In need of cool experiments for show called 'Quantum'

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Christina Eddowes
Hello Everyone!

My name's Christina and I work at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool... We have a show coming up in the main space at the beginning of July that's going to be performed by YEP (Young Everyman and Playhouse)... and hopefully it's going to be a love story about all things Physics-y ...We need to get the audience hooked into the idea of discovery and experimentation as quickly as possible, and we thought the best way to do that was to show them some cool (beginner level) experiments in the general areas of waves, particles and cosmology... As we have a very small budget, if any of you super-clever bods out there have any cool experiments or pieces of equipment that you've knocked up that you would be willing to lend to us for a couple of weeks, in exchange for some free advertising or free tickets, we'd be really grateful!

...we've already sourced some Chladni plates, but anything with lights/sound/smoke or water...even if it's only vaguely related to physics, would be much appreciated! ...And if anyone has managed a mock double-slit experiment, or anything that can demonstrate space-time, so much the better! All suggestions appreciated!

Best wishes,

Chris :)
 
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Apologies, and thank you! ...As you can tell, I'm new to forums! :)
 
Laser pointer and CD for interference.
 
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As an example of something counter-intuitive which is easily explained by physics, I like the effect of dropping a small bouncy ball in place on top of a big bouncy ball. When they both hit the floor, it's quite astonishing how high the small ball can bounce (much higher than it was dropped - I think it's up to about 9 times higher in theory for a very bouncy ball). Don't try this with anything breakable nearby, as a slight misalignment can result in the small ball going a long way!
 
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This demonstration can be done on a budget. (Is this really a demonstration of Bernoulli's principle? Well, I'm pretty sure it fits in there somewhere or another anyway.)



There are some Dyson brand fans that work on this sort of principle (in part).
 
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"Gravity sounds mighty but tis the weakest."

1. Heavy object dropped on semi-rigid matrerial, it would stretch but hold.

2. Maglev
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"Space is bent by a massive object"

1. Heavier and lighter ball-like objects placed on elastic-y surface. Heavier objects make bigger "wells".

2. Roll marbles on the surface, they would get caught in the well. If they are rolling with enough speed their path will be bent but they'll emerge from the well. Light bent by gravity.

3. If there's a heavy ball with a deep well, or if the marble isn't rolled with enough speed, it'd get caught in the well. A black hole.
 
Christina Eddowes said:
Hello Everyone!

My name's Christina and I work at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool... We have a show coming up in the main space at the beginning of July that's going to be performed by YEP (Young Everyman and Playhouse)... and hopefully it's going to be a love story about all things Physics-y ...We need to get the audience hooked into the idea of discovery and experimentation as quickly as possible, and we thought the best way to do that was to show them some cool (beginner level) experiments in the general areas of waves, particles and cosmology... As we have a very small budget, if any of you super-clever bods out there have any cool experiments or pieces of equipment that you've knocked up that you would be willing to lend to us for a couple of weeks, in exchange for some free advertising or free tickets, we'd be really grateful!

...we've already sourced some Chladni plates, but anything with lights/sound/smoke or water...even if it's only vaguely related to physics, would be much appreciated! ...And if anyone has managed a mock double-slit experiment, or anything that can demonstrate space-time, so much the better! All suggestions appreciated!

Best wishes,

Chris :)
Have you tried contacting the University of Liverpool's Physics outreach group, or LJMU's http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/outreach?