Flymo Hover Lawnmower
Description: The Flymo hover mower is built on the same principles as a hovercraft. It contains a fan above the cutting blade that generates lift. This could be used as a phenomenon to explore balanced forces and gravity.
Web Resources: Flymo Hover Mowers, Flymo - Wikipedia
Raw or Boiled Egg Experiment
Description: This is a simple experiment to demonstrate the idea of inertia. Students could be given eggs that are both raw and boiled and they could use evidence to support the identity of the labeled eggs. In the raw egg the yolk and fluid act as independent objects and so they will continue moving when the egg is briefly stopped.
Web Resource: Newton’s First Law - the Physics Classroom
A Bed of Nails
Description: Special caution should be taken when sitting down or getting up from a bed of nails. In this video, Steve Spangler used a motor to lift the entire bed of nails up and down safely. Each of the nails is pushing on the participant but since there are so many nails the force is distributed safely between all of the nails. This demonstration could be used in any physics unit discussing forces and pressure.
Web Resource: Bed of Nails - Wikipedia
Amazing Slinky Tricks
Description: The Slinky was invented by Richard James, an engineer, who was working with springs to support and stabilize equipment on a ship. Simple slinky tricks show how forces (pushes and pulls) change the direction of an object. Students can design a set of stairs, or obstacles, that the Slinky can navigate. In the secondary science classroom it can be used to investigate inertia, oscillations, and Hooke's law. This phenomenon can also be used to investigate wave properties.
Web Resource: Slinky - Wikipedia
The Walking Table
Description: The walking table uses pushes and pulls to move the table wherever it needs to be. This phenomenon can be used in kindergarten to show the difference between the two main forces (pushes and pulls). In grade three it can be used to illustrate balanced (not walking) forces and unbalanced (walking) forces.
Web Resource: Scheublin & Lindeman Design Studio
Magnetic Cannon
Description: The magnetic cannon contains four spaced neodymium magnets in a channel. Two balls bearings are placed between each ball bearing. When a new ball bearing is introduced a transfer of energy occurs and the final ball bearing leaves with a higher initial velocity than the first. This is a great phenomenon for studying transfer of momentum and the energy of an object based on its position within a magnetic field.
Web Resource: Magnetic Challenge with Bozeman Science
