Exhibit for Sale - LaBallotory - $12,900

Contact info@acgilbert.org for more information

La "Ball" otory
The bright colorful LaBallotory provides plenty of action and education by exploring the physics behind simple machines through exhibits that use balls. Experiment and learn through components, such as the Bernoulli Blower, a spin table, the bicycle wheel gyroscope, a raceway tube that sends balls around the room using air pressure, and a station to race a model car.

LaBallotory Exhibit Components:

Bernoulli Blower - two round tables: one fixed cone blower and one air directional blower
Air is forced upwards in a constant stream. Visitors witness the fascinating powers of Bernoulli's principle by placing objects into this air stream. Ping-pong balls, beach balls and large Styrofoam balls are levitated. Plastic Easter eggs wobble in a chaotic motion but will not leave the air stream. Visitors can angle the air stream to see how long a ball will remain levitated.

Spin Table
A smooth table surface spins at a constant speed. Visitors experiment with the effects of centrifugal force as they roll tops across the table. Visitors may also roll balls across the surface. The spinning table changes the trajectory of the rolling objects in surprising ways.

Golf Ball Maze
Golf balls are put in entrance holes and cascade down the maze to the exit. Visitor watch as the balls make bells sound and trigger hammer movements on the different pathways to the bottom.

The Bounce
Which surface will create the highest bounce? Make a prediction and then test your hypothesis by sending a ball through the tube. Measure how high the ball bounces on each surface.

Bike Wheel Gyroscope
A moving object will not change direction unless an external force alters its path. Visitors put this axiom to the text as they experiment with the bike wheel gyroscope. A visitor sits on a freely spinning stool. A friend gives him or her a spinning bicycle wheel that he or she holds by two handles attached to the center of the wheel. Amazingly, the visitor sitting on the stool will begin to slowly rotate. If he or she tips the bicycle wheel perpendicularly, the stool will rotate in the opposite direction.

Ball Raceway - ceiling unit
A clear acrylic pipe snakes up the wall and loops across the ceiling, eventually returning to its starting point. A constant stream of air is forced through the pipe. The balls zip wildly through the pipe and eventually return to their starting point.

Team Gilbert Racetrack
Place the racecars at the top of the track. Lift the lever to hold the cars in place and to reset the timer. Press the lever down to start the race. Is the result always the same? What racecar on Team Gilbert is the fastest? Which car is the slowest?

Elliptical Orbit Table
Golf balls are sent through a chute on to a funnel table. As the balls spin towards the hole in the center they travel in ellipse shape simulating the movement of planet orbit.