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"Nuts and bolts":
interactive exibits
Exhibit
development & fabrication
Designs
& performance specifications
Discovery
Disks: mobile mini-interactives
'Beam Cam' projecting video microscope
Underwater
Street Discovery Centre
Moscow
Planetarium
Sellafield
Visitor Centre
'Alternative
energy'
Earth
Science
Fixed
Discovery Disks, Glasgow
Air-table,
telescope, moon-phases
Astronomy
exhibits for Valencia
Biometrics
Magnetic
field exhibit for CERN, Geneva
Tabletop
Discovery Disks: magnetism
Tabletop
Discovery Disks: Light
More
Light interactives
"Academic"
interactives: The Energy Enzyme
"Academic
interactives": Electron beams
"Academic
interactives": Mantle geology
Working
canal-lock model
Virtual
exhibit: Ich bin einmalig
Chemistry
interactives: Chirality
Video
microscopes: Melting crystal
Push-button
quiz: Breath of life
Environmental
& biological
Cookbook
outlines of my 1992 "classical" Great Explorations interactives
Talk to me!
UK phone/fax
+44 (0) 1663 743794
Email ian@interactives.co.uk
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Magnetism
Discovery Disks
Turning
magnets
Rotating one of the bar magnets by hand immediately causes the other
one to flip round. This is a strangely appealing phenomenon to "play"
with...
Compasses
The compass needles are sensitive at a considerable distance from the
coloured bar magnet and show the shape of the magnetic field. .
Hovering
magnets
The hovering ring-magnets have red and blue coloured faces to indicate
their north and south poles.
Generator
Spiining the horseshoe magnet by hand generates an alternating current
when the circuit is closed using the other hand. If the diode is included
in the circuit, a rectified direct current is generated.
Electric
motor
Holding down the red button causes a green LED to flash in the battery
box. The motor's internal magnets have been removed, so it does not rotate
unless the bar magnet is brought close to the coil while the current is
flowing. The direction of rotation can be reversed by reversing the magnet
or by moving it to the opposite side of the coil-commutator assembly.
Discovery Disk rechargable battery units can be supplied ready-fitted
with a small connector for a low-voltage lead from a compact, plug-in,
mains charger. So they can be used - rather like a laptop computer - either
with or without the trailing wire. Various different exhibits are designed
to run for at least a couple of days normal use after overnight recharging.
Hanging
magnets
Hanging magnets feel strange! Especially when two similar
poles are repelling each other. This repulsive force is less commonly
noticed when magnets are held in the hand, because they quickly tend to
spin round and snap together.
The simplicity of this design is deceptive. Notice the elegant variety
of possible experiments. Two blues repel and so do two reds. A red and
a blue attract. As well as that, the upper, hanging magnets can be tested
against each other. The pair on the left attract, while the pair on the
right repel each other.
Discovery Disks can be supplied with any kind of image, text,
or photograph applied to the transparent base. This particular customer
wanted a plain, clear base.
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