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Alien / energy ball

  1. Dec 13, 2003 #1
    Have anyone read my thread about toys and gadgets?

    Anyway, it leads here...

    An energy ball is simply a ball that whenever one touches it, it glows and hums. (electric circuit ball)

    Does anyone know its schematic diagram (interior of alien ball)?
    How do I make my own? =)

    I just know that it has 2 metal strips, small baterries and a small sound system.
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2003
  2. jcsd
  3. Dec 26, 2003 #2
    I have not seen one of these alien balls you speak of, however it sounds like a portable miniture Plasma Sqhere contained within a fuzzy plastic shell (to hide the sparks, and simply emit the scattered light through the casing of the plastic shell). Plasma Sqheres are made by using Tesla coils to generate a very high voltage positive charge on an inner sphere, contained within a vacuum of argon gas (usually 1 1/10 normal atmosphere). The charge on the inner sphere ionizes the argon, and the vacuum amplifies the discharge (less restrictions and resistance) to the more negative outer shell. When a person touches the outer shell, their body acts as a conductor and causes a more direct path way for discharge.

    Hope this helps.
  4. Dec 26, 2003 #3


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    Um... I think I've seen what you describe. It's only active if electrical contact is made between the two metal plates.

    Depending on how sophisticated you feel, the simplest approach is to put a light bulb or LED in series with the gap.

    If you want to get much more sophisticated, you can measure the capacitence of the metal plate, and glow when it changes, but that's *much* more complicated than what the actual ball uses, and only requires a single contact point.

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