Explaining Physics with the Help of Toys

Description

The main task of the initial period of studying physics is inculcating the interest and enthusiasm of children in this subject. The root cause of all interest is surprise, and for children there is almost nothing more surprising than a new and unusual toy. There is a whole class of toys with unusual mechanisms, behaviour, or way of interacting with them. Having explained to the child the not quite ordinary, and often paradoxical, properties of such toys, we can gradually instil in him an interest in physics as one of the most important sciences about the nature of the surrounding world. The main purpose of the book is to arouse interest in the study of physics with the help of toys that everyone has loved since childhood.The book contains descriptions of the toys in which, with the help of explanations of the devices and principles of operation, the basic physical laws are revealed, together with perspectives of phenomena and patterns, practical significance, as well as historical information. The individual descriptions contain the minimum necessary mathematical calculations as well as information of environmental, statistical, and household orientations. All toys are systematized according to 4 chapters: Mechanics, Liquids and Gases, Electricity, and Optics.To a large extent, self-production of simple scientific toys can increase interest and enthusiasm in the process of teaching physics. To this end, the fifth chapter provides step-by-step instructions for making 14 such homemade toys from the most affordable materials using the simplest tools. The participation of teachers or parents in the process of making these toys by young children will undoubtedly provide positive emotions and establish trusting relationships. Contents To the Reader Chapter 1 Mechanics 1.1 “Stubborn Giraffe” (Pertaining to Statics and Construction Mechanics) 1.2 “Tumbler” (Pertaining to Balance) 1.3 “Shooting Pneumatic Toys” (Pertaining to Kinematics) 1.4 “Pecking Woodpeckers” (Pertaining to Friction) 1.5 “Toy Scales” (Pertaining to Weight and Mass) 1.6 “Propeller on a Screw” (Pertaining to Simple Mechanism) 1.7 “Wind-Up Toy Car” (Pertaining to the Wheel) 1.8 “Toy Bike” (Pertaining to Green Transport Technologies) 1.9 “Gravity Cart” (Pertaining to Perpetual Motion) 1.10 “Heron’s Chain” (Pertaining to the Physics of Antiquity) 1.11 “Magnetic Olives” (Pertaining to Energy) 1.12 “Elastic Popper” (Pertaining to Elasticity) 1.13 “Resonant Balls” (Pertaining to Resonance) 1.14 “Newton’s Cradle” (Pertaining to the Pendulum and the Law of Conservation of Energy) 1.15 “Pendulum Cart” (Pertaining to Inertia and the Law of the Conservation of Momentum) 1.16 “Toy Gyroscope” (Pertaining to Gyroscopes) 1.17 “Chinese Top” (Pertaining to the Centrifugal Force of Inertia) 1.18 “Rubik’s Cube” (Pertaining to Rotational Movement) 1.19 “Astrojax” (Pertaining to the Moment of Momentum) 1.20 “Toy Rocket” (Pertaining to Jet Propulsion) Chapter 2 Liquids and Gases 2.1 “Immiscible Liquids” (Pertaining to the Aggregate States of Matter) 2.2 “Erometer” (Pertaining to Thermodynamics) 2.3 “Drinking Duck” (Pertaining to Phase Transitions) 2.4 “Cartesian Diver” (Pertaining to Hydrostatics) 2.5 “Submarine” (Pertaining to the Development of Diving Technologies) 2.6 “Clockwork Boat” (Pertaining to Aquatic Propellers) 2.7 “Sailboat” (Pertaining to Sailing) 2.8 “Glider with a Rubber Band for Propulsion” (Pertaining to Aerodynamics) 2.9 “Toy Airplane with a Push Propeller” (Pertaining to Aircraft) 2.10 “Ornithopter” (Pertaining to Avian Flight Techniques) 2.11 “Rainbow Pinwheel” (Pertaining to Our Earth’s Atmosphere) 2.12 “Musical Hammer” (Pertaining to the Physics of Sound) 2.13 “Popping Pistol” (Pertaining to Sound Perception) 2.14 “Vuvuzela” (Pertaining to Sonic Power) 2.15 “Psaltery” (Pertaining to Sound Sources) Chapter 3 Electricity 3.1 “Van de Graaf Generator” (Pertaining to Electrostatics) 3.2 “Radio-controlled Toy Car” (Pertaining to Radio Communication) 3.3 “Helicopter with Automatic Controls” (Pertaining to Automatic Control Systems) 3.4 “Beetle on a Solar Battery” (Pertaining to Photovoltaics) Chapter 4 Optics 4.1 “Laser Shooting Range” (Pertaining to the Electromagnetic Nature of Light) 4.2 “Kaleidoscope” (Pertaining to Geometric Optics) Chapter 5 Homemade Toys 5.1 Glider (Made from plastic film and bending plastic straws) 5.2 Gyroscopic Precession (Displayed using a plastic bottle top) 5.3 Friction Force (Displayed using a cardboard box) 5.4 Non-motorised Cord Model of an Airplane 5.5 Sailboat (Made from foam) 5.6 Ballista (Made from the bottom of a plastic bottle) 5.7 Wound Rubber Powered Submarine (Made from a plastic bottle with a sugar cube surfacing machine) 5.8 Pneumatic Arrow (Made from a plastic bottle) 5.9 Self-made Cartesian Diver 5.10 Astrojax (Made from ping-pong balls) 5.11 Hydraulic Press (Made from medical syringes) 5.12 Demonstration of Pascal’s Law (Displayed with the help of a pipette and a syringe) 5.13 Air Gun (Made from a plastic jar) 5.14 Sounding Turbulence Index