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1m diameter rubber sheet acts as curved space for ball bearing masses.

What it shows:

In general relativity, gravity is replaced by a curved space geometry, where the curvature is determined by the presence and distribution of matter. Objects move in...

Orbital motion simulated by ball rolling on wooden potential well.

What it shows:

Motion in a central potential is demonstrated by a ball rolling on a circular 1/r curved surface.

How it works:

The 1/r potential well simulates the gravitational potential...

What it shows:

The thermal radiation emitted from a black body is temperature dependant. The tungsten filament of a bulb approximates a black body, and by increasing the current through the bulb, its temperature rises and so its color spectrum shifts to...

What it shows:

A simple qualitative demonstration of total internal reflection using a laser beam.

How it works:

Using a fish tank suitably doped with a scattering agent (see Setting it Up), a ray of light from a laser beam can probe the water-air boundary...

What it shows:
A mechanical analogy of a wave front consisting of two wheels linked by an axle. It simulates refraction by rolling across a boundary between two surfaces having different rolling friction and thus altered propagation velocities.

How it...

Half wood and half metal physical pendulum with suspension points at both ends.

What it shows:

The period of a physical pendulum is measured and compared to theory:

where I is the rotational inertia, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and x is the...

What it shows:

A metal under stress will not fracture straight away, but will deform plastically due to the dislocation of crystal boundaries; this is called creep.

How it works:

Here we use lead as the test sample because there is significant creep compared...

What it shows:

This demonstration allows you to compare chalk’s compressive strength with its tensile strength.

How it works:

We use railroad chalk, which although being softer and harder to work, is nice and big and easy to see. A sample is placed in each...

What it shows:

The speed with which you tug on a toilet roll determines whether a sheet breaks off, or the roll simply unravels.

How it works:

The force applied to the junction between the sheets of a toilet roll is proportional to the rate of change of...

Orbital motion simulated by ball rolling on wooden potential well.

What it shows:

Motion in a central potential is demonstrated by a ball rolling on a circular 1/r curved surface.

How it works:

The 1/r potential well simulates the gravitational potential...