Err

Where science meets magic and fun meets education!

Large Ball Bearings

Shopping Satisfaction
Grand Illusions
(Code: 199)
5060195607380
1500g
A fascinating demonstration of the conversion of kinetic energy into heat energy!
£ 29.99

Sage pay, Visa, PayPal, Mastercard

We aim to ship within 24 hours

These large ball bearings are about 2 inches in diameter, and a pair of them weight over a kilo! When you bang them together smartly, there is a loud 'crack'. However there is also heat generated at the point of impact. So if you crack them together with a sheet of paper in between, you discover that the heat generated actually burns a small hole in the paper! Paper burns at 450 Fahrenheit, so this suggests that we are reaching that kind of temperature at the point of impact. Ball bearings are manufactured to extremely fine tolerances, so of course the contact area between two ball bearings is vanishingly small. We have not managed to set the paper on fire, even when we used flash paper. This may be because at the point of impact, the movement of the air blows out any incipient flame. However a fascinating demonstration of the conversion of kinetic energy into heat energy!

The physicist James Joule (1818 - 1889) studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work, which led to the law of conservation of energy. Apparently while on his honeymoon he attempted to measure the temperature difference between water at the top of a waterfall and the water at the bottom. There is dedication to your work for you! 

  1. #video#
Customer reviews
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
As expected.
Kenneth C.
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
Quality, heavy, fun to demonstrate the effect of burning paper & a wonderful relaxation tool (spinning them around each other in one hand -I highly reccomend.
Anthony Scavo Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
George Butcher Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
Brian Larsen Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
Surprising effect.
Jose Natario Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
John Caruso Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
Just what I needed!
Benjamin Borley Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 3/5
James Dalgety Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 4/5
Emmanuel Angot Review collected by Feefo
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
My son is delighted with the large ball bearings. He loves them.
Jacqueline Lacey Review collected by Feefo