A Slice of Turbulence
by Ned Kahn If the crest of the wave collapsed over the surfer off Hawaii and he could bring home a slice of salami from it, he would have the original to the…
Air Bubbles
Like dolphins: forming rings that rise. By pumping air into the glass tube filled with water, air bubbles rise. They ascend vertically. Often in a straight…
Ball on water-beam
Drawn to the jet. Table tennis balls float on a water fountain: how is that possible? The ball doesn’t stay exactly in the center of the jet. It rotates…
Captured Cloud
Swirling Fog. Step into the cloud. It’s pleasantly cool inside. Will you find your way out? In the two half-shells, nozzles spray fine water droplets. It's…
Cartesian Diver
Sinks / Doesn’t Sink Sometimes called a “Cartesian diver,” this hollow body is partially filled with water and air. Depending on the pressure in the liquid,…
Chaotic fountain
«Chaotic (or Turbulent) Fountain» Direction of rotation: impossible to predict. The twelve containers of this fountain wheel are all the same size. They are…
Cloud Rings
A cloud maker like no other! The large basin is filled with water mist. Pressing the lid with a hole causes a mist column to rise in the center – up to seven…
Confused Sea
Master of the Winds. Play the god of winds – Aeolus would be thrilled. The half-sphere of plexiglass is filled with water. The strength of the rotating fan…
Dancing Stones
This exhibit is not accessible during the winter months. Hard to believe until you try it yourself. You can turn this eight-ton stone stele under your own…
Dancing Water Drop
Leidenfrost Phenomenon. The water droplet lasts surprisingly long when it falls onto a scorching hot plate. It zips across the 280-degree surface, carried by…
Disappearing Glass Rods
Brought before your eyes: Optical density. Similar to how a drinking straw appears bent in a glass – here is another way to illustrate the phenomenon of…
Droplet Fountain
Wave patterns. A single drop falls. In the fountain, a wave pattern appears. How does it develop towards the edge? A strike on the button at the edge…
Falling Water
Splash! From the cube of the Wonder Bridge, five tons of water plunge into the void. Part of the water is propelled through a halfpipe, soaring well beyond…
Floating Tap
And where does the water come from? As if by magic, the faucet floats in mid-air. Water flows continuously, without stopping. A miracle, no doubt. But can it…
Fountain of Instability
Spitting Snake. Water sprays out in the middle of the pond. The hose moves in a snake-like motion. The end of the hose sways slowly, almost like a pendulum.…
Higher and further
Water creates pressure. Water jets spray horizontally from the cylinder at different heights. The lower the nozzle, the higher the water pressure and the…
Infalling Cloud
«Infalling Cloud» Resembling galactic spiral nebulae, whirling wisps endlessly plunge into the funnel. The water vapor, denser than the surrounding air, is…
Internal Waves
Wave Backwards Tilt the container – the heavier blue liquid flows downward. When it hits the container wall, it bounces back, creating a wave moving…
Jumping Water
Fascinating Water Arches. Is solid water flying through the air? Beautiful: sometimes, continuous arches form, almost like tent poles, but made of water.…
Kalliroscope©
Magic and Beauty of Flowing Motion A vortex generator or rather a spectator par excellence. It allows for enchanting, seemingly chaotic, yet somehow regular…
Large drain vortex
Plug removed: This is how the bathtub empties. A water vortex is usually seen – if at all – from above. Like the one in the bathtub drain. Here, the water…
Liquid Dynamics
Chaotic eddies, turbulent swirls – and calm zones. Turbulences become visible. In the flow tank, they appear in the water. Very similar to what happens in a…
Lying Water Disk
Water shapes sculptures. When two water jets collide, the water is deflected sideways. A water membrane forms, creating a disc. The pressure in the two pipes…
Make the Invisible Visible
Convection made clear and observable. When water is heated, it expands. It becomes lighter and rises. In the less heated water, it creates swirls. The heat…
Meanderings
Meanders on glass. The glass plate is slightly tilted. Thin streams of water flow over it. What paths does the water take? The fastest path is a straight…
Musical Cloudburst
Dry Shower. What’s hitting the umbrella? It’s music! The intensity of the water jet determines the note. The umbrella acts as a loudspeaker. ❄️ Technorama…
Optical Lifting
More or less deep. Catching a fish with bare hands? A tricky task. Why? Where exactly is it swimming? Due to the refraction of light rays – when transitioning…
Seesaw pump
Fill and empty the caterpillar. This only works if the team of three is perfectly in sync: fill the hose with water from the pond, pass the water along, and…
Settling Column
«Settling Column» Sand follows gravity. The same happens in this rotating glass tube. Mostly filled with water, the sand settles at the bottom. How can the…
Soap Bubble Basin
