I do apologize for my confusing attempt, earlier today, at a reply to the
question on the operation of Magicubes. In replying too hastily I managed to
completely miss the point.
So I attempted to atone by doing a more diligent search for information.
Nothing in my books, but found this gem on the web:
| Magicubes:
|
| The light comes from a chemical combustion within the cube's
| bulbs. Each of the four bulbs contains several inches of wire
| made of zirconium, a flammable metal used in nuclear reactors.
| This wire floats unattached in an atmosphere of pure oxygen.
| When the shutter clicks, it raises a small plastic stick that
| relases a spring inside the magicube. The spring, in turn,
| strikes a metal anvil in the cube's base. Friction from this
| impact ignites the phosphorous coating on the anvil and sets the
| zirconium on fire. Oxygen fuels the flame immediately, producing
| a flash of white light. Within only 25-thousandths of a second,
| the flash is over. The blue coating on the cube filters the
| flash's light so that it simulates normal daylight.
|
| Zirconium has a melting point of 1750`C. NEVER touch the
| cube as the flash is being set off.
at this (slightly weird) site: http://www.csonline.net/bpaddock/mra/mra4wk.htm
Interesting.
Andrew
At 2:12 PM +1000 2003.07.16, John Wheeler wrote:
>Interesting stuff, Andrew but nothing specific on Magicubes. We had a bunch
>of them sent to a charity where I spend a day a week renovating donated
>computers and were puzzled about their operation. Seems that it's simply a
>piezo firing method. Your links seem to indicate an interest in caving. Have
>you posted any shots? Are you using flash bulbs for lighting?
>
>John.
>
>Andrew L Wendelborn wrote:
>
>Try this (from my bookmarks file):
>
> http://www.darklightimagery.net/flashbulbs.html
>
>And this for nice pictures of ... flashbulbs
>
> http://www.flashbulbs.com/Pics.html
>
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