Mysterious Glowing Ball

(21 reviews)

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Mysterious Glowing Ball
Item #: OPT-500
$6.95

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Juggler's Set of 3 Mysterious Glowing Ball
Item #: OPT-505
$17.50

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Fascinating to watch in the dark!

Button Batteries L1154 Alkaline 10/pk

SKU #BAT-55

Availability: In Stock

$5.95

12 points (Points accrued: 0)

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Description

When held stationary, this ball appears to glow with white light. When spun in a circle by the cord, one can see the white light separate into blinking red, blue, and green lights. Fascinating to watch in the dark. Great for reinforcing that white light can be produced by mixing three different colors of light. Advanced classes can relate it to the three different retinal color receptors in the back of the eye, and the persistence of vision. Poi spinners love to use these to practice. Beautiful when spun, and much safer than fire! (6.4 cm / 2.5" dia.) Uses 3 L1154 batteries, included.

Published by the American Association of Physics Teachers

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Reviews

21 reviews

great demo (although the 'juggling' effect doesn't work as well)

Jan 28, 2022

This is a great demo that requires very little skill and is reasonably safe. It works anywhere that you can bring the lighting down (i.e. not in an exhibition hall or in an outdoor science fair during the day). It even works in moderate darkness, but not in normal in door lighting. The one thing I would caution is that the set of 3 is sold as a "juggler's set". I tried juggling the three balls in darkness, and the color separation effect doesn't work very well when they are juggled (this is a video filmed with an iPhone, but it doesn't look any different when viewed with the naked eye): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45_CPIV8FhA The problem is that in normal juggling, the balls don't move fast enough for the colors to separate, except for a small amount that you can see around the edges. I wouldn't buy these to actually juggle them as part of a presentation. However, having a set of 3 is still worth it if you're going to hand them out for people to play with.

Bennett Haselton

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I can think of a practical application for sure!

Nov 6, 2019

You are looking at it right now! Take a strong magnifying glass to your computer monitor, tv, smartphone, or any color device. You will see pixels of only Reg, Green, and Blue, though of varying brightness. Just like there is really nothing ever moving on the screen, since there is a refresh rate of all still picture frames, similarly there is never any real color Orange or colors in between red, green, and blue because on screen colors are made of close proximity pixels of only pure red, green, and blue LEDs (or phosphors for old CRT displays) and your brain merges those components into Orange Yellow, Purple and all the hues in between. Even more fascinating, I note that this supports the idea of the four dimensions of "spacetime" being similar. The brain merges frames close in time for you to perceive motion and it merges color pixels close in space for you to perceive colors!

Mitch Bogart

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Mysterious glowing ball

May 13, 2017

Very interesting, strange display in the darkness

Sian

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Slightly disappointed

May 2, 2017

I would enjoy this product so much more, but the red light didn't turn on. I can see great potential for this, but I fear it would fall slightly short given the lack of color. It is also just frustrating because it is so close to what I expected.

Kevin

Owner Response: Thank you for your review, Kevin. I'm sorry you received a defective Glowing Ball. We will be sending a new one out to you immediately!

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DarthTeacher

Feb 1, 2016

Very cool demo and soft enough to avoid injury if they fly across the room. Kids enjoy changing the speed to try and create more colors. My first set is still working but 2 of the 3 the newer ones I purchased never worked.

Mark Pelham

Owner Response: Sorry about that, Mark. We'll send you out two new replacements!

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Good Demo Item

Dec 10, 2015

This proved to be a nice Wow! during our discussion of the primary and secondary colors of light. Worked best when target group was at least 10 feet away, closer groups could actually see the blink rate and individual colors when the ball was still. Great value for the learning!

Susan E. Buescher

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Science teacher

Jun 15, 2014

The ball did not work when I received it. Since I was out of town, I will call on Monday, June 16 to get help.

Bob Shannon

Owner Response: Bob, I'm sorry your Glowing Ball did not work as expected. We will be happy to replace it immediately.

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Outstandingly durable

Mar 28, 2014

I bought two of these and mounted them on the ends of a contact staff (basically a long pole that you spin and do tricks with.) I've been spinning, dropping and generally bashing these spheres for the past two years, and they are still intact and fully functional. It may be the case that one or two customers get one that was poorly soldered, and fails easily. The customer service at EI is really outstanding and they promptly replace anything that doesn't satisfy, no questions asked. This is a super product. Thanks for yet another big performer!

