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Gravity Defying Spoon And Fork Magic

This is a trick that enables you to appear to defy the laws of physics by using common dinner utensils and making them appear to hover in mid air on the edge of a glass.

You Will Need:

  • A spoon
  • A fork
  • A matchstick (preferably square bodied type)
  • A wide-mouthed glass

Method:

  1. Find a large glass that has quite a bit of mass to it. It is better if the glass has a wide mouth with a tapered bottom.
  2. Fill the glass at least half full of liquid. Remember that the entire weight of the cutlery will be supported on one single point on the outside edge of the glass.
  1. View the set up of the spoon & fork with the first and last tines of the fork overlapping the spoon.
    Take the fork and spoon and "hook" them together using the first and last tines of the fork to overlap the spoon. The handle ends must both point in the same direction, making a very crude boomerang shape when the two utensils are connected together.
  2. Place the matchstick in the most central position possible. Ensure that it is still touching the spoon. Leave as much of the matchstick sticking towards the centre of the "boomerang" shape as possible.
  3. Balance the resulting apparatus. Take the whole kit and ( this next part is tricky ) balance the matchstick on the edge of the glass with the two handle ends pointing back towards the glass. Note that the matchstick will be horizontal.
  4. This photo shows the full set up with the spoon and fork held together by overlapping the first and last tines of the fork.
  5. Make the apparatus balance by moving the matchstick from side to side, as well as closer to and farther away from the glass.
  6. The reason that your audience believe it is defying gravity is the fact that they believe it is balancing relative to the entire glass, rather than just one edge of it. They are technically fooling themselves.


Notes:

You may need to experiment with different forks and spoons as not every fork & spoon will slot together

Another way of performing this trick is to use two forks and put a quarter ( or other medium sized coin ) between the middle slot of the two forks when they are held together and balance this in the same way as explained above.