Make your own Magdeburg Hemispheres

Science
Make your own Magdeburg Hemispheres

Magdeburg_Experimenta

Way back in the 17th Century German scientist Otto von Guericke demonstrated the power of vacuum forming by joining two steel half domes that two teams of horses pulling in opposite directions could not pull apart. In this video, MAKE Contributing Editor William Gurstelle recreates the experiment with two cake pans. And you can, too, in this easy to follow experiment.

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4 thoughts on “Make your own Magdeburg Hemispheres

  1. Keith Neufeld says:

    This is about the power of vacuum, not the power of vacuum forming, yes?

  2. Jeremiah Johnson says:

    The spheres were copper, not steel.

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Stett Holbrook is editor of the Bohemian, an alternative weekly in Santa Rosa, California. He is a former senior editor at Maker Media.

He is also the co-creator of Food Forward, a documentary TV series for PBS about the innovators and pioneers changing our food system.

View more articles by Stett Holbrook

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