Come Up With a New Science Toy

[sanman]

Suggest an idea for a new science toy that demonstrates or exploits some interesting aspect of physics, which might be entertaining/appealing to youngsters, and which has not been made yet.

 

[pallidin]

I'm not sure anyone would be willing to that in an open forum, especially if the idea is potentially marketable.

 

[alxm]

Hmm, not really physics per se.. But I could imagine a game based on numerical methods (I do too many calculations) :)

Player 1 has a piece on a board, and gets to move to a number of spots, 'degrees of freedom'. Player 2 has to guess which spot P1 is going to move to. If P2 correctly anticipates which move P1 makes, then P1 loses a degree of freedom for his next move. If P2 did not correctly guess, then P1 gains a degree of freedom.

P2's goal is to get P1 to converge, by trapping him into a situation where he cannot move. P1's goal is to diverge, by getting some number of degrees of freedom that predicting his next move is deemed impossible. You'd have to come up with some interesting board design and specific rules to make sure the game was balanced.

Now that I think of it, there are already a number of games which (chess, go, hex) which indirectly include this concept to varying extents. But I suppose that just goes to show it's a fruitful idea.

 

[jmatejka]

Here is one I built from scratch:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=292080&highlight=Physics

 

[mcknia07]

The baby is absolutely adorable! But, isn't that a little dangerous for a small child to be playing with lol. Though, I would have loved to have something like that as a kid.

 

[jmatejka]

The baby is absolutely adorable! But, isn't that a little dangerous for a small child to be playing with lol. Though, I would have loved to have something like that as a kid.

Thank you very much! Yes, multiple pinch points mean adult supervision is needed. I made this from spare parts for my son's first Christmas, he is a year older now and still loves playing with the "Science Toy"

 

[Proton Soup]

Thank you very much! Yes, multiple pinch points mean adult supervision is needed. I made this from spare parts for my son's first Christmas, he is a year older now and still loves playing with the "Science Toy"

i think it's brilliant. pinchy things teach lessons, too!

 

[pallidin]

i think it's brilliant. pinchy things teach lessons, too!

Indeed. "spare the pinch, spoil the child" as it were. As long as fingers aren't severed or skin broken.
Just from your pics I can see why you supervise a child playing with it.