Circus Time! (Tiny Dancers!)

I love these little tiny dancers especially because they are so cute.  I planning on using these in the science circus later in class.  The science involving these is so much fun!  They work because the magnetic field causes the wire to rotate when electricity is going through it.   It is really fun to do!

You can read more about them here: https://babbledabbledo.com/steam-project-tiny-dancers-homopolar-motor/ 


There are dangers to think about too with this project though.  The magnets are very strong and can kill you if eaten, so that is something to think about in a classroom. They are also expensive.  Doing this for a whole class might not be possible.  The wire also gets hot when the electricity is going thorough it.  This can burn a student but if you use a hot pad to remove the wire, you should have no issue.  All the same, one should likely only do this experiment with an older class unless you can somehow get more adults in the class to help or keep it to small groups.