Available on Etsy: BUY NOW Gold Ferrofluid Cell
Golden Ferrofluid: colloidal ferromagnetic liquid in a specially prepared water-alcohol suspension. Curious behavior results from the interplay between magnetic force and surface tension. I'm still investigating the gold coloring and the specific makeup of the clear suspension fluid- both trade secrets it seems. The gold color appears to be a thin coating at the boundary between the ferrofluid and the suspension liquid.
Amazingly this motor is available for less than $10 US.
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Brushless Motor/Generator with LED
Electric Motor/Generator: this inexpensive and common motor can also serve as a generator of AC electricity- here lightning an LED when the shaft of the rotor is spun by hand. Most electrical energy we use today is produced by moving a magnet near a coil of wire (known as Faraday’s law of induction) to produce an electric current. Removing the permanent magnet casing reveals this design to use 9 separate copper windings. I made a transparent second rotor with six neodymium magnets- and when these magnets are made to move near the windings the LED again lights with the flow of current. Swipe to see the beautiful magnetic field pattern of the rotor design using magneview film.
Available on Etsy: BUY NOW Motion Ferrofluid Sculpture
Colored Ferrofluid Display Cells: spectacular metallic blue, gold, and black display cells by czferro - colloidal ferromagnetic liquids in a specially prepared water-alcohol suspension. Curious behavior results from the interplay between magnetic force and surface tension. The gold and blue coloring appears to be from a thin coating at the boundary between the ferrofluid and the suspension liquid. Still exploring the details of the coloring and the specific makeup of the clear suspension fluid - both trade secrets it seems.
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.
Get this device here:
From eBay: BUY NOW: Chaotic Decision-Aider Pendulum
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Chaotic Decision-Aider Pendulum
Chaotic Decision Maker Pendulum: adding magnetic forces to gravity gives this comical pointing pendulum chaotic motion- not random, but very sensitive to slight differences in initial launch conditions. Each “choice” has a dipole magnet underneath which attracts a magnet in the hand and locks the pointer into place, but only after enough kinetic has been dissipated, and until that final state is obtained the motion is chaotic. Fun physics behind this novelty gag gift.
Available from these shops in Germany:
From experimentis-shop.de: BUY NOW
Mabrino Car
From mabro.com: BUY NOW
Mabrino Car
Similar toys available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW
Tegu Car Sets
Toy Car with Magnetic Suspension Wheels: Simple block car with clever wheel design. Small neodymium magnets embedded in the block lock on to steel balls, which raise the vehicle and become free to rotate providing the wheels for this simple toy.
Get an easy to assemble kit here (or just buy the replacement wire to build your own like in the video):
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Simplest Motor Kit
Electric Motor Build: One of the most important inventions consists of only three basic components as shown here: coil, magnet, and a battery with lead wire posts. The wire of the spinning coil has an insulating coating on it- and this coating is carefully scrapped off one side of the thin wire on each end. When current passes through the coil it becomes an electromagnet and the permanent magnet repels it making it spin- as it turns the current goes on and off depending on if the copper wire posts are in contact with the bare wire side (current on) or the part of the wire with the insulating coating intact (current off). When the current is off momentum keeps the rotation going until the next push. The physics of converting electric energy to rotational kinetic energy- and a fun DIY project!
See more of Ernie's amazing creations here in his Etsy shop Element83
From Etsy: BUY NOW Magnetic Levitation Sculptures
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Bismuth Maglev Rod
Bismuth Diamagnetic Trap Levitation: neodymium cube magnet trapped between two pieces of strongly diamagnetic bismuth crystal. Diamagnetic substances only have magnetic fields of their own when placed in an external magnetic field from another source- here the cube shaped magnet supplies the field. Diamagnetic fields are pretty weak though so two large ceramic magnets are placed on each side and adjusted to help lift the cube magnet against gravity. Trapped in equilibrium by these magnetic fields, the slightest air currents can send the cube magnet dancing. Swipe to see a vertical trap based on the same physics. More amazing creations by Ernie McElhannon.
This physics toy top is available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Mystery Spinning Top
From eBay: BUY NOW Mystery Spinning Top
The amazing green magnetic viewing film is also available:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Magnetic Field Viewing Film
Here is the 1974 patent showing the very simple circuit of this device. The spinning dipole (the top itself) induces a current in one of the coils, and this current is fed to the base of the transistor turning the electromagnet on when the top is near.
