Chaotic Pendulum
Momentum and Joint A long, light pendulum connected to a small but heavy pendulum. A push on the knob sets the entire system in motion. The effect on the…
Chaotic Pendulum II
Momentum and Reversal Three smaller pendulums attached to a large rotating arm. A push on the knob sets the entire system in motion. The effect on the three…
Circling Wave Umbrella
«Circling Wave Umbrella» The fabric hangs limply from the pole. When set in rotation, it ripples, much like women's skirts during a folk dance. A small hole…
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…
Counter-Balanced Pendulum
This is how a pendulum swings on the Moon. We cannot change Earth’s gravity. But we can simulate a change in gravitational force by adjusting a movable weight…
Coupled pendulums
Transferring energy. Two identical pendulums, connected by a helical spring. When one pendulum is set in motion, its energy transfers. Soon, the previously…
Coupled Rotary Pendulums
Twisted oscillation. Two horizontally stacked rods with weights are connected by a steel strip. If one rod is displaced, it begins to oscillate. Soon, it…
Distant receiver
Big Ear. If the listening horn is well aligned, birds can be heard chirping even from far away. The large dish collects and focuses sound waves, amplifying…
Echo Pipe
Hello?! Shouting, calling, whistling, clapping – this tube answers. The returned sound is quite different from the original noise. How long does it take for…
Fading Motion
The curve loses momentum. Sand flows from the pendulum onto a moving green belt. The sand writes curve after curve. Their radius becomes tighter and tighter.…
Harmonograph
Each drawing is a unique masterpiece. With precision and stability, this arm guides the pen across the paper. Held by magnets on a slowly rotating holder, the…
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…
Inverted Double Pendulum
Balancing with two rods. Balancing one rod on a fingertip: that’s something we can imagine doing. But with two rods connected by a joint, the task becomes…
Inverted Foucault Pendulum
From this point of view … North Pole, Winterthur, Equator: The inclination of the tube containing a thin oscillating rod can be adjusted. Additionally, the…
Jupiter Pendulum
Moon: sluggish. Jupiter: frantic. The stronger the gravity, the faster pendulums swing. Their oscillation period does not depend on their mass but on the…
Lissajous Double Spring
Vibration as a still image. Lissajous figures are the intertwined curves, like those shown by the LED at the end of the spring. Small works of art created by…
Lissajous Rods
Harmonic oscillation patterns. The six metal rods are shaped to oscillate at different speeds depending on the direction. A metal rod with a width-to-depth…
Lissajous Sounds
What sounds good also looks good. Two small mirrors oscillate at the same frequency as their respective speakers. The frequency of one mirror (and its…
Magic Wave
A mechanical work of art: A rhythmic rise and fall of metal segments, reminiscent of traveling waves. With a remarkable setup, the artist induces phenomenal…
Magic Wave Model
Magical wave in the stairwell – principle clearly explained. A rotating arm, cords, guide points, and straight metal segments create a wave-like motion that…
Obstinate Swing
Let it swing. One person sits still, while one or two others start swinging. Soon, the seated person begins to oscillate as well. These swings, connected by…
Oscylinderscope (Wave Watch)
Flipbook for vibrating strings. Turn the black drum with white cross stripes and pluck the strings: their vibrations appear as waves, in a magical way. The…
Pegboard Pendulum
Carrying momentum. With a rod fixed in the wall, the long pendulum becomes a short one, starting from the point where the long pendulum wraps around the…
Pendulum Cradle (Click-Clack)
Pendulum like Newton. One ball hits the row – one ball bounces away. Two balls hit the row: how many will bounce away now? Here’s a clue: The momentum of an…
Pendulum of Variable Length
The length of the thread of this pendulum can be changed at will via a crank. This has a huge influence on the period of oscillation of a pendulum (i.e. how…
Pendulum Wave
Chaos in perfect alignment. Eleven pendulums of different lengths. Once released, they swing in disarray. And yet, every ten seconds, they return to perfect…
Pendulums of Varying Weights
Experiment like Galileo. Does a heavy pendulum swing faster than a light one? An exciting comparison! With a weight in its center, a pendulum certainly…
Phased Pendulum
Up and down becomes back and forth! Set the pendulum swinging without touching it. Just pull the rope, please. This way, the pendulum is indirectly set in…
Resonant Pendulum
260 kilos in motion, effortlessly. It’s quite heavy, this steel block on a rope. Yet, a small magnet is enough to set it swinging! Finesse beats force:…
Resonant Rings
Vibrations based on frequency. Six spring-steel rings oscillate in response to the speaker’s frequency. If it matches the natural frequency of a ring, the…
Resonant Rods
Wildly swinging rods… Two metal rods rise vertically from a wobbling table. They are of different lengths. The vibrational energy of the table transfers to…
Rotating Pendulum
Standing Wave. An impulse triggered by the handwheel travels as a wave motion up the rotating wheel and back down. By periodically moving the wheel back 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…
Suspension Bridge
Vibration Patterns. Experience resonance frequency: Walking across the suspension bridge sets it into oscillation. Depending on your movement, these…
Swinging Drawing Board
Just let it draw. The drawing board swings, deliberately. Suspended by four cords, a single push is enough to create a work of art. Drawn as if by magic. The…
Switch-over Pendulum
Mathematical and Physical Pendulums. Here, you can switch between the two pendulums: If the disk at the center of the pendulum rod can rotate freely, it does…
Three Balls on a String
Motion patterns with momentum. Three balls on a string: what pendulum motions occur at low, medium, and high rotation speeds? Depending on the rotation…
Travelling Chain
«Travelling Chain» A fleeting, playful touch of the moving bicycle chain – and it performs surprising twists or gentle, artistically elegant wave motions. by…
Triple-period pendulum
A tricky challenge. Situation: Three pendulums with strings of different lengths but identical swinging masses. Various weights are available to attach to the…
Underwater Avalanche
«Underwater Avalanche» The "sand" in this round, water-filled vessel consists of tiny glass beads. Depending on the tilt of the disc, the flow patterns vary…
Vertical Mobiles (Chaotic Pendulums)
Chaotic pendulums. Length and amplitude: the behavior of a simple pendulum can be precisely described. No randomness involved. Add another pendulum, then one…
Vibrating Pin Screen
Pulsating images. Almost a quarter-million swinging pendulums! Nails of varying lengths, suspended in a perforated board and set in motion. The oscillation…
Vibrating String
Nodes, loops, nodes, loops. The spring steel plate at the end of the string oscillates a hundred times per second. Lateral movements depend on how strongly we…
Water Music
Jam session "Splash Sounds". Experiment with water, improvise with surfaces and pipes, conduct an entire water orchestra: these compositions bear your…
Wave Patterns
Waves on the surface of a thin layer of water become clearly visible with a suitable projection. A vibrating beam produces waves with straight-line crests.…
Waves in springs (Big Slinky)
Transverse wave, longitudinal wave, standing wave. A light push forward, and the twelve-meter-long spring wave moves. At its end, it bounces back and returns.…
What is Polarization?
Light and oscillations. Normal, unpolarized light is a mixture of light waves with different oscillation directions. When all light waves have the same…
Whisper Route
Amplifying Sound. Clearly understandable, even from forty meters away, what your conversation partner is saying. Receiving/Listening: One of the satellite…
Coupled Resonant Pendulums
Take advantage of resonance. By taking advantage of resonance, you can cause two pendulums to swing in identical cycles.
Acoustics
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