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Phantastic Physics Toys: The Blow Pipe

The Blow Pipe is an inexpensive toy that has been around for a long time.  The basic design is a small plastic pipe and a little tiny ball that sits in the pipe.   As a person blows air through the pipe the ball hovers above the pipe.  The pipe can actually be tipped slightly from side to side and the ball will continue to hover above the pipe.  The animation below shows a person using the pipe on the left and a representation of the air flow and the forces on the ball at the right.

blow pipe animation

While examining this animation you should notice the following things:

A large version of this pipe can be seen in appliance stores in early summer.   Appliance stores trying to demonstrate how strong their fans are will often point one toward the ceiling and put a beach ball hovering above it.