Mechanics/Dynamics/Motion

Floating Objects

FLOATING OBJECTS allows the visitor to suspend plastic balls of various sizes in a stream of air from jets. By adjusting the air flow users can play with the buoyancy effect, raising and lowering the objects. When the ball is suspended in the airstream, the air flowing upward hits the bottom of the ball and slows down, generating a region of higher pressure. The high-pressure region of air under the ball holds the ball up against the pull of gravity.