Ever used Physics knowledge to play a practical joke?

[ChromeBit]

I'm not sure if I'm going to get any answers here, but I was just wondering... have any of you ever used your physics (or engineering/electrical) knowledge to play some kind of prank on someone?

 

[WWGD]

Not me, but IIRC the MIT engineering dept. is famous for it.

 

[George Jones]

This was decades ago, so I forget the exact details, but the story goes something like the following.

In high school electronics class we built a simple RC circuit that made a small neon bulb flash. I modified my project so that the circuit triggered a power SCR or triac. I put the whole circuit in a hobbyist box that plugged into the wall, and put an outlet was in one side of the box.

While my mother was out, I plugged her bedside lamp into the box. She came home, turned on her lamp, which immediately started blinking, and said "George! Come quick! My light is going to explode!"

 

[AlephZero]

Not me, but IIRC the MIT engineering dept. is famous for it.

Not me either, but Cambridge UK beats Cambridge Mass
http://babylon.acad.cai.cam.ac.uk/college/past/legend/index.php

 

[lisab]

I installed a digital readout upside-down. Didn't do it on purpose but after I noticed it, I thought, let it be .