brainwagon

I mentioned in my Maker Faire wrap up post that I had spoken with Ben Krasnow, the science guru behind the Applied Science Youtube channel. If you haven’t watched his videos, by all means, go over there and give it a whirl. Between playing with chemicals, low temperatures, rockets, X rays, and electron microscope, it’s simply humbling.

He’s also a skilled woodworker, and build this rheoscopic coffee table. What is a rheoscope, you ask? A rheoscope is a device for measuring or detecting currents, usually in fluids. His table includes a spinning disk filled with a fluid that makes it easy to see the turbulence that goes on. If you go to as many science museums as I do, you’ll recognize the gadget. If you’ve tried to build furniture, you’ll recognize the craftsmenship.

This year, Ben brought some simpler fluid cells that are easier for people to construct. I cornered him and asked him what people used for the fluid that was in the cell. He mentioned that all sorts of particulates and fluids were used, including mica. I got home, and did a little web searching, and found that you could get a small container of powdered mica via Amazon Prime for under $10, so on Sunday I ordered some, and it arrived during my lunch hour. I couldn’t resist. I dumped about 1/4 of a teaspoon into a Smart Water bottle (purchased from the cafeteria) and filmed a quick demonstration.

And then recorded a longer explanatory video (only two minutes):

I suspect that the addition of some blue food coloring would enhance the contrast of the flow significantly.

Anyway, a kind of fun science fair project for a ten year old, or an aging computer scientist.