Smithsonian Science Activities Magna Gyroscope Blue 6"x6"

I bought this product to replace an older Levitron toy that seemed to no longer be available. It works great, but takes patience! The longest spin my class recorded was nearly 90 seconds long! (I was not that patient or talented!)Be aware, though, that magnets lose strength over time, especially if they get knocked around by frustrated teenagers. So if you are using a product that's a few years old, it may not work as well. I've had to replace Levitron toys every five years or so, because the magnets get so much weaker.

Even adults could not make this product work well. It takes a lot of effort to get the base perfectly level. It is very hard to get a lot of spin on the top, so it floats for only a few seconds.

We're all for science, but this was DIFFICULT to do. Kids were not impressed

These were purchased as a gift to a 20 and 23 year old. I would say you’d need to be about 12 at least or a prodigy to get the top floating. Not enough mass to keep this floating for more than about 30 seconds max. Leveling adjustment and lift plate a real bonus over cheaper versions. Price is a little high for a gizmo which seem to run its course in about a week. Likely to be regifted to the next victim so try to keep the packaging on good shape.

As the other reviewer stated, it is difficult to get it to work, but its WELL WORTH THE EFFORT! We had to adjust the weight (remove the weight that came installed) just to get it to spin on the platform, but now on most attempts it will spin and levitate. Changes in temperature are reported by some to require weight adjustments.If you follow the directions carefully and persevere you will succeed with this. The first time you see it levitate you will be thrilled. Frankly, I think the difficulty greatly adds to the excitement when you finally are successful.I bought one locally at the holidays for my granddaughter and just ordered another one for myself from Amazon.There is a blog by KJ Magnetics that has an article with lots of information about these devices and a link to a scholarly article. Sorry, Amazon doesn't allow including links to such sources, so you have search for yourself.Update:The first one of these required removing all of the weights to get it to work properly. The second one would not work without modification. The spinning magnet would not lift off of the launching plate unless I lightened it. I did this by mounting it in a drill press and using a razor knife as a chisel, I removed a portion of the red plastic housing until it would lift off. I worked fine then. I suspect there is some quality issue with the magnets and some are too weak.

Not worth your money, period. The entire setup is just cheap plastic. The base is nearly impossible to balance on the wobbly leveling feet and the instructions just provide 10 different drawings of which feet to adjust if the top flies off in a particular direction. What the instructions don’t discuss is how to get the top actually floating, how the weights should be used, desired spin speed, or anything else that would be helpful. No matter how you do it, the top either just flies off (it’s already dinged up from flying off and hitting the floor after about 15 minutes of playing with it), or is just spins to slowly to levitate.

I'm so glad that I bought this toy with the assumption that the 1-star reviewers are just not putting in the effort or simply can't figure it out because that is exactly what I discovered. The instructions weren't as clear as they could have been, but still, this toy was pretty simple to figure out. In fact, I'm creating a YouTube tutorial video for it and will link it once it's complete.Basic instructions:(1) Make sure you can spin a top. Easy for most. Just spin a top.(2) Keep adjusting the base piece so that it's as level to the ground as you can get it. You can figure out which pegs need adjusting based on the direction that the spinning top falls AFTER it has levitated some. You actually have to get the top to spin and lift it off the platform to see this. It seems like one of the other reviewers didn't even understand that they had to lift it themselves with the clear plastic piece.(3) Once it stays up for a second or so, you know it's as level as it needs to be, but it will likely be too light (or too heavy, but i find that it's easier to understand when it's level by having too little weight at first). So you start adding weights to it and try again. If it bobs up and down and falls off, it's too light. If it won't levitate at all, it's too heavy. Adjust weight little by little (took me like 5-10min) and voila! You'll have a floating toy in no time!Seriously, it took me less than an hour to read instructions, understand what needed to be done, and it worked. I can get it to float easily on every attempt so long as the top spins (which I can get it to spin maybe 1 of every 3 attempts). It's easy. I'm even creating a child's tutorial on YouTube for it which I'll link in this description once it's complete in a couple of weeks. Don't listen to the 1-star reviews.

Spent hours trying to get it to work. I know, part of the fun until it turns into frustration. Spent weeks on it and we are close but still can’t get it to stay levitated but for a split sec.