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Educator Drop Tower
- Bring microgravity into your classroom!
- Investigate how microgravity conditions change forces and motions on the International Space Station.
- See how air bubbles change in microgravity.
- See how fluid blobs change in microgravity.
- Show students what happens when gravity seems to 'go away' (but it doesn't really!).
- Challenge students to think up and build their own microgravity demonstrations and experiments.
- Demonstrate Newton's Laws.
- and More!
- Included in the kit is an instructional booklet.
An Educator Drop Tower is shown with its component parts (except for the operation booklet). At the back left is the drop box with internal camera and with the fluid 'toy' installed. At front left are repelling donut magnets on a stick, behind that is the candle and holder, at right in front is the repelling magnets on sticks, and behind that is the bubble level. The camera power supply and video cables are seen in the center. Please note that the laptop computer and USB plug-in video converter shown on the right in the photo are NOT part of the Educator Drop tower and are shown as one example of a user-provided video recording and/or display system.
This video was made with a Mr Microgravity Educator Drop Tower. This shows a balance of forces before it is released to fall where the magnetic repulsion force keeps the upper, hinged magnet stationary against the pull of gravity. The video shows the magnets stationary for a moment and then the drop box is released into free fall. Immediately upon release, the upper arm begins to rise due to the internal repulsive force between the magnets. This fall was only about one meter drop to the floor.
Click on the video to start.
Still image of repelling magnets in 1-g. The upper magnet position is slightly above the lower, fixed magnet due the downward force of gravity and the upward magnetic repulsive force.
Still image of repelling magnets during free fall in microgravity. The upper magnet has been pushed upward in the drop box due to the internal repulsion force from the lower, fixed magnet.
This video was made with a Mr Microgravity Educator Drop Tower. This shows an oily liquid dripping inside a "toy" with each droplet coasting down a series of back and forth angled ramps. Gravity is pulling the droplets down the ramps and causing each droplet to be deformed as a flat-on-the-bottom spheroid. The ramps are stopping the droplets from falling straight down by exerting an upward force on the droplets. The video shows the droplets falling for a moment before the drop box is released. When the drop box is released into free fall, the droplets immediately 'jump off' the ramps and become spherical in shape. This fall was only about one meter drop to the floor.
Click on the video to start.
Still image of the fluid toy in 1-g. The fluid 'blobs' are squashed down against the angled ramp due the downward force of gravity.Click either image for a close-up view of both.
Still image of the fluid toy during free fall in microgravity. The fluid 'blobs' are drawn into spherical shapes due to surface tension since the fluids (both the clear and red) and the ramps are all falling together.Click either image for a close-up view of both.
A very important component of the Educator Drop Tower is the booklet that explains the concepts and application of the demonstrations. The booklet will guide the user in interpreting the actions (and sometimes inactions) that occur during a drop.
The Educator Drop Tower is comprised of the following items. Some of these items are available here and other items are standard equipment most often found in schools, such as computers, monitors, VCR's, and TV's.
- The drop box with on-board camera, light, cable, and power supply.
- These demonstration devices (prototype shown):
- fluid droplet toy (exact device may vary from that shown),
- hinged repelling magnets,
- birthday candle holder,
- three repelling 'donut' magnets on a stick,
- and a bubble level.
- AC power strip with four outlets.
- Instructional booklet.
Educator Drop Tower with demonstration devices but still shown without the instruction booklet.Ready to Order?
Order from the Mr. Microgravity home page by mailing a check or money order along with an order form. A secure credit card payment may be made through PayPal, even without a PayPal account.
This page is under construction.
Information contained herein is preliminary and subject to change.
(... and also to be formatted better in the future!)