"Top Secret": this top will stay spinning for more than a week- because it is actually a motor! The top is a dipole magnet (as revealed by Magneview film) and the base has an electromagnet that gives the dipole a push when the top comes near the center. An ingeniously simple circuit consisting of only a battery, a coil, and a transistor, is activated when the spinning magnet nears the coil turning on the electromagnet to give a boost to the spin of the magnetic top.
Bismuth levitation available here:
From Etsy- Element 83: BUY NOW Magnetic Levitation Sculptures
featuring amazing Bismuth Crystals, Jewelry, and Maglev Kinetic Art
Circa 1981, Physicists transmute Bismuth to Gold: Particle accelerators make possible the ancient alchemist’s dream—but at a steep cost
The Alchemist: cast from diamagnetic Bismuth, a neodymium cube magnet levitates trapped between the hands of the ancient scholar. Diamagnetic substances only have magnetic fields of their own when placed in an external magnetic field from another source- here the cube shaped magnet supplies the field. Diamagnetic fields are pretty weak though so a cylindrical neodymium magnet hangs above the figure and is adjusted to help lift the cube magnet against gravity. Trapped in equilibrium by these magnetic fields, the slightest air currents can send the cube magnet dancing. Although alchemists never succeeded in transmuting lead to gold, in 1981 physicists used the particle accelerator at Berkeley to shoot Carbon nuclei at thin foils of Bismuth- the resulting collisions did produced a tiny amount of Gold atoms! So modern nuclear physics, applied to the element Bismuth, finally accomplished the aspirations of the alchemists. ?Another amazing creation by Ernie McElhannon.
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.
Neodymium magnets will produce the largest gap when suspending a nail.
Please use exterme caution when handling these magnets.
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Neodymium Super Magnet
Magnetic Defiance of Gravity: a nail suspended 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. Make your own with a paperclip, string, and a refrigerator magnet- or get a neodymium magnet and see how massive an object you can suspend in air.
This unique toy only available here:
From safetynailer.com: BUY NOW: Newton's Spindle
Follow this link for a regular Newton's Yo-Yo
Newton's Spindle: the latest innovation- a quiet clacker (lol!) which uses neodymium magnets as the swinging weights. The weights still collide but without making physical contact via magnetic repulsion, yet the exchange of momentum is just like that of a regular Newton’s yo-yo. Newton's 3rd Law states that action force equals opposite reaction force- here the red and blue weights (embedded magnets) are equal in mass, so the forces of each collision provide accelerations that are equal and opposite such that the deceleration of the incoming mass is equal to the acceleration of the outgoing mass and the masses trade places leaving one always at rest.
Get this amazing and affordable science sculptue here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Bismuth Maglev Rod
Click here to see other diamagnetic toys and scuptures
Bismuth Maglev Rod: Small magnets are trapped, suspended and floating, within the notch of a rod cast from the diamagnetic metal bismuth. Diamagnetic substances only have magnetic fields of their own when placed in an external magnetic field from another source- here the small floating magnet supplies the external field. Diamagnetic fields are pretty weak though, so a powerful neodymium magnet sits above the gap on the top of the rod, and its height is adjusted to help lift the small magnet against gravity. Another amazing creation by Ernie McElhannon of Element83.
Get this demonstation here:
From EngineDIY: BUY NOW: Electric Generator
I upgraded this version with a larger LED light bulb:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: 3V LED lightbulbs and E26 Socket
Generator Teaching Demo: The electrical energy that comes to your home is produced by some device somewhere moving a coil of wire next to a magnet to produce an electric current (known as Faraday’s law of induction). This tabletop demonstration uses a crank and belt drive to spin the coil between the north and south poles. The ends of the coil are attached to the two smooth metal pieces on the shaft (the commutator) that makes contact with the output wires and connects to the lightbulb. Maximum current is produced when the axis of the coil is at a right angle to the magnetic field- so the current comes in a series of pulses and the bulb flashes on and off. Physics of energy transfer: mechanical kinetic energy→ electrical energy→ light energy.
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.