Circus Physicus enables you to play your way to learning more about physical and technical phenomena such as gearing, air pressure and power transmission.

What all the wonderful phenomena in Circus Physicus have in common is that they are of great practical importance for us in our daily lives – however, they might take place out of view so you don’t give them much thought.

In Circus Physicus the phenomena take centre stage – here, we let you try your hand at them and tell you about the underlying science.

Here are a few of the physics phenomena you will find:

The gyro suitcase

The gyro suitcase is a completely hopeless travelling companion, because when you walk around in your own thoughts, the suitcase will head off in a completely different direction.

Bed of nails

Who hasn’t always wanted to try lying on a bed of pointed nails?

In Circus Physicus, you can discover that it’s not so difficult after all!

Play with the forces of air

The beach ball magically floats in the current of air, and it is even possible with a little skill to play ball between the two blowers.

Can you lift a heavy sack?

The three identical sacks feel completely different to lift with the rope. With a pulley or two however, it becomes possible to hoist the heavy sack from the floor – it feels like magic!

Horizontal balancing beam

How is your body weight distributed? Can you lie down balanced on this special seesaw? Only very small movements result in you tilting one way or the other – what is horizontal for you?

Play with rotation

The table top rotates, and you have to experiment with balls, rings and discs: How do they roll across the table? Can you get them to remain stationary while the table is still spinning?

Photo: David Trood.