Discoveries in the Physics & Astronomy shop | Science, curiosities, and surprises
‘Tis the season for toy kits once more, an entertaining feature of the introductory Physics sequence. Among all of the miscellaneous goodies intended to illustrate Newtonian mechanics through ordinary things, few catch one’s attention like suction-cup blow darts.
Hundreds of plastic tubes and their counterpart foam blow darts.
With the impending start of classes, it’s time to get ready. Packing hundreds of toy kits, a collection of odds and ends to show how ordinary things can illustrate scientific principles. Maybe it’s just an excuse to remind everyone how entertaining a yo-yo can be?
‘Tis the season for toy kits once more, full of little odds and ends to explore the basic principles of physics. Among them, the humble magnetic compass.
Works with the Earth’s magnetic field, permanent magnets (included in the kit), and even a homemade electromagnet (included in the kit, some assembly required).
Adorably tiny and not ideal for navigation. Please don’t entrust your wilderness survival to these.
A collection of advertisements in the latest package of toys for our toy kits. The new catalog – buy even more of our stuff! – makes sense. The Doordash bit seems unrelated, but they’re probably just spraying everywhere and hoping for a connection.
But “burial insurance you can afford” seems… a step too weird? There’s an awful lot to unpack here, and to be honest, we’ve got more important work to do.
The color for next semester’s toy kits: violet.
“Connerctor!”
In great big boxes full of boxes, the toys begin to arrive. We stash them in corners, in front of other shelves, any place mostly out of the way before separating, sorting, packing, and distributing.
Three hundred yo-yos, Imperials and Butterflies, in an assortment of colors. Every box is full of surprises!
It’s July, and that means it’s the time of year for restocking on toys! Bouncy balls, suction cup blowdart guns, silicone poppers, the works.
This is all for advanced scientific education, mind you. Important stuff, building a better tomorrow, etc.
Hundreds of 50cm lengths of #30 AWG nichrome wire, all twisted up and ready to go? Must be toy kit time!
Nichrome – so named for its mostly-nickel-some-chrome alloy composition* – has a fairly high electrical resistance, high melting point, and the added bonus of its tendency to develop a chromium oxide finish which prevents wee bits from sputtering away when it gets blackbody-in-the-visible-spectrum hot. Hence why it’s used inside toasters as a resistive heating element.
* Depends on the specific alloy, technically. Can be as low as 35% nickel, but an 80-20 alloy is common.
Summer is progressing quickly, and it won’t be long before it’s toy kit time once more, including this multicolored assortment of silicone poppers! Available in different colors and sizes, over time you learn which ones pop the best.
Marbled performs better than solid colors.
Pink is often the best. A good one can nearly slap the ceiling from bench height.
No certainty as to why. But they sure are fun!