A superconductor hangs in mid-air and refuses to fall.
Cool a disc of YBCO in liquid nitrogen and magnetic flux pins inside it — locking the disc above a magnet, at any angle, frictionless. It is the only quantum phenomenon you can watch with the naked eye.
“The best physics demonstration created in the past 100 years.”S. S.Instructional Lab Manager
Syracuse University
Four kinds of buyer. Four different answers.
The catalogue runs from a $69 desktop toy to a $6,824 maglev installation. Nobody should have to work out for themselves which end they belong at.
Science fair students
A project that wins the room. Build a maglev track, measure levitation duration, demonstrate flux pinning to a judge.
Classroom teachers
Built to survive thirty pairs of hands. Ships with lesson plans, safety protocols and a risk-assessment template.
University labs
Four-point Tc measurement, bulk YBCO discs, USB data capture. Quantitative work, not only demonstration.
Museums & outreach
Portable, robust, and it stops people walking past. Runs three shows a day at Canada Science and Technology Museum.
Three steps, about ninety seconds.
Cool the disc
Rest the levitator in a shallow tray of liquid nitrogen for roughly a minute. At 77 K it falls well below YBCO’s critical temperature of 92 K and becomes superconducting.
Introduce the magnet
Magnetic flux threads the superconductor in discrete tubes and pins there. The disc doesn’t merely repel the field — it remembers it.
Let go
It holds. Tilt it, invert it, push it along a track and it glides without friction. Three to fifteen minutes per cooling, depending on the kit.
Six kits that cover most of what people need.
Liquid-nitrogen requirement stated on every card, because it is the first thing anyone wants to know.
YBCO Meissner & Flux Pinning Disk
45 mm ⌀ · 8 mm high · thermally insulated · liquid nitrogen required
Magnetic Train Science Fair Kit
Perspex track · 22 cube magnets · permanent magnets only · ages 10+
Economy Superconductivity Kit
Levitator 3.5 cm ⌀ · NdFeB disc magnet · liquid nitrogen required
DIY Maglev Kit
Lay your own track · 150–300 NdFeB blocks · liquid nitrogen required
Mini Maglev Kit
Ø40 cm round track · wooden stand · travels well · liquid nitrogen required
Superconductivity Experiment Kit
4-point Tc measurement · USB multi-test unit · laboratory grade
“But where do I get liquid nitrogen?”
It is the one thing standing between a curious teacher and a purchase, so here is the plain answer: easier and cheaper than nearly everyone expects.
Liquid nitrogen is non-toxic and non-flammable. Welding gas suppliers stock it in every industrialised country, most universities have it on tap, and a fair number of ice cream shops will fill a dewar for you.
Sourcing & safety guide- Cost
- ≈ $1–3 per litre
- Per demo
- 0.5–2 litres, depending on kit
- Sources
- Welding gas suppliers, university stores, ice cream shops
- Storage
- Vacuum dewar — never a sealed container
- Safety kit
- Cryogenic gloves, goggles, ventilated room
- Licence
- None required in the US, UK or EU
Your finance office does not have a credit card.
We know. Universities, school districts and museums buy on purchase orders, and a $5,799 classroom kit was never going to clear a departmental card limit. So we quote properly.
- 01 Formal PDF quotations, valid ninety days
- 02 Purchase orders and net-30 invoicing
- 03 W-8BEN-E, VAT and EIN documentation on request
- 04 Tax-exemption handling
- 05 Bank transfer — no card required
- 06 Export and customs paperwork for international institutions
Typical quote turnaround: one business day.
Our kits run in teaching labs and outreach programmes at more than forty institutions across eighteen countries — from Ivy League physics departments to Max Planck research groups.
Technology licensed from the Tel Aviv University superconductivity laboratory.
Named, attributed, real.
“Your demos are great. We do a cryogenics show on stage three times a day. The public love it — we use it to talk about future technology, and how superconductors have the potential to change a great deal of it.”C. É.Education & Interpretation Officer
Canada Science and Technology Museum
“Not only does it draw students, professors and children to our booth — it starts a real conversation about science, regardless of the demographic looking at it.”B. G.Science Outreach
Oregon State University
“I was delighted, and a little surprised, to see how long the superconductors stayed cold enough to hold their superconducting state. The students got to the point of asking for a bigger track — that is when I brought out the circular one.”Jon M.Physics Teacher
Morrison Academy, Taiwan
“Your track, array and superconductor are the best investment we have made for our outreach programme.”D. W.Head of Science Outreach
Badminton School, Bristol
“I won the science fair with the highest average score in the entire middle school. I’m going on to regionals, competing against middle and high school students.”Nathan C.Science student
Project on levitation duration and insulators
“Everything looks perfect. Your organisation has the best customer service.”C. D.Physics Department
Lycoming College, Pennsylvania
Still deciding which kit?
Browse the full catalogue by audience, budget and whether you want to handle liquid nitrogen — or ask us and we’ll recommend rather than upsell.
