Techniquest

Exhibit: Air Stream

Place a foam shape in the air stream. What happens? Test other pieces? Do they all move in the same way?

Jets of air blow upwards making the foam shapes hover. Some of the jets of air are angled and so also push the foam shapes forwards. Because the foam shapes are constantly hovering and constantly being pushed forwards, they are constantly moving. 

Inside the exhibit is a large fan which blows air upwards. The air is blown into a hollow chamber within the table, which spreads the air evenly towards the underside of the table. 

 The entire surface of the table is pierced with holes around 1 centimetre apart and each measuring only a couple of millimetres in diameter. The air from the fan is forced up through these holes. In this exhibit, unlike on a standard air hockey table, the holes are angled. This causes the disks to travel around the table rather than just in a straight line.