Loooong bubbles For kids big and small: form soap bubbles several meters long. Sometimes, a bubble stretches into a tube large enough for a child to fit…
Standing Water Disk
Collision of two water jets When two water jets collide, the water is deflected sideways. A thin water membrane, resembling a disk, forms. Surface tension…
Surface Tension
Clear and tangible. Astonishingly strong, the forces acting on the surface of the water. Slowly pull a metal ring out of the water: you can see how the…
The Tea Leaves Experiment / Tea Cup Experiment
«Everyday Physics» Experiment like Albert Einstein. In a paper about river meander formation, he wrote: «I begin with a small experiment that anyone can…
Tit for tat
Coriolis Effect. The water jets on this carousel are aimed toward the center. Once set in motion, they change direction. The Coriolis effect becomes visible…
Tricky target well
Teamwork. Place a finger on the nozzle of the water jet, and a nearby nozzle’s jet will shoot even farther. Maybe. But maybe not. Which combination will…
Turbulent Orb
Currents and their Shapes Ever spun a globe? Turned by a hand crank, it creates horizontal bands. What happens when the movement slows down? Chaotic, stormy…
Underwater Sandstorm
Underwater dunes At the seaside, in the shallow sandy shore, you can observe an underwater dune landscape sculpted by the tides. In the plexiglass sphere…
Unwanted Light Reflections
Unwanted reflections – a simple trick. Photographers are familiar with this: light reflections on glass or water surfaces – and they can be disruptive. A…
Vortex Action in Bottles
Race: Empty the Bottle A simple task: Who can empty their PET bottle faster? Turn the bottle – the rest happens on its own. But it can go even faster. How?…
Vortice Cylinder
Whirlpool in a Glass of Water Turn vigorously, please. Driven by the hand crank, the water in the cylinder starts spinning slowly, then faster and…
Watch Water Freeze / Ice Flowers
Watch Water Freeze Crystals form on the cold surface, like frost flowers on windows, a sight we see less often thanks to better insulation. Here, you can see…
Water Bell
Like an elastic skin. Water flows upward against a flat surface. Diverted outward, it forms a bell shape. The shape of this bell depends on the pressure of…
Water film
Clinging Water. A daily phenomenon displayed in its most beautiful form: why doesn’t the water simply drip off the silver mushroom? Molecular interactions…
Water games
This exhibit is not accessible during the winter months. Pump like the world champions: Here, water can be pumped in the most diverse ways. A big playground…
Water Music
Jam session "Splash Sounds". Experiment with water, improvise with surfaces and pipes, conduct an entire water orchestra: these compositions bear your…
Water Parabola
Parabola in a natural phenomenon. As the rotational speed of this container increases, the water surface inside curves. The faster it rotates, the steeper the…
Wild water wheel
Clinging Molecules. Depending on the speed of rotation, the drum carries different amounts of water up along its wall. The turbulent water wheel demonstrates…
Zen-Brunnen
This exhibit is not accessible during the winter months. What does the water pumped up from the last two pumps of the water feature do? It combines to drive a…
Action at -200°C – gases
We are constantly surrounded by gases – even if we cannot see them. We breathe them in and breathe them out, use some and produce others. Gases are fascinating…
Aquatic animals - organisms in the stream and pond
When talking about animals in streams and ponds, children usually think of fish and frogs. The fact that there are other animals in these habitats that are…
Do not try this @home – microwaves
In this day and age everything has to be done quickly, and the microwave undoubtedly helps save a lot of time! But how does this appliance actually work? Why…
Don't be so superficial! – Understand structures
How do plant leaves behave towards water? What does that have to do with surfaces and structures? And what can we learn about ourselves and our everyday life…
Happy hour on the ISS – water purification
Even astronauts on the International Space Station ISS enjoy drinking a Campari Soda from time to time – but where do they get the soda water from? There is no…
In murky waters - bioindication
How do we actually know how healthy a body of water is? Researchers use biological diversity as a criterion for water quality, among other things. Based on the…
Condiment Diver
To paraphrase French philosopher René Descartes: "I sink, therefore I am." Changes in fluid pressure affect the buoyancy of a Cartesian diver made from a…
Having a Gas with Water
Use electricity to break water into its elemental components. Build a simple electrolysis device using a 9-volt battery wrapped in oil-based modeling clay,…
Inverted Bottles
Watch the rise and fall of hot and cold fluids. Investigate convection by using food coloring and water at different temperatures.
Air
Cooperation
Darstellen
Digital
Interferenz
Lichtstrahl
Model
Optical Illusions
Perspective
Riddle
Scientific method
