Quantum Physics and Relativity

Single Photon Interference

Wave/particle duality observed in Young's double slit experiment with camera sensitive to individual photons.

What it shows:
In this demonstration we perform the double-slit interference experiment with extremely dim light and show that even when the light intensity is reduced down to several photons/sec, the audience can see the familiar Young's double-slit interference pattern build up over a period of time. This addresses the question of how can single photons interfere with photons that have already gone through the apparatus in the past, or with those that...

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TV Image Deflection


What it shows:
The television is basically a sophisticated cathode ray tube. The electron beam in the TV is influenced by magnetic fields in the same way as in Crookes tubes.

How it works:
The image on a black & white TV is formed by a single electron gun scanning the screen. Holding a strong magnet to the side or in front of the screen deflects the beam from its regular sweep pattern, distorting the image.


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Ring of Fire

ring of fire

What it shows:

In explaining the electron orbits in the Bohr atom, de Broglie's principle of particle wave duality allows you to treat the electrons as waves of wavelength nλ = 2πr where r is the radius of the orbit. Then the only orbits allowed are those which are integer...

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Big Chladni Plate

What it shows:

A large square metal plate, supported and harmonically driven at its center, is made to vibrate in any one of its numerous normal modes of vibration. As with the regular Chladni Plates, the two-dimensional standing wave patterns are made visible by sand accumulating along the nodal lines. What is different in this demonstration is that a multitude of resonances (across the entire audio range and lower ultrasonic frequencies) can easily be excited. Being a two-dimensional oscillator, the various resonance frequencies are not simply multiples of the...

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Reversible Fluid Mixing

What it shows:

Ink is squirted into a fluid and mixed in until it disappears. By precisely undoing the motions in the reverse direction, the ink becomes unmixed! The demonstration seems to defy thermodynamics in that it appears that entropy decreases, but in actuality the reversible mixing is made possible by ensuring that the mixing/unmixing is done without turbulence.

How it works:

The space between two transparent and concentric cylinders is filled with a viscous fluid (glycerine or Karo™ syrup). One or more lines of...

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