Mark Stein

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AP Physics teacher

Apr 3, 2013

This demo has huge WOW! factor, it more clearly demonstrates additive color then switching on light bulbs, and it's FUN. TIP #1: as you decrease radius while spinning, you can also get yellow, cyan and magenta. TIP #2: changing the axis with which you spin it generates fresh OOHs and AAHs, so spin it overhead and in a figure eight.

Erich Landstrom

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Cheap & break easily

Mar 1, 2013

They were cheap so you can't expect too much. Unfortunately one broke in the first five minutes after someone dropped it. The circuit board inside is very poorly made and a small piece snapped right off when I was trying to change the batteries to see if it would come back to life after someone dropped it. Note that the strings are barely attached. If you swing them around, make sure to check that the string is well attached. One of the balls came right off after the first swing. Neat effect when it does work.

ATF

Owner Response: We're sorry you are not completely satisfied with your Mysterious Glowing Ball. We are more than happy to replace your broken product. Please contact customer service and provide us with your order number and address, and you will have a new one sent out right away.

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Mysterious Glowing Ball

Jan 23, 2013

Great visual to learn with and it is a lot of fun to play with. If I knew how to juggle I would buy 3!

Christine

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Awesome!

Dec 8, 2012

Ordered one last year - it took forever to get here, but it was a real hit in the class. Ordered 5 more this year - this time to my school address - arrived super-fast, all of them working great! YAY!

Mir Oldham

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Glowing Ball

Aug 28, 2012

Very cool, kids love it.

Allan

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Asst. Professor

Aug 7, 2012

Great high-interest demonstration. Product quality could be improved. My first one fell apart the moment I began twirling it. The second one broke this morning when I tried to shut it off. I plan to buy another but wish they were better constructed.

Gregory Vogt

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Curriculum Supevisor & Biology Teacher

May 31, 2012

My students love the magic ball and are amazed at the colors in the dark. I purchased these as incentives to do well on the end of year assessment.

Judy

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Presenter

May 23, 2012

This so clearly shows how different wavelengths of light combine to form white - even in our Kindergarten presentations, students understood, one saying, "This isn't like paint at all - colors of light together make white. Colors of paint together make brown."

Tisha Weaver

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Needs instructions

May 22, 2012

This ball is very cool, however, I didn't receive any instructions with it and I missed seeing the video on the product page which is the only place it shows you how to turn the thing on. I'm not one of those people who can look at something and see how it works like my husband, who turned it on the first time he picked it up, so I could have used at least a hint either with the product or on the product page (written) that I had to turn what I thought was just a plug.

Jean

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Fascinating for students!

May 22, 2012

The students wanted to repeat this demo over and over, trying it at different speeds or with different movements. One student even thought of holding it stationary behind a variable speed fan and viewing from the front side while switching speeds - a fun variation!

Jason H

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Renee T

May 22, 2012

This was a quick, great demo the students loved in Phyiscs. The fact that it reqired no preparation was the best aspect, however, it only lasted one year before the lights quit working. I do think I will purchase another and hope I just had a lemon.

Renee Teague

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Amazing Color Display

May 16, 2012

Great Demo for younger ages. My 9th graders were amazed at the fact that the light actually was red, green, and blue. Eventhough they had just told me that the color mixing light would make white. Great, fast demo.

Rachael Barrett-Gardner

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Great light demo

May 16, 2012

The three lights oscillating within the balls effectively help the students understand that white light is composed of colors blending. Though it is simple, the effect on the students is quite striking.

Ken B

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NGSS

This product will support your students' understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)*, as shown in the table below.

Elementary

Middle School

High School

1-PS4-2

Students can use the Mysterious Glowing Ball to make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated.

K-2-ETS1-3

Students can use the Mysterious Glowing Ball in an investigation to develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

4-PS4-1

Students can use the Mysterious Glowing Ball in an investigation to develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.

MS-PS4-2

Students can use the Mysterious Glowing Ball to develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

HS-PS4-1

Students can use the Mysterious Glowing Ball to conduct investigations and use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

HS-PS4-5

Students can use the Mysterious Glowing Ball to conduct investigations about technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit.

Suggested Science Idea(s)

1-PS4-2
2-PS1-1
K-2-ETS1-3
4-PS4-1
MS-PS4-2
HS-PS4-1
HS-PS4-5

When held stationary, the Mysterious Glowing Ball appears to glow with white light. When spun in a circle by the cord, one can see the white light separate into blinking red, blue and green lights.

* NGSS is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product.

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