Stations-ID: A006

?? English instruction:

A round track – But is the chair driving on it in it’s initial position after one round?

• How many rails is the track made up of?

• In what position would you arrive after one round, if the chair could not turn?

The stainless steel construction has a different angle in every segment, which could not be calculated before the build. Therefore, a wooden model had to be built to scale to discern the correct measurements required.

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Stations-ID: A009

English instruction:

Stand on the platform and hold on to the handrail. Try to get yourself spinning with your feet. What happens if you pull yourself towards the centre?

Stations-ID: D091

?? English instruction:

Two people sit across from each other in the carousel, tossing a ball back and forth between them.

The rest of the group sets the carousel in motion. Try tossing the ball back and forth again.

• Where does the ball fly when the carousel is turning?

• Where does the ball fly if the carousel is turning in the opposite direction?

• Which flight path would an observer see, looking at the carousel from the top?

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Stations-ID: D069

?? English instruction:

Spin the barrel.

Pluck one of the strings and observe it.

What do you notice when the barrel spins slower or quicker?

• Pluck a string. What can you see? What can you hear?

• What do you see when the barrel is spinning?

• What happens when the barrel is spinning slower?

• What’s the difference between the strings?

The strobe effect has many technical appliances. On good record players, the strobe effect is used to discern and adjust the rotation speed of the turntable. It is also used to discern the revolution rate of rotating machines or discover faults in rotating parts.

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Stations-ID: D081

?? English instruction:

Sit on the chair and turn.

Spread your arms or pull them in close to your body.

To amplify the effect, use the weights.

• What happens when you pull your arms in close while the chair is rotating?

• What happens when you spread them?

• Ask a partner to sit in the chair and hold the weights.

Set the chair in motion. Repeat the experiment, this time your partner spreads his arms.

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Stations-ID: D053

Stations-ID: D040

?? English instruction:

What patterns are created, when the disc is spinning and you draw on it? Can you draw straight lines?

• Before you start, think about what the pattern could look like.

• While the disk is spinning, move the chalk from the center to the edge of the disk evenly.

• While the disk is spinning, draw small circles.

• Try to draw a straight line on the spinning disk.

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Stations-ID: D064

?? English instruction:

The ring is spun on the dish. How long will it spin?

• How does the ring move?
• Which different movements can you observe?
• What do you hear?
• What do you think how heavy the ring is?

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Stations-ID: D099

English instruction:

Roll bar :
Not just rolls can roll! You can roll all kinds of interesting objects on our roll bar – and experience some surprises in the process! The different objects are presented again on the signs on the side walls. In the middle you will also find a flat table on which you can roll the bodies forward very slowly to observe them closely. Some of the bodies were produced using 3D printing. Can you find out which ones? You can find more information about 3D printing on the board on the right!

Please be very careful with the objects!

Oloids:
Let the two bodies roll down one of tables. Observe which parts of the oloids surface touch the ground!
How do you have to place it at the beginning so that it rolls straight downhill?
The geometry of the oloid is based on two circular disks pushed into each other and rotated by 90°.  This body is also called a disk oloid and rolls in a similar fashion as the oloid. The oloid is formed from the disk oloid by connecting the edges of the disks to each other with lateral surfaces.
The initially irritating-looking “antioloid” is based on the same basic geometric shape. If you look a little closer, you will again find the two circles of the disk oloid. Except that in the antioloid they are holes!
You can also recognize similarities to the Möbius strip, however the antioloid has two twists in its “strip” so that there are two clearly defined sides.

Wettrennen/”Downhill racing”:
The two pairs of bodies each have the same weight. Let them each roll down next to each other in pairs. Which of the two bodies is faster? How do they differ from each other?
Bodies with the same weight and external dimensions can still roll at different speeds! This is where rolling differs from falling, because (without air friction) all bodies fall at the same speed.
Although the two cans have the same mass, they contain different liquids. The glicerine in one can is much more viscous than the water in the other. This causes internal friction on the wall of the can, which slows down the rolling motion.
The two bodies with the steel struts are also similar, except for the position of the struts. If the struts are further out, it is more difficult for them to gain momentum because they oppose the rotational movement with a higher moment of inertia.

Sphericons:
The two objects are based on a Sphericon and a Hexasphericon. Place both bodies on the flat table, roll them slowly forward and observe the trajectory. Do you notice a difference between the two bodies?
Sphericons are created when a special body of revolution is cut along the central axis, rotated and rejoined. In the case of the “normal” sphericon, it is a double cone in which one half is rotated by 90° and then rejoined. The resulting body has similarities with an oloid and also rolls similarly. For the hexasphericon, two cones are taken as the basic body, with a cylinder between them. If you cut it in half, you get a regular hexagon as the cut surface. If you now rotate one half by 60 degrees, the cut surfaces fit together again. The resulting body is characterized by a sharp curve in the rolling track.
The bodies here look slightly different because additional cut-outs were made in each case.

The Wobbler:
Take the wobbler and roll it slowly over the flat table. How does it move? Now let it roll down an inclined plane. How do you have to place it so that it rolls straight down?
When rolling, the wobbler looks as if it is moving in serpentine lines. If you were to roll the wheels in paint and let them roll over a sheet of paper, you would actually get a wavy line, a sine curve to be precise! Nevertheless, the center of gravity of the body (similar to the oloid) moves in a straight line downhill.
Incidentally, the wobbler is also quite easy to make yourself! All you need is a roll-shaped piece that you can easily cut up. You could use a salami, for example. Instead of cutting off two straight slices as wheels, simply place the knife at a slight angle. If you now connect the two parts with 3 skewers, for example, you already have a wobbler.

Stations-ID: D063

?? English instruction:

Plane mirrors and double and triple-sided corner reflectors are mounted on a rotating wheel.

Turn the winch. What happens to your reflection?

• How many reflections can you see?

• Count the rotations of the mirrors, then count the rotations of your reflections.

• In what position must the two sided corner reflector stand in order for your reflection to be upside down?

In the 19th century, the French physicist Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819-1868) developed a method to measure the speed of light. Rays of light where reflected between a rotating mirror and a stationary mirror. Focault determined the speed of light by measuring the displacement between the starting point of the rays of light and their subsequent reflection. He measured the speed of light to be 298.000 km/s, rather close to the speed of light in vacuum, 299.792,458 km/s.

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Stations-ID: D057
?? English instruction:

Plane mirrors and double and triple-sided corner reflectors are mounted on a rotating wheel.

Turn the winch. What happens to your reflection?

• How many reflections can you see?
• Count the rotations of the mirrors, then count the rotations of your reflections.
• In what position must the two sided corner reflector stand in order for your reflection to be upside down?

In the 19th century, the French physicist Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819-1868) developed a method to measure the speed of light. Rays of light where reflected between a rotating mirror and a stationary mirror. Focault determined the speed of light by measuring the displacement between the starting point of the rays of light and their subsequent reflection. He measured the speed of light to be 298.000 km/s, rather close to the speed of light in vacuum, 299.792,458 km/s.

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Stations-ID: D043

?? English instruction:

This special kaleidoscope consists of a cube with mirrors on it’s inner walls.

Look into it from above – which symmetries can you see?

What happens to the different reflections when you rotate the cube slowly?

• How many reflections can you see?

• Look at the planes, edges and corners of the cube.

• Which reflections are rotating and which are not?

• Put your head inside the rotating cube.

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Stations-ID: D042