Watch This Coin Shrink With Electricity

Shelby Rogers

Quarters are the largest coin in typical US currency (and no, this doesn't include the golden dollar or half-dollar piece). This team with PBS's show Physics Girl with Arc Attack decided to shrink the quarter down to half its size. The tool? High-powered electromagnets.

They charged a capacitor to 8,000 volts, then passed the current through a coil around the quarter. Physics Girl Dianna Cowern does an awesome job of explaining the physics behind the shrinking and the potential dangers of trying to recreate this experiment elsewhere.