of intrinsic particle spin and the specific electron configurations of solids and molecules.
Similar ferrofluid devices available here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW Ferrofluid Sculptures
Ferrofluid Magnetic Tree Sculpture: the 'Nano Tree' by Concept Zero designs using gold colored ferrofluid which can be manipulated with a handheld magnet. The spiky structure is due to the balance between the forces from the focused magnetic fields (from a neodymium magnet in the base connected to an iron rich bolt) and the forces from liquid surface tension on the colloidal ferromagnetic liquid.
I got this fun device here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Haptic Magnet Toys
Magnetic Fidget Physics: iron rich ball bearings temporarily become dipole magnets and repel each other- and when manipulated they keep their distance. In this design the ball bearings snap into place above one of the seven neodymium magnets embedded within the 3D printed disk.
This DIY magneits sculpture can be assemebled with these parts. Bring a magnet into a craft shop to find some necklace chain that is non-magnetic.
From Amazon/eBay: BUY NOW: Quilting Hoop, Neodyumium Sphere Magnets
Magnetic Flux Gyroscope art and other amazing science inspired jewelry available here:
From Foxtail Jewelry: BUY NOW: Kinetic Magnetic Pendants
From Foxtail Jewelry: BUY NOW: Tabletop Magnetic Kinetic Art
Magnetic Suspension Sculpture: two neodymium magnets on chains suspended by their mutual magnetic attraction in this prototype kinetic sculpture (swipe to see scaled fine jewelry version by foxtailjewelry). These powerful magnets hold the chains taut with about a 2cm gap. Made from a quilting hoop where the magnets connect under their own force to steel nails soldered on to non-magnetic chain.
Avilable here:
From Grand Illusions LTD: BUY NOW: Magentic Tractor Demo
Magnetic Tractor: special configuration of permanent magnetic poles captures a dipole magnet without contact. Only works in 2D but cool nonetheless!
This DIY project is pretty easy to build. One half of one of these inexpensive magnetic necklace clasps will work well for the heated magnet.
From Amazon: BUY NOW: magnets for curie point engine
A full engine is available from my friends at Grand Illusions Ltd:
From GI LTD: BUY NOW: Curie Engine
Curie Point Heat Engine: when the magnet on the end of the wire heats up to a particular temperature (the Curie point) its magnetic field is temporarily lost until it cools. This engine design uses a second magnet to pull the swinging magnet back into the heat source once the magnetic field is reestablished. Repetition of this process creates mechanical motion as long as the heat source is fueled.