Spiral Wishing Well in Japan

This clip shows that laughter and fun is the same in any language. Spiral Wishing Wells are fun for children of all ages.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Steve Divnick]

CR055H41RZ, the hole in the very bottom is too small to fit a hand through, so once the coins go through, they are donated. You might want to get one of the small toy models (9" in diameter and 16" tall). You can watch coins spin around on their own, or you can move the toy in a circular motion creating your own centrifugal force and make the coin climb back UP the vortex. You can keep a coin spinning as long as you have the coordination to do so...current record is 33 hours. divnick.com

[Steve Divnick]

RedBaronDS16, you have described the interactive fun that a lot of people have...which in the long run, generates more revenue. Keep on enjoying them... Steve Divnick,

[Steve Divnick]

The smoothness of the vortex is also a factor. The rotational speed of the coin also makes a difference. For instance, a coin that "slides" onto the surface tends to "brake" against the vortex surface while a spinning coin has better balance, and it doesn't engage the surface as much. It is fun to experiment with all these things...and a vacuum chamber would change a lot of the variables.

Steve

[Steve Divnick]

Variables include the energy required for balance, frictional resistance, and wind-resistance. Steel balls don't use any energy for balance, but coins consume energy to stay on their edge. Coins with serrated edges use up more energy than smooth edged coins. Larger coins have more wind resistance. Sticky coins don't roll nearly as long as clean coins.

Steve Divnick

[Steve Divnick]

yep, a vacuum would eliminate many of the variables of resistance. It would be fund to find a chamber to run some experiments. Steve Divnick

[Steve Divnick]

You can go to spiralwishingwells(dot)com and read all about them. We have grants to help with the cost for non-profit fund raising use.

[stainsr]

i love you, minutephysics!

[wuz2blu]

Better to know you're "donating" your money, then you can enjoy the show rather than being disappointed time after time as with a slot machine.

[Andrew Turner]

minutephysics brought me here lol

[CR055H41RZ]

Why don't you just put your hand in the hole?

[TheRedBaronDSI6]

Whenever I encounter one of these, I put my hand at the bottom so I can collect the coin and use the well a few more times before allowing the coin to go in.

[Lite619]

best way to spend some munnies

[samman10inches]

Minute physics brought me here

[oR3Io]

losing money looks like a lot of fun!

[ElisavanYaslana]

I hope you're being sarcastic. I cannot count the number of spiral wishing wells I've seen in the science museums here in the US.

Perhaps spartan's opinions are based more on assumption and a lack of having visited locales that have these amazing sorts of things in general - rather than actual data?

Yes, I maintain that Japan is amazing and leads in many fields, but not to the exclusion of all cool, innovative, and engaging things and ideas from other countries.